CAPRI, December 31st, 11 – Emanuele Crialese has receive the “Capri Peace Award 2011” a special acknowledgment for the unflinching commitment against discrimination shown in his latest movie “Terraferma” that has been selected as Italian representative to the Academy Awards 2012. The Rome-born director has received the award by African-American actor Forest Whitaker (Oscar winner in 1997 for his mesmerizing performance in the movie about the cannibal-dictator Idi Amin) who was in Capri to chair the International Symposium on Intolerance and Discrimination (December 28th-30th) that was part of the activities of the 16th Capri, Hollywood – International Film Festival.
The highly anticipated symposium, promoted with the support of the Italian Unicef Commiteee, was opened by Vincenzo Spadafora recently appointed as Head of the new Italian Authority in Charge of the Protection of Children and Teenagers; among the participants and speakers who animated this topical workshop there was film director Lee Daniels who has received the “Capri Social Award” for his latest movie “Precious” (Oscar-nominee in 2012) in which he showed a strong commitment to the respect of minorities and against any kind of moral or civil abuse. On this occasion, Daniels showed the first sequences of his recent stint “The Paperboy” starring Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, John Cusack and Matthew McConaughey), produced by Avi Lerner’s Nu Image.
Among the other eminent speakers who shared their views and opinions at the Symposium against racism and Intolerance, there were Italian-Americam filmmaker Abel Ferrara, Rumanian director Robert Dornhelm, French-Jewish actress Elsa Zylberstein, Caribbean musician August Darnell aka Kid Creole, Italian screenwriter and director Mimmo Calopresti, Neapolitan song-writer Enzo Gragnaniello and producer Gaetano di Vaio (Figli del Bronx). The initiative was also accompanied by a short-film contest (5′) entitled “Apri il tuo cuore – Meno Razzismo = Più Felicità” aka OpenYour heart- Less Racism= More Happiness (regulations on www.socialcinemaforum.com).
