NEWS
ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY ESSENTIAL FOR GLOBAL PEACE
On the occasion of the annual CINEMA FOR PEACE Gala 2010 there will be one movie or project honored with the CINEMA FOR PEACE International
Green Film Award. This “Green Oscar” highly accentuates the essential ecological awareness and commitment of filmmakers worldwide for
our planet. The Pope emphasized in his traditional New Year address the connection between green issues and peace and called people to
change their lifestyles to save the planet, saying environmental responsibility is essential for global peace. ‘I would like to underline
the importance of the choices of individuals … in preserving the environment’.
(Source: Financial Times Weekend from 01/02/2010)
Honouring President Gorbachev for Bringing Down the Wall
President Gorbachev received the CINEMA FOR PEACE Honorary Award at a
historic dinner on the eve of the 20. anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin
Wall. At the China Club in Berlin Sir Bob Geldof, Plácido Domingo and the
German Foreign Minister of the reunification era, Hans-Dietrich Genscher,
held very personal laudatory speeches. The dinner was chaired among others
by arts patron Dieter Rosenkranz and Alexander Lebedev.
On this very special occasion the chairman and CEO of MTV Networks
International, Bill Roedy, presented additionally the MTV Free Your Mind
Award to President Gorbachev. The CINEMA FOR PEACE private dinner also
included a charity auction, offering various works of art connected to the
event of the fall of the Wall, among others an original part of the Wall
transformed into a unique piece of art by Kiddy Citny. The proceeds of the
event will be allocated to the Gorbachev Foundation, benefitting the Raisa
Gorbachev Memorial Institute in Sankt Petersburg, and to the CINEMA FOR
PEACE Foundation.
Cinema for Peace Honorary Member of the Board Is Awarded Knighthood
- Her Majesty Announces Knighthood for Christopher Lee on the Occasion of Her Birthday -
Christopher Lee with Dustin Hoffman and Roger Moore at the Cinema for Peace Gala 2003
Christopher Lee lighting the World Peace Flame at the Cinema for Peace Gala 2004
Christopher Lee with Catherine Deneuve at the Cinema for Peace Gala 2005
London/Berlin: Veteran Hollywood actor and long-term supporter of Cinema for Peace
Christopher Lee was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List on June 12 2009 in
London.
Christopher Lee is one of the most prolific screen actors of all time. He has proved himself to
a distinguished and versatile actor and has collaborated with such directors as Sir Laurence
Olivier, Billy Wilder, Steven Spielberg, Raoul Walsh and Robert Siodmak. Starting with the
1950s he became a cult actor for fantasy films at the “London Hammer Studios”. His
subsequent role in films as “Star Wars” and “The Lord of the Rings” has further established
his fascinating screen presence. In 2001, Lee was appointed Commander of The Most
Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth.
Since 2001, Christopher Lee has been supporting several charitable organisations such as
the order of St. John with private anonymous donations, and especially UNICEF, travelling
regularly for the children´s organisation of the UN, visiting children in need. The relationship
between UNICEF and Christopher Lee was established by Cinema for Peace, and the first
UNICEF travel took place in 2003 to Slovenia on the initiative of Cinema for Peace. Since
2002 he has been acting as a chair-person for Cinema for Peace, emphasising the need to
promote and support human rights through the medium film and gathering donations for
charity projects.
In 2007, Cinema for Peace became a foundation and Christopher Lee joined the newly
established foundation as an Honorary Member of the Board that same year. Since then he
has further supported the aims and mission of Cinema for Peace.
Cinema for Peace congratulates ‘Sir Christopher’ on the honour of being awarded the
knighthood for serving his country during World War II, participating in more than 300 films
and for his ongoing commitment to charitable causes.
