Culture
Berlin: The Waldorf Astoria Hotel welcomes the Cinema for Peace Gala
On Saturday February 9th, the hotel Waldorf Astoria in Berlin will host the annual Cinema for Peace Gala. For the last decade the galas took place at the Konzerthaus on Gendarmenmarkt square and welcomed thousands of guests in the movie world, but also politicians, athletes and musicians. Mikhail Gorbachev, Sean Penn, Dustin Hoffman and Richard Gere have been at one of the galas.
While it is already the 11th gala this year, the Cinema for Peace foundation was only founded in 2008 by Jaka, Bizilj, a writer and producer, originally from Slovenia. He is also the chairman of Cinema for Peace.
Takla, Affleck and Veronica Ferres – Cinema For Peace 2013 Gala For Humanity Honoring Ben Affleck And The Eastern Congo Initiative – copyright Cinema For Peace
For those not familiar with Cinema for Peace it was founded to promote peace through movies after the September 11th tragedy. Every year movies talking about topics such as Aids, wars, natural catastrophes, financial crisis or environmental issues are chosen and nominated for prizes. Among many awards there are the most valuable movie of the year and documentary, the International Green Film, the award for justice and the International human rights award.
Last year after the opening speech of Irishman Sir Bob Geldof about the meaning of Cinema for Peace since its beginning, Angelina Jolie received a prize for the best movie of the year “In the Land of Blood and Honey.” The Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi was also there and received the International Human Rights film award. With her on the podium was the French film director, Jean-Luc Besson, who made the movie “The Lady,” about Aung San Suu Kyi’s life.
Among other things, the foundation has been fighting against child soldiers, nuclear weapons, genocide, Aids, for peace in Dafur and getting help for Haiti.
Cinema For Peace Gala 2012 – Inside Ceremony – copyright Cinema for Peace
This year the Cinema for Peace’s focus is the fight against anti-Semitism. Rabbi Daniel Alter, who suffered an anti-Semitist attack last year in Berlin, will give a Peace Honorary Award to three remarquable women, the actress Veronica Ferres and to Charlotte Knobloch and Marga Spiegel, two fighters against race discrimination and prejudice.
Both Charlotte Knobloch and Marga Spiegel are Holocaust survivors.
Veronica Ferrres played in movies such as “Saviours in the Night” (2009), “Destined to Witness” (2006) and “Anna´s Return” (2003), all against anti-Semitism. Since January 2011 she is also the International ambassador of “Hadassah”, an organisation fighting for better health, education and research in Israel. She has helped collect funds for the Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem.
“Almost no other German actress shows her commitment to fight anti-Semitism and xenophobia as strongly as Veronica Ferres, whose engagement is evident in many of her films. This emphasizes how important it is to always remember the Holocaust”, said Jaka Bizilj, in a press release. “This fight is particularly important when looking at the current anti-Semitism debate in Germany and at the attacks on Jewish citizens; it is imperative that every single person makes their opinion on the matter clear, just as our three prize winners did. There should never be any room for anti-Semitism in society.”
