1.
Creation (2009 film)
–
British naturalist Charles Darwin is a young father who lives a quiet life in an idyllic village. He is a brilliant and deeply emotional man, devoted to his wife, Darwin is especially fond of his eldest daughter Annie, a precocious and inquisitive ten-year-old. He teaches her much about nature and science, including his theory of evolution, and tells her stories of his travels. Her favourite story, despite the sad ending, is about the young orangutan Jenny, who is brought from Borneo to the London Zoo, where she finally died of pneumonia in the arms of her keeper. Having returned from his expedition in the Galapagos Islands 15 years earlier, Darwin is still trying to finish a manuscript about his findings, Emma worries that she may go to heaven and he may not, separating them for eternity. The film shows Annie in flashbacks and hallucinations, a vibrant apparition who goads her father to address his fears and it is apparent that Annie has died, and that her death is a taboo subject between Darwin and Emma, as both feel intense blame for her death. As a result of the relations between Charles and Emma, they stop making love entirely. Anguished, Darwin begins to suffer from a mysterious, fatiguing illness and it is revealed that after Annie becomes ill in 1851, Darwin takes her to the Worcestershire town of Malvern for James Manby Gullys water cure therapy, against Emmas will. Annies condition worsens, and she dies after her father, at her request. Darwin is devastated, and her death sharpens his conviction that natural laws have nothing to do with divine intervention, to his contemporaries, this is an idea so dangerous it seems to threaten the existence of God. In a box in Darwins study, we discover the notes, having read his 230-page synopsis, Darwins friends in the scientific community, Joseph Dalton Hooker and Thomas Henry Huxley, also encourage him. Huxley admiringly tells Darwin that with his theory he has killed God, in his hallucinations, he also feels that Annie disapproves of his procrastination. Darwin receives a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace in 1858, which details the findings as Darwin in 20 pages. He has mixed feelings about this, all his work may have been in vain, but on the hand, as he will not have to write his book. However, Darwins friends urge him to continue, as his book is more comprehensive. After receiving treatment at Malvern himself, Darwin makes a pilgrimage to the hotel where Annie died. The journey marks a change in him, upon his home, he is able to reconnect with his wife. They specifically speak about the possibility that Annie died because she was weak, as Darwin
2.
The Young Victoria
–
As screenwriter, Fellowes sought to make the film as historically accurate as possible. Despite this, various aspects of the film have been criticised for their historical inaccuracies, Momentum Pictures released the film in the United Kingdom, where it appeared in cinemas on 6 March 2009. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group opened The Young Victoria in limited release in the United States on 18 December 2009 through Apparition. Critical reception was positive, and it scored a 76 percent rating on film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based upon 139 reviews. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning the 2009 Academy Award for Best Costume Design, the film also won for the Best Make-Up and Hair and Best Costume Design at the 63rd British Academy Film Awards. Princess Victoria of Kent is the heiress presumptive to the throne during the last years of the reign of her uncle King William IV and is subject to a tug of war for influence over her. On the other side is her uncle, King Leopold I of the Belgians and he decides to have his nephew Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha seduce Victoria and he is coached in her likes and dislikes. The Duchess invites the Coburg brothers, Albert and Prince Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and they begin writing to one another after Albert returns home. At a birthday reception in Windsor Castle, the King states his wish to be closer to Victoria, but when the King increases Victorias income, this is rejected by Conroy, who physically subdues her in front of her mother, heightening the animosity between them. The King then sends the Prime Minister Lord Melbourne to advise her, Victoria agrees to make him her private secretary, and he appoints ladies-in-waiting for her from political families allied to him. King William dies after Victorias 18th birthday, avoiding a regency, after accession, Victoria immediately begins to exert her independence, including moving into her own room and banishing Conroy from her household and coronation. During her first meeting with the Privy Council, she announces that I mean to devote my life in service of my country, Victoria now moves into the recently completed Buckingham Palace and her aunt, Queen Adelaide, advises her against giving in too much to Lord Melbournes direction. Albert then comes to England to spend time with Victoria. They bond more, dancing together during her coronation and later discussing together the condition of the poor, Albert hints at taking their relationship further but the self-sufficient Victoria resists and he leaves. Peel in turn refuses the invitation to form a new government. The subsequent crisis damages Victorias popularity, leading to demonstrations outside the palace and her loneliness during the turbulence draws Victoria closer to Albert through their letters and she decides to invite him back to Britain. Since protocol prevents him suggesting marriage, she proposes to him herself and their marriage is loving and the birth of their first child helps heal the breach between Victoria and her mother, who had earlier sent a letter of support during the crisis. Nevertheless, Albert is frustrated at his initial powerlessness and Queen Adelaide advises Victoria to allow him to take on more duties and he then reorganises the running of the royal household and dismisses Conroy for mishandling funds
3.
