Tacking on one of the most celebrated American film directors ever to its growing list of honorees for 2012, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Monday announced that Martin Scorsese will be honored on January 30 with the American Riviera Award.

Though his career is best known for gritty crime urban dramas such as Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and The Departed, the honor comes during the year that Scorsese is behind a kid-friendly 3-D film and a music documentary about George Harrison on HBO.

“Honoring Scorsese has been a dream of SBIFF’s for many years,” said the fest’s executive director Roger Durling in a press release. “We’re thrilled that it’s happening during year when this contemporary master of cinema is breaking new ground with Hugo.”

Scorsese joins actress Viola Davis and Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo, the stars of the The Artist, in being honored during this year’s fest, which runs January 26 to February 5, 2012. See sbiff.org.

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