2017 Award Winners

Actor, director, and author George Takei will be honored at this year’s Festival with the AWFF Lifetime Achievement Award during the Award ceremony that precedes the screening of his lm Allegiance.
In a distinguished career, George is best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the television series Star Trek. He also portrayed the character in six Star Trek feature films and one episode of Star Trek:
Voyager. In 2012, he starred in the Broadway musical Allegiance, which he described as his legacy project. The show is based on his own experiences and research into the Japanese American internment of World War II. The screen version of Allegiance will be the Festival’s Closing Night Film.
George also has a lengthy record of public service through his involvement with organizations such as the Japanese American Citizens League and the Human Rights Campaign. In 2004, the government of Japan presented him with the ‘Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette,’ in acknowledgment of his contributions to US-Japanese relations. Also, George is one of the founders of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles and serves as a member of its Board of Trustees. In May 2015, the Museum honored him with the Distinguished Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement and Public Service. 
George even has an asteroid named after him, ‘Asteroid 7307 Takei’. Upon learning of the honor, George said, “I am now a heavenly body. I found out about it yesterday. I was blown away. It came out of the clear, blue sky - just like an asteroid.”
Festival Director, Georges Chamchoum stated, “George Takei is an American actor, director, author, and activist. But above all, he is an amazing human being, which is why we consider him the perfect candidate for our Lifetime Achievement Award”.