Director Asif Kapadia to Receive Top Honor From Evolution! Mallorca International Film Festival

Kapadia's latest documentary, Diego Maradona, premieres on HBO October 1

Director Asif Kapadia. Photo from Getty Images

Oscar-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia is set to receive the top honor at the 8th Evolution! Mallorca International Film Festival next month.

The festival announced Kapadia as its Guest of Honor for the event, where he will be presented with the Evolution Vision Award. The prize goes "to an artist who consistently inspires audiences, breaks boundaries, and has shaped diverse and inclusive stories that have touched international audiences," according to a press release from EMIFF. "Previous recipients of this award have included [actor] Mads Mikkelsen and [director] Paul Haggis."

In a statement, EMIFF founder and director Sandra Lipski called the director a "visionary filmmaker who inspires audiences, breaks boundaries and bridges cultures.”

​The award will be presented on October 23, the opening day of the festival, which runs through October 29 in Palma on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Kapadia will participate in a Cafe Con Cine Talk during his appearance at the festival and EMIFF will also screen his 2015 film Amy, about the late singer Amy Winehouse, the film that earned the director his Academy Award. A Q&A will take place afterwards. 

​Kapadia's latest documentary, Diego Maradona, debuts on HBO October 1. It centers on the Argentinian footballer Maradona, considered perhaps the greatest soccer star in the game's history (with the possible exception of Pelé). Maradona's exploits on the pitch were often brilliant, sometimes controversial (including a hand ball in a crucial 1986 World Cup elimination match against England), and his conduct off the field featured some tortured and sordid moments, most notably a ruinous cocaine addiction.

​HBO released a trailer for the documentary last week. Watch it here: