Writers of Nine Features Announced as Finalists for the 43rd Annual HUMANITAS Prize™ Honoring Television and Film Writing that Enlightens and Entertains

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Twenty-one screenwriters have been selected for their work on nine feature films as finalists for the 43^rd Annual HUMANITAS Prize, it was announced today by the organization's Executive Director Cathleen Young and President Ali LeRoi. For the first time, awards will be presented in three categories, drama, comedy, and family films, with three nominated films competing for each prize. The HUMANITAS Prize was created to honor film and television writers whose work inspires compassion, hope and understanding in the human family.

"Dividing the film awards into three genres allows us to recognize outstanding work across the broad spectrum of feature screenwriting," explained Young. "At a time of great anxiety in our country, comedy writing that is both entertaining and life-affirming is more essential than ever. We also know that storytelling aimed at children has the capacity to impart valuable messages of tolerance, resilience and positive self-image. It was very important to us that the top contributions in these categories be honored alongside inspiring dramas."

Winners will be announced at the annual HUMANITAS Prize event on Friday, February 16, 2018 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

"The new feature award format means we have a more diverse group of films than ever before," remarked LeRoi. "But what struck us is how, despite being set in such different milieus and genres, they each portray characters who are struggling for knowledge, connection, freedom or justice, and inspire us in turn to see ourselves as characters in the larger human story of the struggle for these same goals."

The HUMANITAS Prize feature film finalists are:

Feature – Drama
MUDBOUND Screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees
THE POST Written by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Written by Martin McDonagh

Feature – Comedy
LADY BIRD Written by Greta Gerwig
THE BIG SICK Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani
THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (NEW AND SELECTED) Written by Noah Baumbach

Feature – Family
COCO Story by Lee Unkrich, Jason Katz, Matthew Aldrich, Adrian Molina, Screenplay by Adrian Molina and Matthew Aldrich
FERDINAND Story by Ron Burch & David Kidd and Don Rhymer, Screenplay by Robert L. Baird and Tim Federle and Brad Copeland 
THE BREADWINNER Screenplay by Anita Doron, Story by Deborah Ellis

About The HUMANITAS Prize
Since its inception in 1974, The HUMANITAS Prize has awarded over $3 million to more than 360 deserving television and motion picture writers whose work affirms the dignity of the human person, probes the meaning of life, and enlightens the use of human freedom. HUMANITAS exists to encourage, stimulate and sustain the nation's screenwriters in their humanizing task, and to give them the recognition they deserve.

The HUMANITAS Prize is funded by an endowment established through the generosity of individuals, networks, studios and foundations. Winners of the HUMANITAS Prize have included: Allison Schroeder & Theodore Melfi (Hidden Figures); Robert Schenkkan & Andrew Knight (Hacksaw Ridge); Ava DuVernay (13^th), Nate Parker (The Birth Of A Nation); Wash Westmoreland & Richard Glatzer (Still Alice); John Ridley (12 Years A Slave); Damien Chazelle (Whiplash); Larry Kramer (The Normal Heart); David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook); Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild); Denis Leary & Peter Tolan ("Rescue Me"); Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious); Steve Levitan ("Modern Family," "Frasier"); Ryan Murphy ("Glee"); Robert & Michelle King ("The Good Wife"); David E. Kelley ("The Practice," "Picket Fences"); Ben Affleck and Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting); Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List); David Shore ("House"); Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing"); Tim Robbins (Dead Man Walking); Jason Katims ("Friday Night Lights"); Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter (WALL-E); Nancy Oliver (Lars and the Real Girl); Eric Roth & Michael Mann (The Insider); Paul Haggis (Crash); Steven Bochco ("Hill Street Blues," "NYPD Blue") and Keir Pearson & Terry George (Hotel Rwanda).

For more information, please visit the HUMANITAS Prize at www.humanitasprize.org.

Media Contact:
The HUMANITAS Prize 
Cathleen Young
Executive Director
info@humanitasprize.org
(310) 454-8769

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SOURCE The HUMANITAS Prize