Robert Altman will receivethe Film Society Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing at the 46thSan Francisco International Film Festival this year (April 17-May 1). The awardwill be presented to Altman in person on April 23 at Film Society Awards night.

Altman will be interviewedon stage and three of his films - Nashville (1975), Come Back To The Five And Dime, JimmyDean, Jimmy Dean (1982) and Tanner'88 (1988) will be screenedduring the festival.

The festival had previouslygiven Altman a mid-career tribute in 1973 and his 1992 classic The Player opened the festival in 1992. Altman is currentlyshooting his ballet ensemble The Company.

Previous recipients of theprize include Warren Beatty last year, Clint Eastwood, Abbas Kiarostami, ArturoRipstein, Im Kwon-Taek, Francesco Rosi, Arthur Penn, Stanley Donen, Manoel deOliveira, Satyajit Ray, Akira Kurosawa, Robert Bresson, Marcel Carne and JiriMenzel.