Toronto
–
Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. With a population of 2,731,571, it is the fourth most populous city in North America after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles. A global city, Toronto is a centre of business, finance, arts, and culture. Aboriginal peoples have inhabited the area now known as Toronto for thousands of years, the city itself is situated on the southern terminus of an ancient Aboriginal trail leading north to Lake Simcoe, used by the Wyandot, Iroquois, and the Mississauga. Permanent European settlement began in the 1790s, after the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase of 1787, the British established the town of York, and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York, York was renamed and incorporated as the city of Toronto in 1834, and became the capital of the province of Ontario during the Canadian Confederation in 1867. The city proper has since expanded past its original borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities at various times in its history to its current area of 630.2 km2. While the majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, Toronto is a prominent centre for music, theatre, motion picture production, and television production, and is home to the headquarters of Canadas major national broadcast networks and media outlets. Toronto is known for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. The name Toronto is likely derived from the Iroquois word tkaronto and this refers to the northern end of what is now Lake Simcoe, where the Huron had planted tree saplings to corral fish. A portage route from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron running through this point, in the 1660s, the Iroquois established two villages within what is today Toronto, Ganatsekwyagon on the banks of the Rouge River and Teiaiagonon the banks of the Humber River. By 1701, the Mississauga had displaced the Iroquois, who abandoned the Toronto area at the end of the Beaver Wars, French traders founded Fort Rouillé on the current Exhibition grounds in 1750, but abandoned it in 1759. During the American Revolutionary War, the region saw an influx of British settlers as United Empire Loyalists fled for the British-controlled lands north of Lake Ontario, the new province of Upper Canada was in the process of creation and needed a capital. Dorchester intended the location to be named Toronto, in 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe established the town of York on the Toronto Purchase lands, instead naming it after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Simcoe decided to move the Upper Canada capital from Newark to York, the York garrison was constructed at the entrance of the towns natural harbour, sheltered by a long sandbar peninsula. The towns settlement formed at the end of the harbour behind the peninsula, near the present-day intersection of Parliament Street. In 1813, as part of the War of 1812, the Battle of York ended in the towns capture, the surrender of the town was negotiated by John Strachan. US soldiers destroyed much of the garrison and set fire to the parliament buildings during their five-day occupation, the sacking of York was a primary motivation for the Burning of Washington by British troops later in the war
4.
Toronto International Film Festival
–
The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Year-round, TIFF Bell Lightbox offers screenings, lectures, discussions, festivals, workshops, industry support, TIFF Bell Lightbox is located on the north west corner of King Street and John Street in downtown Toronto. In 2015,397 films from 71 countries were screened at 28 screens in downtown Toronto venues, welcoming an estimated 480,000 attendees, TIFF starts the Thursday night after Labour Day and lasts for eleven days. Founded in 1976, TIFF is now one of the most prestigious events of its kind in the world, in 1998, Variety magazine acknowledged that TIFF is second only to Cannes in terms of high-profile pics, stars and market activity. In 2007, TIME noted that TIFF had grown from its place as the most influential film festival to the most influential film festival. This is partially the result of TIFFs ability and reputation for generating Oscar buzz, the Toronto International Festival’s Grolsch People’s Choice Award — which is based on popular vote by Festival filmgoers — has emerged as a beacon of awards-season success. Founded by Bill Marshall, Dusty Cohl and Henk Van der Kolk and that first year,35,000 filmgoers watched 127 films from 30 countries presented in ten programmes. Piers Handling has been the director and CEO since 1994. TIFF was once centred on the Yorkville neighbourhood, but the Toronto Entertainment District later gained a level of prominence. TIFF is known for the celebrity buzz it brings to the area with international media setting up near its restaurants and stores for photos and interviews with the stars. In 2010, TIFF opened its permanent headquarters, TIFF Bell Lightbox, TIFF has grown, steadily adding initiatives throughout the years. TIFF Cinematheque and the Film Reference Library opened in 1990, the TIFF Kids International Film Festival launched in 1998. Film Circuit began exhibiting independent and Canadian films in under-serviced cities across Canada in 1994, the festival was founded in 1976 at the Windsor Arms Hotel by Bill Marshall, Henk Van der Kolk and Dusty Cohl. Beginning as a collection of the films from film festivals around the world. Ironically, however, Hollywood studios withdrew their submissions from TIFF due to concerns that Toronto audiences would be too parochial for their products, in 1994, the decision was made to replace the name Festival of Festivals with Toronto International Film Festival. From 1994 to 2009, the organization running TIFF was named Toronto International Film Festival Group. In 2009, the umbrella organization TIFFG was renamed to TIFF, in 2001, Perspective Canada, the programme that had focused on Canadian films since 1984, was replaced by two programmes, Canada First. A forum for Canadian filmmakers presenting their first feature-length work, featuring eight to 15 films, and Short Cuts Canada, in 2004, TIFF was featured as the site of murder mystery in the film Jiminy Glick in Lalawood, a comedy film starring Martin Short
5.
Ontario
–
Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canadas most populous province by a margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and it is home to the nations capital city, Ottawa, and the nations most populous city, Toronto. There is only about 1 km of land made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border. Ontario is sometimes divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontarios population and arable land is located in the south, in contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and is heavily forested. The province is named after Lake Ontario, a thought to be derived from Ontarí, io, a Huron word meaning great lake, or possibly skanadario. Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes, the province consists of three main geographical regions, The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, studded with lakes, Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions, Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the north and northeast, mainly swampy. Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four regions, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe, the highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands, the Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment, the Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87 percent of the area of the province. Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario that is the southernmost extent of Canadas mainland, Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the border of California. The climate of Ontario varies by season and location, the effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief. In general, most of Ontarios climate is classified as humid continental, Ontario has three main climatic regions
6.
