Academy award nominatedwriter/director Alexander Payne will receive the Film-makers Alliance's 5thAnnual Vision Award at the Directors Guild of America headquarters in LosAngeles on Aug 18.

"Alexander Payne is afilm-making humanist who allows us to experience his joyously idiosyncraticstories and characters from a compassionately humorous and distinctlyinsightful perspective," Jacques Thelemaque, co-founder of Film-makersAlliance, said in a statement.

Payne's credits include Election, About Schmidt and the upcoming comedy Sideways, which Fox Searchlight is due to open in October.

The presentation will befollowed by a screening of a selection of the best films produced throughFilm-makers Alliance in the past year, including Matthew Mebane's Slamdancebest short audience award winner Tackle Box, Tony Berrios' Other People, and Karen Lin's Perfection.

The previous Vision Awardwinners are Wim Wenders, Mike Figgis, Terry Gilliam and Allison Anders.