2009  AML Award: Honorary Lifetime Membership

Presented to:
James D'Arc

For:

The careful study of any art form, if it's to be done with integrity and thoughtfulness, requires a proper acknowledgment of prior art in the field. It's easy to take for granted the archives and libraries and collections and bibliographies and websites without which criticism and history would involve a good deal more ineffectual thrashing about than they do. Any walk through the woods is greatly aided by guidance from someone who knows where the paths are.

It is essentially impossible to imagine current Mormon film study without the extraordinary contribution made over many years by James D'Arc. An archivist, a film restorationist, an historian and a scholar, Jim, through his work, transcends his formal role as Film Archivist at Brigham Young University. For all of us interested in film as an art form, and especially film by and about Mormonism, James D'Arc is the giant upon whose shoulders we all rest. The Association for Mormon Letters is pleased to honor James D'Arc for his many contributions to the study of Mormon film.