Sundance Institute has announced it will present its Vanguard Awards to Academy Award winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu and filmmaker Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl).

The awards will be presented at the fifth Sundance Institute Celebration benefit hosted by Acura in Los Angeles. The June 2 event celebrates the 5th anniversary of executive director Keri Putnam.

Iñárritu will be presented with the Vanguard Leadership Award for the originality and independent spirit of his films. Mike Birbiglia will present Heller with the Vanguard Award, presented by Acura.

Iñárritu will be honored for his films, including Amores Perros (2000), 21 Grams (2003), Babel (2006), Biutiful (2010) and most recently, the four-time Academy Award-winning Birdman (2014).

He is the first Mexican director to be nominated for and win the Academy Award for Best Director and by the Directors Guild of America for Best Director.

Marielle Heller’s first feature film, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, stars Alexander Skarsgård, Kristen Wiig and Bel Powley and is based on the acclaimed graphic novel of the same name by Phoebe Gloeckner.

The film was supported by Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program Directors and Screenwriters Labs, Creative Producing Summit and Women Filmmakers Fellowship Program and received extensive grant support.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl made its world premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Award for Excellence in Cinematography and was acquired for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics.

Heller is currently in development on a number of films, screenplays and plays. The Vanguard Award will be presented by comedian, writer, actor and filmmaker Mike Birbiglia, who wrote and directed the comedy film Sleepwalk With Me, which was supported by the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program and premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and won an Audience Award.

Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, Sundance Institute is a nonprofit organization that provides and preserves the space for artists in film, theatre, and new media to create and thrive.

Acura offers a full line of precision crafted performance-luxury vehicles through a network of approximately 270 U.S. dealers.

Photo / Video courtesy: Sundance Institute