Charles Darwin
–
Charles Robert Darwin, FRS FRGS FLS FZS was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, by the 1870s, the scientific community and much of the general public had accepted evolution as a fact. In modified form, Darwins scientific discovery is the theory of the life sciences. Darwins early interest in nature led him to neglect his education at the University of Edinburgh, instead. Studies at the University of Cambridge encouraged his passion for natural science, puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin began detailed investigations and in 1838 conceived his theory of natural selection. Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and he was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay that described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of both of their theories. Darwins work established evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature, in 1871 he examined human evolution and sexual selection in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. His research on plants was published in a series of books, Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history, and he was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey. Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, on 12 February 1809, at his familys home and he was the fifth of six children of wealthy society doctor and financier Robert Darwin and Susannah Darwin. He was the grandson of two prominent abolitionists, Erasmus Darwin on his fathers side, and Josiah Wedgwood on his mothers side, both families were largely Unitarian, though the Wedgwoods were adopting Anglicanism. The eight-year-old Charles already had a taste for history and collecting when he joined the day school run by its preacher in 1817. From September 1818, he joined his older brother Erasmus attending the nearby Anglican Shrewsbury School as a boarder and he found lectures dull and surgery distressing, so neglected his studies. He learned taxidermy in around 40 daily hour-long sessions from John Edmonstone, one day, Grant praised Lamarcks evolutionary ideas. Darwin was astonished by Grants audacity, but had recently read similar ideas in his grandfather Erasmus journals, Darwin was rather bored by Robert Jamesons natural-history course, which covered geology - including the debate between Neptunism and Plutonism. He learned the classification of plants, and assisted with work on the collections of the University Museum, as Darwin was unqualified for the Tripos, he joined the ordinary degree course in January 1828. He preferred riding and shooting to studying, when his own exams drew near, Darwin focused on his studies and was delighted by the language and logic of William Paleys Evidences of Christianity. In his final examination in January 1831 Darwin did well, coming out of 178 candidates for the ordinary degree. Darwin had to stay at Cambridge until June 1831, inspired with a burning zeal to contribute, Darwin planned to visit Tenerife with some classmates after graduation to study natural history in the tropics
7.
Queen Victoria
–
Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne aged 18, after her fathers three brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments, publicly, Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together, after Alberts death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and it was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover and her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victorias father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, until 1817, Edwards niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora —by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen and her brother Leopold was Princess Charlottes widower. The Duke and Duchess of Kents only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a. m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace and she was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina, Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Dukes eldest brother, George, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent married on the same day in 1818, but both of Clarences daughters died as infants. Victorias father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, a week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son, George IV. The Duke of York died in 1827, when George IV died in 1830, he was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive
8.
Lee Daniels
–
Lee Louis Daniels is an American film and television producer and director. He produced Monsters Ball and directed Precious, which received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Director, in 2012, Daniels directed The Butler, a historical fiction drama featuring an ensemble cast portraying unique events on the 20th century presidents of the United States at the White House. Daniels is also a co-creator, executive producer and director of the television series Empire and Star, Daniels was born on Christmas Eve,1959, the son of Clara Watson and William L. Daniels, in Philadelphia. He graduated from upscale, suburban Radnor High School in 1978 and he couldnt afford film school, so he started in a liberal arts college in Missouri but realized it wasnt for him, and started working as a receptionist in a nursing agency in California. Realizing he could do it on his own, he quit the job and he sold the company and went to work casting actors using his skills from casting nurses. He began his career in entertainment as a director and manager after a chance meeting with a Hollywood producer, working on such projects as Under the Cherry Moon. The documentary My Big Break features Daniels early in his career when he was managing actor Wes Bentley who starred as Ricky Fitts in American Beauty, in the documentary, Daniels comments on Bentleys reluctance to capitalize on his newfound celebrity status. Lees father, Philadelphia police officer William Daniels, was, as Daniels says, killed in the line of duty when Lee was a teenager, in 1975. Daniels has been open about his father being violent and physically abusive towards him. Daniels younger sister Leah is a casting director and he also has four younger brothers. Monsters Ball, the production of Lee Daniels Entertainment, was a critical. Halle Berry won the Oscar for Best Actress, the film was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Daniels 2004 production The Woodsman, starring Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick and Mos Def, former president Bill Clinton persuaded Daniels to produce public service announcements to encourage young people of color to vote. The campaign was launched in March 2004 and featured Grammy winners actor/musician LL Cool J, Daniels first directorial effort, 2006s Shadowboxer, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. It starred Helen Mirren, Cuba Gooding, Jr. Stephen Dorff, Vanessa Ferlito, MoNique, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and it was nominated for Best New Director at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Along the way they meet Krystal, a singer who flees her controlling husband to join them on their journey. His 2009 film Precious told the story of an obese, illiterate and she has been impregnated twice by her father, Carl, and suffers long-term physical, sexual and emotional abuse from her unemployed mother, Mary. Carey also appeared, in the role of a social worker, the film screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and went on to garner widespread acclaim
9.
Precious (film)
–
Precious, Base on Nol by Saf, or simply Precious, is a 2009 American drama film, directed and co-produced by Lee Daniels. Precious is an adaptation by Geoffrey S. Fletcher of the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire, the film stars Gabourey Sidibe, MoNique, Paula Patton, and Mariah Carey. This film marked the debut of Sidibe. The film, then without a distributor, premiered to acclaim at both the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, under its title of Push. At Sundance, it won the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize for best drama, Precious won the Peoples Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The films title was changed from Push to Precious, Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, Precious was also an official selection at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. Lionsgate gave the film a release in North America on November 6,2009. Precious received largely positive reviews critics, the acting, the story. In the films opening weekend in limited release, it grossed $1.8 million, as of February 2010, the film had grossed over $47 million domestically, ranking no.65 for 2009, recouping its $10 million budget, and making it a box office success. Precious received six Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture, Geoffrey Fletcher won for Best Adapted Screenplay. MoNique won the award for Best Supporting Actress, for which she received an ovation at the ceremony. In 1987, 16-year-old Claireece Precious Jones lives in the New York City ghetto of Harlem with her mother, Mary. Precious has been raped by her father, Carl, resulting in two pregnancies, the family resides in a Section 8 tenement and survives on welfare. When Precious second pregnancy is discovered, her school principal arranges for her to attend an alternative school. Precious finds a way out of her daily life by escaping into daydreams in which she is loved and appreciated. Inspired by her new teacher, Blu Rain, Precious finally learns to read and she meets sporadically with social worker Ms. Weiss, who learns about incest in the household when Precious reveals who fathered her children. While Precious is in the giving birth to her second child, Abdul, she meets John McFadden. Upon returning home, her mother carelessly drops 3-day-old Abdul and hits her, Precious fights back and runs away from her home with Abdul
10.
