The American Society of Cinematographers is set to honour Dean Semler AM ACS ASC with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.
Semler will receive the award alongside peers Rodney Charters ASC CSC (who will receive the Career Achievement in Television Award), Robby Müller NSC BVK (who will receive the International Achievement Award) and Curtis Clark ASC (who will receive the President’s Award).
“Dean’s creative prowess is seemingly limitless,” ASC Awards committee chairman Daryn Okada ASC said in a statement announcing the awards. “His long list of impressive credits has defined a generation of cinema. Dean is consistently innovative, and is always outdoing himself from film to film. While we recognise his tremendous contribution to our art form, we will keep an eye on the future and highly anticipate what he will create next.”
The Australian Cinematographers Society also said it was incredibly proud of Dean's achievements.
Semler earned his first credit for Let the Balloon Go in 1976, which spurred a long list of impressive credits totalling more than 70 feature films such as Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, The Lighthorsemen, Cocktail, Young Guns, Dead Calm and Razorback. He won an Oscar and an ASC Award in 1991 for his cinematography on Kevin Costner’s directorial debut Dances With Wolves. He has also shot many Hollywood films such as City Slickers, Last Action Hero, Waterworld, The Bone Collector, We Were Soldiers, XXX, Bruce Almighty, The Alamo, Get Smart, 2012, Date Night, Secretariat, Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey, and the upcoming Parental Guidance and Maleficent.
The 27th Annual American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards will be held on February 10.