Maverick Spirit - Harrison Ford

Running time: 90 mins

The rarest of actors has the opportunity to create an iconic character that imprints powerfully upon the generation that first experiences the character and then throughout time. An even rarer artist is able to transcend the identification with an iconic performance and continue to create great art and characters equally as powerful. Think Bogarts Rick. Think Harrison Fords Han Solo. The diversity of characters Harrison Ford has created cannot be summed up with a single phrase. He is best known for his brilliant and charismatic depictions of Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, Richard Kimble in The Fugitive, the adventure-seeking Indiana Jones and the rogue Han Solo in Star Wars. But Fords shrewdness, wit, and ability to immerse himself in each character reveal, time and again, his extraordinary skill and versatility as an artist who makes us believe in Officer John Book in Witness, the eccentric Allie Fox in Mosquito Coast, or flawed prosecutor Rusty Sabich in Presumed Innocent.

Born in Chicago and raised in the suburbs by Christopher Ford and Dora Nidelman, Ford was shy and gentle in his youth. At Wisconsins Ripon College, he fell in love with the theatre and acting. Moving to California to pursue acting, Ford took on minor roles at the Laguna Playhouse. To make ends meet, he started a successful carpentry businessa craft he developed by just reading booksand was eventually dubbed Carpenter to the Stars.

After an array of supporting roles, Ford landed his first major role in George Lucas American Graffiti (1972), followed by Francis Ford Coppolas The Conversation (1974), but it was in 1976 that his career skyrocketed: the year Star Wars premiered and changed his career and the world of cinema forever.

Over the next few years, Ford would appear in such films as Apocalypse Now (1979), Hanover Street (1979), More American Graffiti (1979), and The Empire Strikes Back (1980), where he would reprise his role as Han Solo. But in 1981, he would once again help launch a hugely popular franchise and become Indiana Jones in Steven Spielbergs Raiders of the Lost Ark, an iconic role followed directly by another in Ridley Scotts Blade Runner in 1982.

While starring in the Indiana Jones and Star Wars sequels, Ford also chose roles to prove he was not about to be labeled as solely an action star. His Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-nominated performances in Peter Weirs brilliant Witness (1985) and Mosquito Coast (1986) were only two of many diverse roles that included Roman Polanskis Frantic (1988), Mike Nichols Working Girl (1988), Alan J. Pakulas Presumed Innocent (1990), Sydney Pollacks Sabrina (1991), Wolfgang Petersens Air Force One (1997), Robert Zemeckis What Lies Beneath (2000), and Brian Helgelands upcoming sports drama 42 this year, in which Ford portrays the legendary Branch Rickey in a film about sports most courageous and ground-breaking athlete, Jackie Robinson.

Harrison Ford is, without question, one of cinemas most impactful actors, approaching his art with a balance of integrity, commitment, deep charisma, and authority. Please join Cinequest for a riveting evening with Mr. Ford, as we present him with our Maverick Spirit Award.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom will moderate. Jennifer is a filmmaker, nationally recognized speaker, and advocate for women, girls, and their families. Following the success of her documentary Miss Representation, Jennifer founded MissRepresentation.org, a call-to-action movement to help women and girls realize their full potential. Jennifer is also the Founder and CEO of Girls Club Entertainment, a company established to develop films focused on women who educate, activate, and transform culture. Jennifers abundant energy is apparent in everything with which she is involved, and her passion and creativity for the arts have no bounds.