Cadillac
–
Cadillac /ˈkædᵻlæk/, formally the Cadillac Motor Car Division, is a division of the U. S. -based General Motors that markets luxury vehicles worldwide. Its primary markets are the United States, Canada, and China, historically, Cadillac automobiles have always held a place at the top of the luxury field within the United States. In 2016, Cadillacs U. S. sales were 170,006 vehicles, Cadillac is among the oldest automobile brands in the world, second in America only to fellow GM marque Buick. The firm was founded from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company in 1902 and it was named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who founded Detroit, Michigan. The Cadillac crest is based on his coat of arms, by the time General Motors purchased the company in 1909, Cadillac had already established itself as one of Americas premier luxury carmakers. The complete interchangeability of its parts had allowed it to lay the foundation for the modern mass production of automobiles. It was at the forefront of advances, introducing full electrical systems, the clashless manual transmission. The brand developed three engines, with its V8 setting the standard for the American automotive industry and it won the trophy again in 1912 for incorporating electric starting and lighting in a production automobile. Cadillac was formed from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company, after a dispute between Henry Ford and his investors, Ford left the company along with several of his key partners in March 1902. Instead, Leland persuaded the pair to continue manufacturing automobiles using Lelands proven single-cylinder engine, a new company called the Cadillac Automobile Company was established on 22 August 1902, re-purposing the Henry Ford Company factory at Cass Street and Amsterdam Avenue. It was named after French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, Cadillacs first automobiles, the Runabout and Tonneau, were completed in October 1902. They were two-seat horseless carriages powered by a 10 hp single-cylinder engine and they were practically identical to the 1903 Ford Model A. Cadillac displayed the new vehicles at the New York Auto Show in January 1903, Cadillacs biggest selling point was precision manufacturing, and therefore, reliability, a Cadillac was simply a better-made vehicle than its competitors. Runabout Rear-entrance tonneau Special bodies The Cadillac Automobile Company merged with Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing, forming The Cadillac Motor Company in 1905. From its earliest years, Cadillac aimed for precision engineering and stylish luxury finishes, Cadillac was the first volume manufacturer of a fully enclosed car in 1906. Cadillac participated in the 1908 interchangeability test in the United Kingdom, in 1912, Cadillac was the first automobile manufacturer to incorporate an electrical system enabling starting, ignition, and lighting. Cadillac was purchased by the General Motors conglomerate in 1909, Cadillac became General Motors prestige division, devoted to the production of large luxury vehicles. It was positioned at the top of GMs vehicle hierarchy, above Buick, Oldsmobile, Oakland, in 1915, Cadillac introduced a 90-degree flathead V8 engine with 70 horsepower at 2400 rpm and 180 pound force-feet of torque, allowing its cars to attain 65 miles per hour
11.
Slumdog Millionaire
–
Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British drama film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and produced by Christian Colson. Set and filmed in India, it is a adaptation of the novel Q & A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup, telling the story of Jamal Malik, age 18. As a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, who is able to answer every stage correctly, he is accused of cheating. Jamal recounts his history, illustrating how he is able to each question. Regarded as a hit, Slumdog Millionaire was widely acclaimed, being praised for its plot, soundtrack. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards in 2009 and won eight—the most for any 2008 film—including Best Picture, Best Director and it won seven BAFTA Awards including Best Film, five Critics Choice Awards and four Golden Globes. 18-year-old Jamal Malik, an Indian Muslim from the Juhu slum, is a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. and is one question away from the grand prize. Jamal recounts, through flashbacks, the incidents in his life which provided him with each answer, as they flee the riot, they meet Latika, a girl from their slum. Salim is reluctant to take her in, but Jamal suggests that she could be the third musketeer, the three are found by Maman—a gangster who tricks and then trains street children into becoming beggars. When Salim discovers Maman is blinding the children in order to them more effective beggars, he flees with Jamal. Latika fails to board the train as Salim purposefully lets go of her hand and this resulted in her being recaptured by Maman. At Jamals insistence, they return to Mumbai to find Latika, discovering that she is being raised by Maman to be a prostitute, to him soon a high price. The brothers rescue her, and while escaping Maman they shoot him to death, Salim then manages to get a job with Javed—Mamans rival crime lord. Back at their room, Salim orders Jamal to leave him, when Jamal refuses, Salim draws a gun on him, whereas Latika persuades Jamal to obey his brother and go away. Years later, Jamal, now a tea-boy in an Indian call centre, searches the database for Salim. He fails in finding Latika, while succeeding in finding Salim, Jamal reproaches Salim, who then pleads for forgiveness, and offers him to stay in his luxurious apartment. Jamal later bluffs his way into Javeds residence to reunite with Latika but as he professes his love for her, Jamal nevertheless promises to wait for her every day at five oclock at the VT station. Latika attempts to him there, but is recaptured by Javeds men, led by Salim, and once Javed moves to another house, outside Mumbai
12.