Cinema for Peace and Roger Waters Support Reconciliation Process in the Middle East
Fakhri Hamad, General Manager of the Cinema in Jenin with the Old Film Projector
Rabbi, Soldier and Small Boy at the Wailing Wall
Jerusalem/Jenin: Following the Cinema for Peace - Gala 2009, the Cinema for Peace Foundation continues to support valuable projects which promote
humanitarian values and cultural understanding through film, such as “Cinema Jenin”, which encourages the cultural exchange between people of Jewish
and Arab origin.
The project “Cinema Jenin” was initiated by the filmmakers and protagonists of the highly acclaimed documentary “The Heart of Jenin”. The project
aims at re-opening one the largest cinemas on the West Bank in Palestina, in the former refugee camp of Jenin. The cinema which presented a wide
range of international film productions was closed in 1987 as a result of the first Intifada. Mr. Jaka Bizilj, the founder of Cinema for Peace,
travelled to Jerusalem and Jenin on June 1 and June 2 2009 in order to meet the initiators of the project and offer support for “Cinema Jenin”.
The project was also offered support by the founder of Pink Floyd and creator of "The Wall" Roger Waters, who travelled to Jenin during the same time.
The Cinema for Peace – Gala 2009 honoured the film “The Heart of Jenin” with the “Cinema for Peace Award for Most Valuable Documentary of the Year”
for promoting reconciliation between Jewish and Arab inhabitants. The movies describes how Ahmed Khatib, a Palestinian boy, is shot by Israelis and
his father Ismael decides to donate his son’s organs to six Israeli children so as to save their lives. After one and a half years after his decision,
Ismael travels through Israel to meet the children he has helped and their families. It is a journey through a territory marked by prejudice.
The father, Ismael Khatib, pleaded on the Cinema for Peace stage for acceptance and the promotion of peace in a territory devastated by prejudice
and intolerance:
“In this moment, I feel so proud. I remember my son Ahmed and I’m realizing that Ahmed’s organs were really a message of peace for all the people
all over the world. I hope I won’t be the only one who is carrying this message of peace. I hope that all of you, all the people I meet will help
me to deliver this message of peace. When I decided to donate Ahmed’s organs, my son’s organs, I didn’t check who would take these organs.
Whatever – he might be Muslim, Jew, Christian, or anything else. Child is child, and I love children whatever they are and they are out of any kind
of conflict. The children who took parts of Ahmed’s organs were actually part of different religions... Druze, Muslim, Jew and – no Christians, unfortunately. This encouraged me to continue the message of Ahmed. I established a centre for the children in the refugee camp in Jenin to be an alternative to the street playing where my son lost his life. And now I’m working on establishing the biggest cultural centre in the north of the West Bank, which is Cinema Jenin. I found out in my relation with the children in the centre that the best thing is to teach the children how to love each other. And the most difficult thing for our leaders is to make peace…So that depressed me, and I decided to try and make the peace with the children, to stop this conflict, which started 60 years ago. I hope and I think we can help these leaders to reach peace. Thank you very much. “
Isamel Khatib’s touching speech at the Cinema for Peace – Gala 2009 has deeply moved the audience. His plea for mutual understanding inspired
Mr. Waters, who attended the Gala as a laureate of the “Cinema for Peace Honorary Award”, to travel to Jerusalem and Jenin in order to support the
project in Jenin.
The re-opening of the cinema in Jenin is a project of the heart for Ismael Khatib and it aims at promoting cultural exchange and understanding
between Arabs and Jews. The project is supported by the foundation “Cinema Jenin” and Marcus Vetter, the director of “The Heart of Jenin”.
Fakhri Hamad, one of the initiators of the project, is the general manager of the cinema.
In order to ensure the long term success of the project, “Cinema Jenin” plans workshops with children and teenagers; these workshops will teach skills
in filmmaking, computer science and English. Thus the children will not only help to rebuild the cinema, but also further support the project by
maintaining the web site, working on subtitles as well as establishing and keeping contact to the international film market. The film theatre in
Jenin aims at screening both cinematically challenging and popular productions and thus presenting a wide range of film genres. The opening of the
cinema is set for April 2010 and will be accompanied by a film festival in Jenin. In this sense, Cinema for Peace has suggested to organise a
festival in Jerusalem parallel to the one on Jenin in cooperation for example with the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School.
