Oscar®-nominated and Tony Award®-winning director honored April 29
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The 360 | 365 George Eastman House Film Festival announces Oscar®-nominated and Tony Award®-winning director Julie Taymor is the 2011 recipient of its Susan B. Anthony Award. The ceremony will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 29 in the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House, followed by a screening of her 2010 film The Tempest, which she directed and also wrote the adapted screenplay. Tickets are $15 and are on sale now.
Taymor is a theater, opera, and film director, as well as an award-winning songwriter, screenwriter, and costume designer. Her filmography includes Titus (1999), Frida (2002) and Across the Universe (2007), and her stage work includes The Lion King, for which she earned Tony Awards® for costumes and direction — making her the first woman to earn a Tony® for directing a musical — as well as the Pulitzer-nominated opera Grendel (2006) and most recently serving as co-writer and original director of Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark (2011).
“Julie Taymor had clear, rich ideas about how The Lion King should look from start to finish,” said Garth Fagan, who earned a Tony Award® for choreographing The Lion King and who will take part in her award ceremony. “Julie had numerous superb ideas as to how we would solve any problems that arose and insisted we find the magical solutions. She was hardworking and visionary. Congrats, Julie!”
The Susan B. Anthony Award, which has been given by the festival since its inception in 2001, shines a spotlight on individuals who have done extraordinary things throughout their careers to advance women in film. Past recipients include Rita Moreno, Pam Grier, Angela Basset, Lynn Redgrave, and Thelma Schoonmaker.
“This year we wanted to honor a filmmaker that was fearless in her pursuit of creativity and excelled in her artistic vision,” said Linda Moroney, managing director for 360 | 365. “Julie Taymor holds those two elements with grace and with clarity. We are honored to present her with our 2011 Susan B. Anthony Award.”
Festival audiences will have two opportunities to experience Taymor in person, and two opportunities to experience her films. “A Conversation with Julie Taymor” led by Jack Garner will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 30, in Little Theatre 5. Tickets are $12. Screenings include The Tempest on award night, Friday, April 29, which stars Djimon Hounsou, Russell Brand, and Helen Mirren as Prospero, a role usually cast with a male actor.
The second film, Across the Universe (PG-13), will be shown as a free outdoor screening at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 28 at the Memorial Art Gallery (to be held indoors at the MAG in event of rain). The film features the music of the Beatles and the Vietnam War as the backdrop to a visually charged romance between an upper-class American girl and an artist from Liverpool, England.
The 360 | 365 George Eastman House Film Festival takes to Rochester screens April 27-May 2, with 105 films from 21 countries, plus celebratory parties, panel discussions, artist conversations, and award ceremonies. Others being honored this year are Oscar®-nominated and Emmy®-winning cinematographer Buddy Squires, who will receive the Golden Lens Award for Cinematography, presented by Kodak and the festival, and celebrated Rochester-based screenwriter Brock Yates, who will receive the inaugural Rochester Film Legacy Award. The festival is celebrating its 10th year in 2011.
The 360 | 365 George Eastman House Film Festival is the only contemporary film festival in the United States aligned with a major motion picture archive. It is also Rochester’s largest film festival. The artistic vision for the festival is steered by a three-member team: a filmmaker, a film programmer, and a film critic — Linda Moroney (Independent Filmmaker), Jack Garner (retired chief film critic for Gannett News Service), and Lori Donnelly (George Eastman House’s film programmer).
Tickets for the 2011 festival are on sale now. Tickets and passes can be purchased at www.film360365.com/festival/tickets-and-passes. Tickets also can be purchased in person at The Little Theatre (lobby of Theaters (2-5) Wednesday, April 20 through Sunday, May 1, as well as at each venue before each event if tickets remain.
The festival’s official program book will be available to the public beginning Wednesday, April 13, inserted into that weeks’ issue of City Newspaper and at various sites throughout the community, as well as posted online.
The major sponsors of the 360 | 365 George Eastman House Film Festival are Monroe County, Assemblyman Joe Morelle, City of Rochester, VisitRochester, Partners + Napier, Dixon Schwabl, Harris Beach Law Firm, Eastman Kodak Company, and Philipson Group.
About the 360 | 365 George Eastman House Film Festival
The 360 | 365 George Eastman House Film Festival is a six-day celebration of film and film history, including local premieres of more than 100 new features documentaries, short films, and experimental works. This international festival – the only contemporary film festival in the United States aligned with a major film archive — presents lively panel discussion and awards to legendary filmmakers and artists. Experience the films and excitement you see at Sundance, Berlin, and Tribeca. For more information visit www.film360365.com. Live.Breathe.Film.
