A youthful Carla Fracci, at 75, receives Milan’s prestigious Carlo Porta Award yesterday at Teatro Manzoni.
Nov 152011
Nov 132011
Hollywood’s film academy is honouring Vanessa Redgrave at a star-studded ceremony in London. Meryl Streep, Ralph Fiennes and James Earl Jones are scheduled to join Sunday’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tribute to Redgrave’s 50-year career.
The 74-year-old actress has been nominated for six Oscars and won for her supporting role as an anti-Nazi activist in 1977’s “Julia”. In her acceptance speech, she praised the academy for not bowing to “Zionist hoodlums” who had objected to the nomination because of her support for the Palestinian cause.
She is currently starring in London’s West End alongside James Earl Jones in “Driving Miss Daisy.”
via San Francisco Chronicle… [continue reading]
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Nov 132011
James Earl Jones has received an honorary Oscar on the London stage, to the surprise of his matinée audience. Jones, currently starring opposite Vanessa Redgrave in Driving Miss Daisy — said he was “plain gobsmacked” as he accepted the award. The 80-year-old was presented with his Oscar on stage by Sir Ben Kingsley.
Jones, whose film credits include Patriot Games and The Hunt for Red October, remains best known as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars. The honour formed part of the 3rd annual Governors Awards, which also saw chat show queen Oprah Winfrey and make-up artist Dick Smith receive honorary awards.
Jones was due to receive his Oscar in person but decided he did not want to interrupt his run in the London play.… [continue reading]
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Nov 112011
On Monday, Italy’s dancing legend, Carla Fracci, will receive one of Milan’s most prestigious awards, the Carlo Porta.
Porta, born at the end of the 18th Century, is Milan’s most famous poet, and he wrote in the Milanese dialect, which is still kept alive in parts of the Lombardy province. The award is given to Milan’s most famous children, and Fracci is Milanese through and through. Her father was a tram-driver, trundling through Milan’s streets in the iconic orange wagons.
What is your fondest memory of Milan?
The sound of the dialect of Carlo Porta, the tongue in which I used to greet my tram-driver father, Luigi…
What is the worst memory?
The explosion in piazza Fontana [a terrorist attack which killed 17 and wounded 88, near Milan’s Duomo].… [continue reading]
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Oct 122011
Stephen Sondheim is to receive New York City’s highest honour for achievement in the arts. The award is given by the City of New York for contribution to the city’s intellectual and cultural life. Previous recipients include Leonard Bernstein, John Lennon and choreographer Merce Cunningham.
The Handel Medallion will be presented by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and actor Alec Baldwin at the Mayor’s Awards for Arts and Culture ceremony at Alice Tully Hall.
The ceremony will also honour five other figures in the art world for their contributions, including Baryshnikov Arts Center director Mikhail Baryshnikov and artist Maya Lin.
via BBC News… [continue reading]
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Oct 122011
Italian author Roberto Saviano, who has been in hiding since writing an expose about the Naples mafia, has won the Pen/Pinter International writer of courage award. His 2006 book Gomorrah explores the vast reach and corruption of the Camorra.
Saviano, 32, has lived under constant police protection since death threats were issued against him by the mafia in 2006.
He is sharing the prize with British playwright Sir David Hare.
The Pen/Pinter Prize was established by the writers’ charity Pen in 2009 in memory of British playwright Harold Pinter. Each year a British writer receives the award alongside another writer who has been persecuted for expressing his or her beliefs. The identity of the “writer of courage” is announced at the ceremony.… [continue reading]
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Sep 232011
Richard Gere is to be honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the Rome Film Festival. The 62-year-old, whose credits include Pretty Woman, will collect the Marcus Aurelius acting prize at the gala, which begins on 27 October.
A restored version of Gere’s first starring role in 1978 film Days of Heaven will be screened at the event. Previous recipients of the award include Meryl Streep and Al Pacino.
via BBC News… [continue reading]