The supporters of the project include: the German Federal Foreign Office, which announced according to Marcus Vetter to support the re-building of
the cinema with EUR 170.000, Roger Waters, who will donate the sound equipment for the theatre as well as Cinema for Peace, which will donate a
film projector.
The need for mutual understanding has never been greater, as president Barack Obama has stated in his speech yesterday in Cairo. Cinema for Peace
turns Barack Obama’s words in into action by supporting “Cinema Jenin” and thus promoting the peace process in Palestine and Isreal. The need to
overcome prejudice and hatred by learning from the past is emphasised by president Obama’s visit on June 5 to the concentration camp memorial in
Buchenwald, Germany, which has been a symbol for the Jewish tragedy during the Holocaust. The necessity to draw conclusions from the past is a
theme which Cinema for Peace will highlight in the current film project on Otto Weidt, one of these heroes who set an unforgettable example of
humanity and civil courage during the Nazi-regime in Germany by saving the lives of his Jewish co-habitants.
Jaka Bizilj on the situation in Jenin and the need for cultural exchange: „We met wonderful people in Jenin. But if you see the giant Wall on
one side, and on the other side the shocking suicide-killer-hero-posters all over the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin and even banners with
Sadam Hussein, who gave 20.000 USD-rewards to families of suicide bombers, it is very clear that this is the place where dialogue and cultural
exchange has to start if the terror shall ever end in the Middle East! Cinema Jenin shall become a starting point.”
Cinema for Peace 2009
Berlin/ Los Angeles/ St. Petersburg
Jaka Bizilj, founder of Cinema for Peace and Chairman of the Board attended the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles on February 22 2009.
He was joined by Cinema for Peace committee members Christian Angermayer, Andrea Dibelius and Carola Meier and discussed future projects
of the foundation such as the film on Otto Weidt. The blind manufacturer and owner of a small workshop for the blind protected Jewish citizens
during World War II and thus saved their lives. Steven Spielberg and the Shoah Foundation offered their support for the project.
The stay in Los Angeles was followed by a journey to Russia, where Jaka Bizilj plans to visit the Pavlov State Medical University in St.
Petersburg as well as the Raisa Gorbacheva Centre for the treatment of children suffering from leukaemia. In this context he well meet Prof.
Dr. Afabassiev, head of the department for bone marrow transplant.
Cinema for Peace 2009
The Cinema for Peace Gala 2009 not only awarded valuable movies and dedicated filmmakers but also raised money for charity organisations
supporting health care, social care as well as environmental issues.
The sum of money raised from the charity auction during the Cinema for Peace Gala reached approx. 400.000 Euros. The charity partners
of this year’s gala include the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation which supports environmental issues as well as the Gorbachev Foundation,
which supports the “Raissa Gorbacheva” Hospital for children suffering of leukaemia in St. Petersburg.
Further donations went to the Motion Picture and Television Fund, the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the American Foundation for
AIDS Research (amfAR).
Fortunately Cinema for Peace has developed very successfully and the charity revenues have increased by four times since the first
Cinema for Peace Gala in 2002. Thus Cinema for Peace continues to support valuable initiatives.
Cinema for Peace 2009
Berlin, 10.02.2009 – International stars at Cinema for Peace: Dedicated artists from all over the world emphasised the need to promote human rights. They were joined by personalities such as Sir Ben Kingsley, Leonardo DiCaprio, Roger Waters, Sir Bob Geldof, Christopher Lee, and Catherine Deneuve.
The Cinema for Peace International Green Film Award presented by BMW goes to Leonardo DiCaprio. The Cinema for Peace Award for Most Valuable Movie of the Year goes to MILK. The laureate is the director Gus Van Sant.