Danny Boyle
–
His debut film Shallow Grave won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film. Boyles 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won eight and he also won the Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for Best Director. Boyle was presented with the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award at the 2008 Austin Film Festival, in 2012, Boyle was the Artistic Director for Isles of Wonder, the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games. He was subsequently offered a knighthood as part of the New Year Honours, in 2014, it was announced that Boyle would become a patron of HOME in Manchester. Danny Boyle was born on 20 October 1956 in Radcliffe, Lancashire, although he now describes himself as a spiritual atheist, he was brought up in a working class Catholic family. Boyle was a boy for eight years and his mother had the priesthood in mind for him. Whether he was saving me from the priesthood or the priesthood from me, but quite soon after, I started doing drama. And theres a connection, I think. All these directors — Martin Scorsese, John Woo, M. Night Shyamalan — they were all meant to be priests, Theres something very theatrical about it. It’s basically the same job — poncing around, telling people what to think and he later studied at Thornleigh Salesian College in Bolton, and studied English and Drama at Bangor University. While at university, Boyle dated the actress Frances Barber, Boyle is the patron of North West-based young peoples substance misuse charity, Early Break, which was founded and based in his home town of Radcliffe. Boyle is also a trustee of the UK-based African arts charity Dramatic Need, upon leaving school he began his career at the Joint Stock Theatre Company, before moving onto the Royal Court Theatre in 1982 where he directed The Genius by Howard Brenton and Saved by Edward Bond. He also directed five productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, in 2011 he directed Frankenstein for the National Theatre. This production was broadcast to cinemas as a part of National Theatre Live on 17 March 2011, Boyle was Artistic Director for the 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony in London. The ceremony, entitled Isles of Wonder, charted aspects of British culture, including the Industrial Revolution and British contributions to literature, music, film, reception to the ceremony was generally positive, both nationally in the United Kingdom and internationally. In December 2012 it was reported that Boyle turned down a knighthood in the New Year Honours list. He told BBC Radio 4 Im very proud to be an equal citizen, in 2014, it was announced that Boyle would become a patron of HOME in Manchester. These were Masonic Mysteries and Cherubim and Seraphim and he was also responsible for the BBC2 series Mr. Wroes Virgins
13.
Academy Awards
–
The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
14.
The Hurt Locker
–
The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war thriller film about an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who are being targeted by insurgents with booby traps, remote control detonations and ambushes. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, the film shows soldiers varying psychological reactions to the stress of combat, which though intolerable to some, is addictive to others. The story unfolds after a staff sergeant is killed by an insurgent trap and his comrades suspect that their new team leader is being driven to take terrifying risks. Writer Mark Boal drew on his experience during embedded access to provide a background for the production. The Hurt Locker received widespread acclaim and won six Academy Awards. Bigelow won the award for Best Director, as of 2017 and his team includes Sergeant J. T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge. His maverick disposal methods and attitude lead to Sanborn and Eldridge considering him reckless, meanwhile, James is often approached by an Iraqi youth named Beckham attempting to sell DVDs. James challenges him to a game of soccer and takes a liking to him, when they are assigned to destroy some explosives, James returns to the detonation site to pick up his gloves. Sanborn openly contemplates killing him by accidentally triggering the explosion, making Eldridge somewhat uncomfortable, returning to Camp Victory in their Humvee, the team encounters five armed men in traditional Arab garb and casual attire standing near a Ford Excursion, which has a flat tire. James team has an encounter with their leader, who then reveals they are private military contractors. They have captured two prisoners featured on the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards, the entire group suddenly comes under fire, and when the prisoners attempt to escape in the confusion, the leader of the mercenaries remembers the bounty for them is dead or alive and shoots them. Enemy snipers kill three of the mercenaries, including their leader, Sanborn and James borrow a Barrett.50 cal to dispatch three attackers, while Eldridge kills a fourth. During a raid on a warehouse, James discovers the body of a young boy, during evacuation, Lieutenant Colonel John Cambridge, the camps psychiatrist and a friend of Eldridges, is killed in an explosion, Eldridge blames himself for his death. Later, James breaks into the house of an Iraqi professor, seeking revenge for Beckham, called to a petrol tanker detonation, James decides on his own to hunt for the insurgents responsible, guessing they are still nearby. Sanborn protests, but when James heads out, he and Eldridge reluctantly follow, after they split up, insurgents capture Eldridge. James and Sanborn rescue him, but accidentally shoot him in the leg, the following morning, James is approached by Beckham, who he believed was dead, and walks by without saying a word. Before being airlifted for surgery elsewhere, Eldridge angrily blames James for his injury, James and Sanborns unit is called to another mission in their last two days of their rotation. An innocent Iraqi civilian man has had a bomb vest strapped to his chest, James tries to cut off the locks to remove the vest, but there are too many of them
15.
