Ronald Neame, the English director who earned three Oscarnominations for his work as a writer and producer with David Lean, is toreceive BAFTA/LA's Britannia Award for Lifetime Contributions to InternationalFilm.

The son ofsilent film star Ivy Close, Neame got his break as a teenage cameraman onAlfred Hitchcock's Blackmail and trained under Claude Friese-Green.

A string of cinematography credits ensued in the 1930s and1940s including Blithe Spirit and InWhich We Serve, and Neame went on toreceive Academy Award nominations in the late 1940s for best picture on GreatExpectations and best screenplay for thatpicture and Brief Encounter.

As a directorhis credits include The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, The Poseidon Adventure, Gambit and The Odessa File.

He received aBAFTA nomination in 1961 for Tunes of Glory and collected a BAFTA LifetimeFellowship Award in 1996.

"No one deserves BAFTA/LA's recognition for excellence incinema more than Ronnie Neame," BAFTA/LA chairman Gary Dartnall said in astatement.

Neame will collecthis honour at the 2005 Britannia Awards on Nov 10 in Beverly Hills.

As previously announced, TomCruise will receive this year's Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellencein Film, Mike Newell will collect the John Schlesinger Britannia Award For ArtisticExcellence in Directing, and Elizabeth Taylor will receive the Britannia Awardfor Artistic Excellence in International Entertainment.