55th San Francisco International Film Festival Prize Winners
Portuguese director Gonçalo Tocha's It's the Earth Not the Moon won best documentary feature at the 55th San Francisco International Film Festival Wednesday night, while Israeli director Nadav Lapid (Policeman) won the festival's New Directors Prize and Eran Kolirin won the critic-centered FIPRESCI award for The Exchange. SFIFF, the oldest film festival in the Americas, awarded over $70,000 in prizes to its winners. For a full list of winners, visit their site.
President Clinton and Prince Albert's Big Bash
Headed to Cannes this year? If so, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the William J. Clinton Foundation are throwing a benefit ball at the Hotel de Paris in the principality on May 23. The party, titled "Nights in Monaco" will "transport guests back to an era of allure and prestige - an era known as the 'Golden Age of Hollywood,'" organizers said. The ball will be a fundraiser for both foundations.
Cannes to Honor Sean Penn and Others for Haiti Charity Work
If you can't make the Prince Albert/President Clinton soiree, then perhaps check out a Cannes-sponsored fund raising event (a festival first). "Haiti: Carnival in Cannes" will support charities in the earthquake- and cholera-ravaged Caribbean nation supported by Sean Penn (J/P HRO), Paul Haggis (Artists for Peace and Justice) and Czech supermodel Petra Nemcova (Artists for Peace and Justice).
Around the 'net…
Ashton Kutcher's 'Racist' Ad Dropped
An online potato chip advertisement featuring the 34-year-old actor in brown make-up portraying a Bollywood film producer was removed from YouTube and Facebook following viewer complaints, BBC reports.
Cablevision Puts Clearview Up for Sale
The company plans to sell its Clearview Cinemas which includes 45 locations and 230 screens, Variety reports.
Media Moguls with "Out-of-Whack" Compensation
Deadline has released its second annual list of media CEO's who receive disproportionately high salaries compared to other top execs at their companies,and those riding high include Discovery Communications' David Zaslav, AMC's Joshua Sapan, Dish Network's Joseph Clayton, Martha Stewart Living Optimedia's Martha Stewart and CBS' Leslie Moonves. See the full list for more details.
Avengers star Ruffalo Claims to Having 'Hulk Moments'
It's never a bad marketing plan for actors to claim a likeness to their characters, especially in the superhero department. Mark Ruffalo told the AP "When I was a young actor, if you came to my apartment, you would have seen pictures and photos hung in the most bizarre places, where they were covering holes in the wall from auditions that I didn't get…"
The Scream Fetches $120M
Norwegian painter Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' sold for $119,922,500 at Sotheby's on Wednesday. Only eight other works have sold at auction for more than $80 million, the AP reports.