Awards and Laureates
Most Valuable Movie of the Year
MILK - Gus Van Sant, Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks, Dustin Lance Black, Michael London and Sean Penn
For portraying a great fighter for gender equality and offering inspiration for future generations
Most Valuable Documentary
THE HEART OF JENIN - Ismael Khatib, Leon Geller, Marcus Vetter, Ulli Pfau and Ernst Ludwig Ganzert
For promoting reconciliation in Israel and Palestine
Award for Justice, presented by Luis Moreno-Ocampo
presented by Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL - Gini Reticker, Abigail Disney, and the women of Liberia
For promoting resistance through dedication and faith
International Human Rights Film Award in Cooperation with Amnesty International and the Human Rights Film Network
BURMA VJ – REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY – Anders Østergaard, Lise Lense-Møller, Aung Htun, and the Democratic Voice of Burma
For depicting the ongoing fight for freedom in Burma
Award for Most Inspirational Movie of the Year
THE DAY AFTER PEACE- Jeremy Gilley
For showing how one individual’s idea can change the world
MENACHEM AND FRED - Menachem Mayer, Fred Raymes, Ofra Tevet and Ronit Kertsner
For promoting the need for reconciliation and the strength of human bonds
VALKYRIE – Christian Berkel, Philipp von Schulthess, Matthias Schweighöfer, and Bryan Singer
For setting an example of resistance against dictatorship, totalitarianism and fascism
Award for Contribution to the UN-Millennium Development Goals
8 - Jane Campion, Gael Garcìa Bernal, Jan Kounen, Mira Nair, Gaspar Noé, Abder-rahmane Sissako, Gus van Sant and Wim Wenders
For illustrating the most urgent problems in contemporary society
International Green Film Award, presented by BMW
LEONARDO DICAPRIO
For his ongoing and outstanding dedication to environmental issues
Honorary Award
ROGER WATERS
For his commitment to the promotion of freedom, illustrated most famously by the influential album and film “The Wall”
Cinema for Peace 2009
For the past eight years, Cinema for Peace has invited members of the international film community to a gala night which highlights a
selection of cinematic work in order to create a platform for peace and tolerance, publicly recognising the directors and actors whose work
has served to cast a new focus on the human condition and values, while also raising significant funds for charity.
This year once again, many role models of our society, stars and celebrities from media, film, music and politics like Leonardo DiCaprio,
Catherine Deneuve, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bryan Adams, Christopher Lee and many more gather in Berlin to publicly discuss and address social,
humanitarian and environmental issues of our time. As in the previous years, Cinema for Peace will auction a broad variety of items and prizes
during the gathering to give the collected funds to charitable organisations all over the world.
According to the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall there will be a performance by the Scorpions.
The Cinema for Peace Award for Most Valuable Movie of the Year will be awarded to film productions which support ideals like freedom and humanity.
Cinema for Peace is very pleased about the top-class jury for this year's Cinema for Peace Award for the Most Valuable Movie of the Year. The
jury includes leading journalists from worldwide media and inspiring personalities from the film industry.
The Nominees for the Cinema for Peace Award for Most Valuable Movie of the Year are
The Necessities of Life
for the support of cultural diversity.
Frost / Nixon
for the controversy about justice and freedom of opinion.
Gomorrha
for exposing issues of social drawbacks in present Italy which are yet unknown to a broad audience.
Milk
for portraying a great fighter for gender equality and offering inspiration for future generations.
Opium War
for the portrayal of two of the most urgent issues in our present society: war and drug smuggling.
Revolutionary Road
for the displayal of the inherent relation between personal, social and political aspects.
Slumdog Millionaire
for the characterization of the human individual power to transform own dreams and to overcome social drawbacks.
Teza
for touching the issue of social and political drawbacks in Ethiopia.
Valkyrie
for setting an example of resistance against dictatorship, totalitarianism and fascism.
XXY
for the plea for acceptance of sexual diversity.
