Star Wars creator George Lucas entered the pantheon of American cultural icons on Sunday when he received the prestigious Kennedy Center Lifetime Artistic Achievement award.
The man behind the saga set in a galaxy far, far away received his award during a gala event at the Washington, DC venue, which also honoured actresses Rita Moreno and Cicely Tyson, 1970s pop singer-songwriter Carole King and Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Seiji Ozawa.
Lucas received the award eight days before the world premiere of the latest instalment in the saga – Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.
However, he played no role in the making of the film, directed by J J Abrams, after selling the rights to the franchise to Disney for US $4billion (Dh14.6bn) in 2012.
“The fans are going to love it,” Lucas said of the new film. “It’s very much the very kind of movie they’ve been looking for.”
US president Barack Obama attended the ceremony, and hosted the honorees at the White House beforehand. He described them as artists “who helped tell the story of the first American century through music, theatre and film. Each of these artists was born with something special to offer their country and the world.”
Talking about Lucas, he said the filmmaker was “at the vanguard of the New Hollywood, blending genres and combining timeless themes with cutting-edge technology”.
It’s “pretty remarkable that nearly 40 years after the first Star Destroyer crawled across the screen, we are still obsessed with George’s vision of a galaxy far, far away,” Obama said.
artslife@thenational.ae