Kathryn Bigelow
–
Kathryn Ann Bigelow is an American film director, producer, and writer. The Hurt Locker won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture and the BAFTA Award for Best Film and she also became the first woman to win the Saturn Award for Best Director in 1995 for Strange Days. In April 2010, Bigelow was named to the Time 100 list of most influential people of the year, Bigelow was born in San Carlos, California, the only child of Gertrude Kathryn, a librarian, and Ronald Elliot Bigelow, a paint factory manager. Her mother was of Norwegian descent, Bigelows early creative endeavors were as a student of painting. She enrolled at San Francisco Art Institute in the fall of 1970, while enrolled at SFAI, she was accepted into the Whitney Museum of American Arts Independent Study Program in New York City. Bigelows early work benefited from her apprenticeships with Vito Acconci, Richard Serra, also in her early days in Manhattan, Bigelow teamed up with Philip Glass on a real-estate venture in which the pair personally renovated distressed apartments downtown then sold them for a profit. Bigelow entered the film program at Columbia University, where she studied theory and criticism. She also taught at the California Institute of the Arts, Bigelows short The Set-Up is a 20-minute deconstruction of violence in film. The film portrays two men fighting each other as the semioticians Sylvère Lotringer and Marshall Blonsky deconstruct the images in voice-over, Bigelow asked her actors to actually beat and bludgeon each other throughout the films all-night shoot. Her first full-length feature was The Loveless, a film which she co-directed with Monty Montgomery. Next, she directed Near Dark, which she co-scripted with Eric Red, in the same year, she directed a music video for the New Order song Touched by the Hand of God, the video is a spoof of glam metal imagery. Bigelows subsequent trilogy of action films — Blue Steel, Point Break, in the process, Bigelow became recognizable as both a Hollywood brand and an auteur. All three films rethink the conventions of action cinema while exploring gendered and racial politics, Eric Red was also co-writer on Bigelows 1990 film, Blue Steel. Blue Steel starred Jamie Lee Curtis as a police officer who is stalked by a psychopathic killer. This is perhaps due to the fact that it most successfully conforms to its genre and abandons much of the stylistic substance. In 1993, she directed an episode of the TV series Wild Palms, Bigelows 1995 film Strange Days was written and produced by her ex-husband James Cameron. Despite some positive reviews, the film was a commercial failure, furthermore, many attributed the creative vision to James Cameron, diminishing Bigelows perceived influence on the film. She directed episodes of Homicide, Life on the Street in 1997 and 1998, based on Anita Shreves novel of the same name, Bigelows 2000 film The Weight of Water is a portrait of two women trapped in suffocating relationships
16.
Mao's Last Dancer (film)
–
Maos Last Dancer is a 2009 Australian film based on professional dancer Li Cunxins autobiography of the same name. Li Cunxin is portrayed by Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal Dancer Chi Cao, Australian Ballet dancer Chengwu Guo, the film also stars Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachlan, Joan Chen, Wang Shuangbao and Amanda Schull. The film premiered on 13 September 2009, at the Toronto International Film Festival, general release in Australia and New Zealand began on 1 October 2009. It began screening in the United States on 33 screens in August 2010, in the era of Maos Cultural Revolution, 11-year-old Chinese boy Li Cunxin resides in a rural village commune in Shandong Province, destined to labour in the fields. As often occurred in times, government officials fanning out across the nation seeking young candidates for centralized training arrive at this school. Forwarded to a Beijing audition for a place in Madame Maos Dance Academy, he is admitted for ballet training based on a series of physique, years of arduous training follow, Li surpassing his initial lukewarm interest and mediocre performance after inspiration from senior teacher Chan. Lis determined courage garners a formerly disparaging teacher to influence the Academy to allow him the opportunity for a stay in the United States. Lis encounters with US life cause questioning of the Chinese Communist Party dictates upon which he has been raised, quickly attracting the attention of the local ballet scene, Li together with Stevenson requests a time extension in America, but the Chinese government refuses. Overwhelmed by the opportunities offered in America and in love with Mackey, with legal advice that the Chinese government would recognize certain residence rights arising from an international marriage, Li and Mackey rush into a marriage. To declare personal responsibility for his decision and hopefully avoid consequences for his family and Stevenson, the Chinese resident diplomat forcibly detains Li in an attempt to coerce his return to China. Unknown to Li, the situation quickly evolves when the media, when Li perseveres in his refusal to repatriate, the Chinese Government agrees to release him but revokes his citizenship and declares he can never return to the land of his birth. Li and Elizabeth are set to depart for Florida but Li is persuaded to stay by Stevenson for his ballet company, dooming Elizabeths prospects of dancing success. Burdened by this, plus concerned for and unable to communicate with his family, Cunxin continues to excel as a dancer, Li is eventually granted permission to visit China. Li and McKendry give an impromptu outdoor ballet performance to the villages uproarious cheer, closing credits announce that, Li Cunxin danced in China with the Houston Ballet in 1995, a performance broadcast to an audience of over 500 million people. He and Mary McKendry now live in Australia with their three children, ben Stevenson left the Houston Ballet after 27 years as Artistic Director. Acclaimed as one of the world’s leading choreographers, he is now Artistic Director of the Texas Ballet Theater, charles C. Foster still practices law in Houston. He is recognized internationally as an authority on Immigration Law, Elizabeth Mackey danced with the Oklahoma Ballet for some years. She is now a speech therapist, working mainly with children, the score utilises a standard Western orchestra, with the addition of a number of Chinese instruments
17.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
–
Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a French film director and screenwriter known for the films Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children, Alien, Resurrection and Amélie. Jean-Pierre Jeunet was born in Roanne, Loire, France and he bought his first camera at the age of 17 and made short films while studying animation at Cinémation Studios. He befriended Marc Caro, a designer and comic book artist who became his collaborator and co-director. They met at a festival in Annecy in the 1970s. Together, Jeunet and Caro directed award-winning animations and their first live action film was The Bunker of the Last Gunshots, a short film about soldiers in a bleak futuristic world. Jeunet also directed numerous advertisements and music videos, such as Jean Michel Jarres Zoolook and they next made The City of Lost Children, a dark, multi-layered fantasy film about a mad scientist who steals childrens dreams so that he can live indefinitely. The success of The City of Lost Children led to an invitation to direct the film in the Alien series, Alien. Caro ended up assisting for a few weeks, with costumes and set design but afterwards, decided to work on a career in illustration. Jeunet directed Amélie, starring Audrey Tautou, for this film, Jeunet also gained a European Film Award for Best Director. In 2004, Jeunet released A Very Long Engagement, an adaptation of the novel by Sébastien Japrisot, the film, starring Audrey Tautou and Jodie Foster, chronicled a womans search for her missing lover after World War I. In 2009, he released Micmacs which was about man and his friends who come up with an intricate, Jeunet has also directed numerous commercials including a 225 film for Chanel N°5 featuring his frequent collaborator Audrey Tautou. In 2013, Jeunet released The Young and Prodigious T. S. Spivet an adaptation of Reif Larsens book, the film was shot in English at various locations in Canada and in Washington, D. C
18.