CINEMA FOR PEACE Tributes 2009
The aim of CINEMA FOR PEACE is to support peace and international understand-ing through the media of film. In the last years CINEMA FOR PEACE invited mem-bers of international film to a gala, the high point of which was a selection of cine-matic works aiming to create consciousness for peace and tolerance as well as col-lecting donations for charities. Film makers whose work has helped raise awareness of human concerns and values are honoured with an award during the Charity Gala. The influence of the CINEMA FOR PEACE Gala extends far beyond the events of this one evening.
This Charity Gala is a symbol for peace, freedom and tolerance; a symbol with long term effects on the film and media world. It opens doors for important projects and the free exchange of ideas. Thus Dustin Hoffman’s critical questions in 2003 on the motives of the Iraq war led to worldwide media attention and led to open discussion.
But CINEMA FOR PEACE is not only a platform for valuable, critical artists but also an internationally renowned Charity Gala. Projects of UNICEF and the NELSON MANDELA FOUNDATION have been implemented through it, like SCHOOLS FOR AFRICA in 2005. Furthermore, together with UNIFEM and Nicole Kidman CINEMA FOR PEACE supports the project SAY NO TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN.
Awards for valuable social and humanitarian content in the world of film:
Cinema for Peace Award for Most Valuable Movie of the Year:
is awarded to productions that stand up for ideals like freedom and humanity.
CINEMA FOR PEACE is very happy about this year’s top jury for the CINEMA FOR PEACE Award for the Most Valuable Movie of the Year. The jury members include worldwide leading media journalists as well as film industry personalities.
The nominated films are:
1. The Necessities of Life – for the encouragement of cultural diversity.
2. Frost/ Nixon – for the examination of justice and freedom of opinion.
3. Gomorrha – for broaching the issue of the social grievances in today’s Italy which are unknown to the broader public.
4. Milk – or portraying a great fighter for gender equality and offering inspiration for future generations
5. Opium War – for the depiction of two of the most urgent current problems in to-day’s society: war and drug trade.
6. Revolutionary Road – for the depiction of the inherent relationships of personal, social and political aspects.
7. Slumdog Millionaire – for the depiction of individual power to fulfil dreams and overcome social hurdles.
8. Teza – for bringing the social and political grievances in Ethiopia to attention.
9. Valkyrie – for the depiction of the resistance against dictatorship, totalitarianism, and fascism.
10. XXY – for pleading the acceptance of sexual diversity.
International Human Rights Film Award:
is awarded with the cooperation of Amnesty International and The Human Rights Film Network. It takes films into regard that explicitly deal with the issue of human rights.
Cinema for Peace Award for Justice:
Will be awarded for the first time at the 2009 Gala and will be presented by the main prosecutor of the International Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo. The award regards films that take into account the goals of the international court: the preservation of human rights, freedom and justice.
The following tribute, among the subjects that stand in the foreground at the CINEMA FOR PEACE Gala 2009 is:
Cinema for Peace Honorary Award:
will be awarded to Roger Waters for his many years of dedication and work towards peace, freedom and human rights. The highly influential and artistic film “THE WALL” emphasizes the need to stand up for world peace and ones own ideals as well giving inspiration to the following generations. In 2009 Berlin is celebrating the 20th anni-versary of the fall of the wall. CINEMA FOR PEACE would like to mark this anniver-sary by honouring an artist who musically and cinematically anticipated the fall of the wall with his album “THE WALL”.
International Green Film Award presented by BMW:
honours people from the international film industry who have made an effort in pro-tecting the environment and climate and/or dedicate themselves to that area in an extraordinary way. This year the “International Green Film Award presented by BMW” will be presented by Michail Gorbatschov. The jury for this award consists of two members of the Cinema for Peace Foundation and a representative from BMW.
The highly prestigious “Cinema for Peace“ Gala is a symbol for peace, freedom and tolerance; a symbol with long term effects on the film and media world and a door opener for important projects and the free exchange of opinions.
Press contact:
Lavinia Reinke, Barbarella Entertainment, 030-2404 5693, lavinia.reinke@barbarella-berlin.de