AMY TAN

Mitchell has received honorary membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and Tan and Momaday were named general members. (AP Photo) (Uncredited)NEW YORK — (AP) — Joni Mitchell's latest honor finds her in company with some giants from other fields. The celebrated singer-songwriter and musician has received honorary membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the venerable institution based in Upper Manhattan where general inductees have ranged from Henry James and Hannah Arendt to Dizzy Gillespie and Jasper Johns. "Thank you for including me.”On Thursday, the academy announced 18 new general members, voted in by the current membership. In music, the new members besides Lockwood are Pulitzer winning composers John Luther Adams and Jennifer Higdon and two-time Grammy nominee Christopher Theofanidis.

Joni Mitchell has received honorary membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the century old institution where general inductees have ranged from Henry James and Georgia O’Keeffe to Sonny Rollins and Jasper Johns.

This image released by Sundance Institute shows a scene from "In The Same Breath," which will debut at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. (Sundance Film Festival via AP)Sundance Institute programs. Organizers on Tuesday unveiled a robust and diverse slate for the festival, which will be largely virtual due to the pandemic. Yutani said that the Sesame Street documentary, “Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street” is likely to be a crowd favorite. “We all are so excited about the possibility of encountering people who’ve never been to the festival," Jackson said.

This image released by the Library of Congress shows Heath Ledger, left, and Christian Bale in a scene from the 2008 film "The Dark Knight." The film was added to the National Film Registry. (Warner Bros.-Library of Congress via AP)LOS ANGELES – This year's inductees into the National Film Registry include a record number of female directors and filmmakers of color as well as a new crop of movies ranging from a silent short film thriller, classic musicals and an acclaimed Batman film. The national library said this year’s selections include a record nine films directed by women and filmmakers of color. Christopher Nolan’s 2008 Batman film “The Dark Knight” was a blockbuster and the top public vote-getter.

LOS ANGELES – James Redford, a filmmaker, activist and son of actor Robert Redford, has died. Kyle said her husband’s liver disease returned two years ago and the cancer was discovered in November last year while he waited on a liver transplant. “We’re heartbroken,” his wife wrote about her husband, who was called Jamie. He expressed gratitude for a liver transplant that saved his life in an HBO documentary “The Kindness of Strangers” in 1999. He also established the James Redford Institute in 1995 for Transplant Awareness to raise money and distribute tools to increase awareness about the shortage of organ donors.