Brazilian-born filmmaker Walter Salles, whose past selections to the San Francisco Film Festival have included the melancholy romantic thriller Foreign Land (1995), which he directed, and the uncompromising drama Suely in the Sky (2007), which he produced, will be honored Wednesday night with the festival’s Founder’s Directing Award.

Salles, 54, will be present for an onstage interview and an exclusive screening of In Search of On the Road (a Work in Progress), an hour-long edit of the upcoming documentary about his efforts to chronicle the life of legendary Beat author Jack Kerouac. Salles will also host a clip reel of highlights culled from a movie career that began with Krajcberg, a 1987 documentary about artist Franz Krajcberg, who was born in Poland but moved to Brazil in 1948 to become an environmental activist.

Other Salles features include Central Station (1998); the excellent Motorcycle Diaries (2004), starring Gael García Bernal as a young, road-tripping Che Guevara; and Dark Water (2005), a Hollywood remake of Hideo Nakata’s popular Japanese thriller, featuring Jennifer Connelly and John C. Reilly. Salles has also produced more than a dozen films, including the Oscar-nominated 2002 crime drama City of God.

Tickets for An Evening with Walter Salles cost $20 for San Francisco Film Society members and $25 for general admission. The event begins Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. For more information, visit the festival’s official site.