Editor

The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 - May 5) is excited to announce that Zoe Saldana will be honored at the fourth Midnight Awards, 10:30 pm, Saturday, April 23 at the W San Francisco. The Midnight Awards takes the form of a late night talk show, hosted by Beth Lisick, New York Times best-selling author and coorganizer of the Porchlight Storytelling Series, with live musical accompaniment by the Darren Johnston Trio. Lisick will interview Saldana and her soon-to-be-announced male corecipient, and show clips of their work prior to the presentation of the awards.

Photo by Jeff Vespa

The Midnight Awards were created in 2007 to honor a dynamic young actor and actress who have made outstanding contributions to independent and Hollywood cinema and bring intelligence, talent and depth of character to their roles.

Zoe Saldana is well known for her memorable performances in Center Stage (2000) and most recently in James Cameron's Avatar (2009). In 2009, she played Nyota Uhura in J.J. Abram's blockbuster action-sci-fi film Star Trek. In 2010 she starred in the comedy Death at a Funeral and in the action-thriller The Losers.

Saldana's other film credits include Vantage Point, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Terminal, Dirty Deeds and Drumline. Her television credits include appearances on the WB's Keeping It Real and NBC's Law & Order.

Saldana can next be seen in the independent film, Colombiana, set to be released September 2011.

In 2004, Saldana accepted the Young Hollywood One to Watch award presented by Movieline magazine for her performance in The Terminal. She then went on to grace the cover of Elle in 2009 as one of the magazine's top Women in Hollywood, as well as the cover of Glamour as one of the magazine's Women of the Year. To finish off the year, Saldana was named as MaxMara's Face of the Future, Glamour UK's Film Actress of the Year for 2010 and also became the new face of Calvin Klein Underwear and Calvin Klein Envy.

Saldana was born and raised in New York. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

Previous recipients of the Midnight Awards are Evan Rachel Wood and Elijah Wood (2009), Rose McGowan and Jason Lee (2008) and Rosario Dawson and Sam Rockwell (2007).

The Midnight Awards are one of the dedicated events that the Film Society presents throughout the year that are crafted by its Midnight Club membership group and cater to participants aged 25-40. These events are premium priced and open to the public.

The Midnight Awards will be held at the W San Francisco and are sponsored by 944 magazine. Tickets are $40 for Midnight Club members, $45 for San Francisco Film Society members and $50 for the general public. For tickets and information visit sffs.org/tickets.