The Eighth Annual Cinema For Peace Gala to Take Place February 9, 2009 at the Konzerthaus Berlin

The Eighth Annual Cinema For Peace Gala to Take Place February 9, 2009 at the Konzerthaus Berlin

Oscar Winning Actor Leonardo DiCaprio to be Honoured; Event to be Sponsored by BMW

BERLIN, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The international film industry will gather to honour the most significant films of the year at the Eighth Annual Cinema For Peace Awards and Charity Gala on Monday, February 9, 2009, at the Konzerthaus Berlin. Twenty years after the Peaceful Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall, this year's Cinema For Peace Gala will focus on ecological awareness and the preservation of our environment; tolerance and peace in the time of war and natural disasters; and social commitment.

Awards will include The Cinema For Peace Award for Most Valuable Movie of the Year; The International Human Rights Film Award; and The International Green Film Award. For the first time, Cinema For Peace, along with Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief-Prosecuter of the International Criminial Court, will award the Cinema For Peace Award for Justice.

This year's event chairs will include special honouree Leonardo DiCaprio, who will be presented with the International Green Film Award presented by BMW by Mikhail Gorbachev. The award is akin to a "Green Oscar," offering a platform for environmental activists and dedicated artists to draw attention as well as strengthen and encourage the public conscience for environmental issues. The Award comes with a $250,000 donation for an environmental foundation or film project.

Leonardo DiCaprio has been at the forefront of the environmental movement for years, He is a board member of Global Green USA and the National Resources Defense Council. At the age of only 24, he set up The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which helps draw attention to environmental issues. DiCaprio supports various environmental causes, and has financed and produced short films on the subject of environmental protection, including "Global Warming" and "Water Planet," as well as the environmental documentary film "11th Hour."

In keeping with Cinema For Peace's tradition of working with well-known stars and their projects, the award marks the beginning of a collaboration between DiCaprio and the Cinema For Peace Foundation.

Sponsored by BMW, and in cooperation with Amnesty International, Human Rights Film Watch and "Movies that Matter," the evening will feature a special performance by Laureate Roger Waters alongside Sohne Mannheims. They will offer their take on Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and "Wish You Were Here." Award presenters include Bob Geldolf, Sir Ben Kingsley and Mikhail Gorbachev. Other sponsors include Air Berlin, Prisma Life, SilviaQuandt-Bank, Stroer and Hotel Adlon.

The evening's live auction will be hosted by Simon de Pury of Phillips de Pury & Company, and will include such exciting items as a BMW 118d, the 2008 World Green Car of the Year.

This year's event chairs include Diane Kruger, Christopher Lee, Boris Becker, Lapo Elkann, Joschka Fischer, Thomas Kretschmann, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Danis Tanovic Bryan Adams, Carine Roitfeld and Paulo Coelho. The vice chairs include Abdulhamid Juma, Christian Angermayer, Jaka Bizilj, Markus Brugger, Dr. Hermann Buhlbecker, Andrea Dibelius, Joachim Hunold, Abdulhamid Juma, Peter Kramer, Carola Meier and Hans-Reiner Schroder. Honorary chairs include Mikhail Gorbachev and Catherine Deneuve.

For the third time, BMW will be the exclusive presenting partner at the Cinema For Peace Awards and Charity Gala. With the "International Green Film Award," BMW recognizes outstanding cinematic achievements and personalities in the film businesses who have worked on behalf of the environment and climate protection.

About Cinema For Peace

For the past seven 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. The Cinema For Peace Foundation was created to develop the gala's goals and activities throughout the year, which it achieves by producing and collaborating on its own films, such as the remake of Richard Curtis' triple-Emmy award-winning "The Girl in the Cafe", "Suddenly Gina", and a documentary on the life of the murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaja. Thanks to the generous support the annual gala receives Cinema For Peace has increased the amount of assistance it has been able to give to selected charities steadily over the last years and equally importantly, has also expanded its role in raising public consciousness of social inequality and injustice. We hope you will join us in supporting this very important work, today and in years to come.

Cinema For Peace has worked on numerous celebrity-driven projects, including the United Nations "Say No To Violence Against Women" campaign with Nicole Kidman; several G8-campaigns in partnership with Bob Geldof and multiple relief projects for Tibetan refugees alongside Richard Gere. In the last few years alone, Cinema For Peace - in collaboration with dedicated artists such as Susan Sarandon, Roger Moore and Christopher Lee - has raised nearly 2 million euros for UNICEF.

Source: Cinema For Peace

CONTACT: Christina Stejskal, PMK/HBH - NY, +1-212-582-1111,
Christina.Stejskal@pmkhbh.com, or Andy Gelb, PMK/HBH - LA, +1-310-289-6200,
Andy.Gelb@pmkhbh.com, both for Cinema For Peace

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