Micmacs (film)
–
Micmacs is a 2009 French comedy film by French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Its original French title is MicMacs à tire-larigot, the film is billed as a satire on the world arms trade. It premiered on 15 September 2009 at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival as a screening at Roy Thomson Hall. The main character is Bazil, whose father was killed attempting to defuse a land mine in the Western Sahara when Bazil was a child, the film begins with his fathers death and then jumps 30 years later to Bazil working in a video rental shop in Paris. Bazil is watching The Big Sleep on a small television, the ending of The Big Sleep segues into the opening credits of Micmacs, shot in the old style in black and white with extended production credits. Bazil hears gunfire and cars outside, opens the door of his shop, a surgical team discusses whether or not to remove the bullet from his brain. Removing the bullet will risk damaging his brain further, while leaving it in will leave Bazil mostly healthy with the risk of dying suddenly at any moment, the head surgeon flips a coin and decides not to remove the bullet. Bazil returns to his job to find that he has been replaced, as he leaves, his replacement gives him a shell casing that she found from the bullet that had struck him. Bazil becomes homeless and lives on the streets of Paris for two months, before being adopted by a man named Slammer, Slammer brings Bazil to a cave carved in a trash dump, where a group of scavengers live. While scavenging for trash, Bazil discovers two office buildings and factories on opposite sides of a street, one is the arms manufacturer who built the land mine that killed Bazils father, and the other is the manufacturer who made the bullet that lodged in Bazils brain. Bazil decides to go inside, flips a coin, and chooses one of the offices and he asks to speak with the CEO, Nicolas Thibault de Fenouillet, but is immediately thrown out of the building. He crosses the street and manages to hear a speech by the other CEO, Bazil follows Marconi home and hangs a microphone down his chimney. He hears a phone conversation arranging a meeting between Marconi and associates of Omar Boulounga, an African dictator seeking arms for a violent conflict. Mama Chows crew decides to help Bazil exact revenge on the two arms dealers and they first incapacitate Bouloungas men by planting drugs on them in an airport. Remington, claiming to be Bouloungas right-hand man, meets with De Fenouillet, later, Remington calls each of Marconi and De Fennouillet and angrily cancels the deal. He tells Marconi that he will be dealing with De Fennouillet, the two CEOs are furious and declare war on each other. Bazil and his friends break into Marconis house and steal and replace his luxury cars and they steal and destroy a truck full of bombs from Marconis plant. Marconi assumes that De Fennouillet is responsible, and arranges to sabotage a machine causing an explosion in De Fennouillets factory
19.
Cairo Time
–
Cairo Time is a 2009 film by Canadian director Ruba Nadda. It is a drama about a brief, unexpected love affair that catches two people completely off-guard. The movie won the Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival 2009, Juliette is a Canadian magazine editor who arrives in Cairo for a vacation with husband Mark, a UN official working at refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. Their children have grown and Juliette is looking forward to spending time with Mark. Delayed, Mark asks his friend—a handsome Egyptian named Tareq—to watch over Juliette, Tareq is a regular companion during Juliettes extended time waiting for Mark, leading to a very close relationship between the two. While their relationship platonic, it is steadily headed to a stronger connection. After travelling to Alexandria with him to attend the wedding of the daughter of a girlfriend from his university days, the two visit the Great Pyramids—something Mark had inisisted should be just for us on his sporadic calls to Juliette at her hotel room. Whatever change this may signify in Tareq and Juliettes growing relationship, Mark is happy to see Juliette, while she and Tareq adequately hide their sorrow over the end of their Cairo Time. When Ruba Nadda finished writing the script for Cairo Time she showed it to producer Daniel Iron of Foundry Films, Daniel, remembering Rubas previous feature Sabah, loved the script and decided to work with her. Atom Egoyan gave the screenplay for Cairo Time to Christine Vachon, Vachon saw there was a lot of potential in the script and decided to meet Nadda with Pugliese. After meeting Nadda they wanted to get involved in the project, because Canada did not have co-production treaties with Egypt they needed to find a way to shoot in Egypt anyhow. Iron was introduced to David Collins of Samson Films in Ireland by Ruba Nadda, Collins met Nadda at a film festival in Mannheim and in Rotterdam and was familiar with her work. Samson decided to join the project, making it a Canada-Ireland co-production, hanan Rotten Tomatoes certified the movie fresh with 82 as of August 2010. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called Cairo Time a fragile romance and said about Nadda, Just when you think you know whats coming, Nadda lets the sensuous tempos of Cairo life seep into Juliettes system, and ours. Its a haunting and hypnotic film, and Clarksons sublimely nuanced performance is in every way transporting. At the end of 2010, Cairo Time was named Best-reviewed romance of the year by Rotten Tomatoes, the movie was released in Canadian theaters on 9 October 2009. Cairo Time won the Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival 2009, Cairo Time grossed $66,245 in the opening weekend, ranking at #38. The film sold out all shows in the weekend in New York and Los Angeles, with a revenue of $12,450
20.
