NORFOLK -- Actor, producer and activist Danny Glover is to collect a lifetime achievement award April 5 at a Norfolk film festival whose theme this year is politics in film.

Glover is probably best known for his role as a Los Angeles police sergeant in the "Lethal Weapon" films, but he has appeared in critically acclaimed movies such as "The Color Purple," "Places in the Heart" and "To Sleep With Anger."

Glover will receive the award at a party ending the weeklong ONFilm Festival, which begins today in Norfolk. The festival, sponsored by Old Dominion University and the city of Norfolk, includes screenings of films such as "All the President's Men," and talks by directors and others, geared to the topic of "Reel Politics."

A full schedule and other information is available at www.odu.edu/onfilmfest.

Peter Schulman, co-artistic director of the festival and an ODU French professor, said the festival honored actress Ellen Burstyn last year and chose Glover this time because of his talent and his broad experience as an actor, director and producer. Schulman said Glover's activism, which has prompted complaints to ODU about his visit, makes him an even more interesting honoree.

Glover is to receive the award at a party featuring film clips, food and dancing.

According to ODU, Glover became politically active at an early age through his parents' involvement in the NAACP, and has since embraced causes ranging from fighting AIDS in Africa to mathematics education.

ODU said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez helped finance Glover films about revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar and Toussaint L'Ouverture who led a slave revolt.

Glover is chairman of a nonprofit group, TransAfrica Forum, that lobbies American policymakers about the impact of U.S. trade and defense policies on Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. Glover has been a vocal critic of President Bush and the war in Iraq.

Glover's most recent film work includes acting in the Hollywood comedy "Be Kind Rewind" and producing a documentary about the failures of the U.S. government after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
Contact Bill Geroux at (757) 498-2820 or bgeroux@timesdispatch.com.