Ava DuVernay, Mark Ruffalo to be honoured at SAG-AFTRAs Patron Of The Artists Awards

The SAG-AFTRA Foundation announced that Ava DuVernay and Mark Ruffalo will be two of the honorees at this year’s Patron of the Artists Awards. The fourth annual event, a fundraiser to benefit SAG-AFTRA’s emergency assistance and free educational programs, and its children’s literacy program Storyline Online, is set for November 7.

DuVernay, whose most recent effort, Netflix’s limited series When They See Us, received 16 Emmy nominations this year, will be one of two recipients of the Patron of the Artists Award for “creating significant professional opportunities for performing artists to work and thrive,” according to the foundation.

Ruffalo will receive one of two Artists Inspiration Awards for “using his creative and professional success as a performing artist to advance philanthropic and humanitarian causes.” The honour for him comes as his upcoming film Dark Waters, directed by Todd Haynes, is being readied for its late-November release.

“We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we will honour Ava DuVernay and Mark Ruffalo at this year’s Patron of the Artists Awards. Both are leaders, visionaries, and change makers in our industry,” said JoBeth Williams, the board president of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.

More honourees will be announced at a later date, the foundation said.