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Deliverance director John Boorman knighted for services to film

Deliverance director John Boorman has been knighted in the New Year Honours.

The acclaimed filmmaker, 88, whose works also include Excalibur, Point Blank and Hope and Glory, has been honoured for services to film.

Boorman has been nominated five times for Academy Awards, including twice for best director, twice for best picture, and once for best original screenplay.

He is credited with creating the first Oscars screener – an advance screening of a film or television series sent to critics, awards voters and other industry professionals – for his 1985 film The Emerald Forest, which starred his son, actor Charley Boorman.

SHOWBIZ Awards Boorman
Boorman has been nominated twice for Bafta awards including best director and best original screenplay and was given the Bafta Fellowship in 2004 (Ian West/PA)

He has been nominated twice for Bafta awards including best director and best original screenplay and was given the Bafta Fellowship in 2004.

Among his extensive body of work, his 1972 survival thriller Deliverance is one of his most well known.

Set in rural Georgia and featuring the famous “duelling banjos” scene, the film received Oscar nominations in 1973 for best picture and best director, and best film editing.

The film also earned Boorman a Golden Globe nomination for best director.

Hope and Glory premiere.
John Boorman with Sarah Miles, who starred in his wartime drama Hope and Glory (PA)

His wartime comedy drama Hope and Glory, a semi-autobiographical film, received Oscar nominations in 1988 for best director, best picture and best original screenplay.

Boorman received Bafta nominations for Hope and Glory for best film and best original screenplay.

The film also earned him a further two Golden Globe nominations for best director and best screenplay.

His other feature works include Hell in the Pacific, Exorcist II: The Heretic, The Emerald Forest, The Tailor of Panama and Queen and Country.