A year ago the Paris-based Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival came into Los Angeles with a "launch event" promising a full-fledged festival in 2007. That festival has been scheduled for December 5-16, and William Shatner will be one of the honored guests.

Shatner will be presented the Jules Verne Lifetime Achievement Award in a special award ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium (the same place Bill picked up his Emmys) on Sunday, December 9. The host of the evening will be the man who killed Captain Kirk, Malcolm McDowell ("Dr. Soran") — so there should be some interesting banter.

The award is "dedicated to the artists whose achievements help to encourage the spirit of adventure, imagination and open-mindedness in the tradition of Jules Verne and those who have shared with generations a genuine and optimistic vision of human nature," states a festival press release (with "generations" being the operative word here).

During the afternoon prior to that award ceremony, the festival will play four episodes of the Remastered Original Series in high-definition on the big screen. The specific episodes have not been announced yet. That screening will take place in the Shrine Expo Hall from 1-5 p.m., and the award ceremony starts at 5:00 in the main auditorium on what was dubbed last year as the Jules Verne Stage.

In the same ceremony, NASA will be honored for its 50th anniversary (which is actually in October 2008) with a Jules Verne Exploration Award. Those presentations will be followed by a special screening of the final director's cut of "Blade Runner," with Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford in attendance.

The two-weekend festival (eight days total) includes numerous events and special screenings revolving around the themes of adventure, exploration, environmentalism and futurism. Many are geared toward schoolchildren.

Heroes is another TV show that will be celebrated during the festival. On Saturday, Dec. 15, creator Tim Kring, writer/producer Jeph Loeb, and to-be-announced members of the cast (which could include George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Dominic Keating or Zachary Quinto) will walk the "green carpet" for a discussion of the show followed by the world premiere of an upcoming episode. That will take place at the Los Angeles Theatre, located in downtown L.A. not too far from the Shrine.

Other dignitaries to be honored at other ceremonies include Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee, philanthropist Ted Turner, and filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the late Jacques Cousteau. McDowell will also host the opening-night gala on Thursday, Dec. 6.

All scheduling information is subject to change.

Visit www.julesvernefestival.com (or www.jvaff.org) for more, and specifically this page and this page for the latest schedule. Most events are ticketed separately and at different prices. For instance, a pass to the Star Trek HD screenings is $7, and tickets to the Shatner ceremony range from $10 to $200, depending on seating. An all-access pass to the whole festival is $100, or $500 with VIP reserved seating. (Click on "TICKETS" in the left-hand menu.)

Last year the Jules Verne launch event drew out many Star Trek celebrities — many of whom were unscheduled — including Keating, Marina Sirtis, Rene Auberjonois, Walter Koenig, Majel Barrett and others. McDowell was the host of the festivities then as well, on a night that saw the likes of George Lucas, James Cameron and Harrison Ford walk the carpet (related story). There were also screenings of two Remastered episodes at a Santa Monica theater, with George Takei appearing (related story).

Earlier this year Patrick Stewart was honored by the Jules Verne festival in its original Paris venue, with an Artistic Achievement Award. Video of that event can be seen at this link and this link.

In other Shatner news, a six-part documentary which he narrated will air in his home country on Discovery Channel Canada starting this Sunday, October 7. "Mars Rising" is a companion science documentary to the fictional miniseries written by Shatner collaborators Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens that aired the last two Sundays about the first manned mission to Mars (related story). Visit www.RaceToMars.ca for more info, and consult your local listings.