Hollywood Film Awards to Honor Judd Apatow and 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' Actress (Exclusive)

Judd Apatow

The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively the names of the film industry professionals who will receive five prizes presented at the 16th annual Hollywood Film Awards -- the first awards show of the 2012 Oscar season -- when its gala ceremony is held Oct. 22 at the Beverly Hilton.

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Writer-director Judd Apatow (This Is 40) will receive the Hollywood Comedy Award, which honors the year's best comedic talent and has previously gone to the likes of Ben Stiller, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis. It was not presented last year.

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Actress Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), who turned 9 less than a month ago, will receive the New Hollywood Award, which honors the year's best new talent and has gone to actors including Robert Pattinson, Gabourey Sidibe, Jennifer Lawrence and, last year, Felicity Jones (Like Crazy).

Actor John Hawkes (The Sessions) will receive the Hollywood Breakout Performance Award, which honors someone who has achieved a major career breakthrough. It has been presented to such performers as Carey Mulligan, Michael Shannon and, last year, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50).

Cinematographer Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight Rises) will receive the Hollywood Cinematographer Award, which honors the year's best cinematographer, for a second time; he also won the award for Inception. Other recipients include Laszlo Kovacs, Janusz Kaminski, John Toll, Caleb Deschanel, Roger Deakins. Last year, Emmanuel Lubezki won for The Tree of Life.

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And visual effects supervisors Janek Sirrs and Jeff White (The Avengers) will receive the Hollywood Visual Effects Award, which honors the year's best visual effects artists and has been presented to the likes of John Nelson, Ben Snow and Janek Sirrs. Scott Farrar won for Transformers: Dark of the Moon last year.

Carlos de Abreu, founder and executive director of the Hollywood Film Festival, tells THR, "We look forward to celebrating these exceptionally talented filmmakers and artists for their outstanding work and creative vision."

Last week, THR broke the news that Rise of the Guardians will receive the Hollywood Animation Award.

In the past nine years, Hollywood Film Awards honorees went on to garner a total of 85 Oscar nominations and 32 Oscars.