Ruba Nadda
–
Ruba Nadda is a Canadian film director. Her movie Cairo Time won the Best Canadian Feature Film award at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and was Best Reviewed Romance on Rotten Tomatoes for 2010 and she is known for shooting feature films in very short time spans. Nadda was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to a Syrian father, Nadda studied Literature at York University in Toronto, Ontario. She went on to study Film Production at NYUs Tisch School of the Arts, Nadda made her feature film debut with Sabah starring actress Arsinée Khanjian in the title role. The film earned Khanjian a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role at the Genie Awards and her next film Cairo Time, starring Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig, was released in 2009 and won Best Canadian Feature Film at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. In 2012 Nadda reunited with her Cairo Time star Siddig to film Inescapable, Nadda is set to release her next film October Gale in 2014. The film, a set in Georgian Bay, would reunite her with her Cairo Time star Patricia Clarkson. The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, in September 2014 Nadda announced that she would be reuniting with Patricia Clarkson on a TV series for HBO titled Elisabeth. In September 2014 Nadda announced that she was seven months pregnant
21.
TIFF Bell Lightbox
–
TIFF Bell Lightbox is a cultural centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the first five floors of the Bell Lightbox and Festival Tower on the north west corner of King Street and John Street. It is the headquarters for the Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF Bell Lightbox opened in 2010. It is the headquarters for the Toronto International Film Festival, the entrance for the structures 46-storey tower of condominiums is on John Street, set back from the much smaller 19th-century buildings along King Street. TIFF Bell Lightbox cinema complex, the Toronto International Film Festival offices, a ground-floor restaurant, TIFF Bell Lightbox is a five-storey structure that features five cinemas, two restaurants, major exhibitions and galleries, a gift shop, rooftop terrace, and learning studios. The five-screen cinema complex also includes a reference library, galleries. During construction, crews found artifacts belonging to York General Hospital which was located on the site in 1829, the podium is a five-storey complex that forms the base of the Bell Lightbox and Festival Tower. The theatres present specially-curated programming, as well as new releases. Some of the films presented tie-in with exhibitions, and retrospectives of actors or filmmakers, the extensive reference library and archives of film, which is open to the public, includes publications and archival movies, as well as research and study space. Since 2010, TIFF Bell Lightbox has been the home of the festival, future plans include a Cinema Tower on the north side on the block, which will contain five additional theatres. The area also includes prominent venues for the festival, such as Roy Thomson Hall, the complex opened officially on September 12,2010 with a block party. Bruce McDonalds Trigger was the first film screened at the theatre, the galleries host exhibitions related to film and art history. The fourth floor gallery is free to the public, while the main gallery on the first level hosts large paid exhibitions. TIFF is a organization that generates an annual economic impact of $189 million CAD. Festival Tower was developed by The Daniels Corporation and designed by Toronto-based architectural firm Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects, TIFF Bell Lightbox is the home of the Toronto International Film Festival, while Festival Tower contains condominium residences. The project was conceived in partnership by the Toronto International Film Festival Group, List of tallest buildings in Toronto List of tallest buildings in Canada Official website
22.
Tel Aviv
–
Tel Aviv-Yafo is a major city in Israel, located on the countrys Mediterranean coastline. It is the center and the technology hub of Israel, with a population of 432,892. Tel Aviv is the largest city in the Gush Dan region of Israel, Tel Aviv is also a focal point in the high-tech concentration known as the Silicon Wadi. Tel Aviv is governed by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, headed by Ron Huldai, Tel Aviv is a global city, and is the thirty eighth most important financial center in the world. Tel Aviv is known to have the third-largest economy of any city in the Middle East after Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City, the city receives over a million international visitors annually. Known as The City that Never Sleeps and a party capital, it has a lively nightlife, the city was founded in 1909 by Jewish immigrants on the outskirts of the ancient port city of Jaffa. It is named after the Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzls 1902 novel, Altneuland, the modern citys first neighbourhoods had already been established in 1886, the first being Neve Tzedek. Immigration by mostly Jewish refugees meant that the growth of Tel Aviv soon outpaced Jaffas, Tel Aviv and Jaffa were merged into a single municipality in 1950, two years after the establishment of the State of Israel. Tel Avivs White City, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, Tel Aviv is the Hebrew title of Theodor Herzls Altneuland, translated from German by Nahum Sokolow. The name was chosen in 1910 from several suggestions, including Herzliya and it was found fitting as it embraced the idea of a renaissance in the ancient Jewish homeland. Aviv is Hebrew for spring, symbolizing renewal, and tel is a man-made mound accumulating layers of civilization built one over the other and symbolizing the ancient. Although founded in 1909 as a settlement on the sand dunes North of Jaffa. The marketing pamphlets advocating for its establishment in 1906, wrote, In this city we will build the streets so they have roads and sidewalks and electric lights. Every house will have water wells that will flow through pipes as in every modern European city. Since 1886, Jewish settlers had founded new neighborhoods outside Jaffa on the current territory of Tel Aviv, the first was Neve Tzedek, built on lands owned by Aharon Chelouche and inhabited primarily by Mizrahi Jews. Other neighborhoods were Neve Shalom, Yafa Nof, Achva, Ohel Moshe, Kerem HaTeimanim, once Tel Aviv received city status in the 1920s, those neighborhoods joined the newly formed municipality, now becoming separated from Jaffa. The Second Aliyah led to further expansion, in 1906, a group of Jews, among them residents of Jaffa, followed the initiative of Akiva Aryeh Weiss and banded together to form the Ahuzat Bayit society. The societys goal was to form a Hebrew urban centre in an environment, planned according to the rules of aesthetics
23.
Ken Loach
–
Kenneth Charles Ken Loach is an English director of television and independent film. He is known for his socially critical directing style and for his socialist ideals, Loachs film Kes was voted the seventh greatest British film of the 20th century in a poll by the British Film Institute. Two of his films, The Wind That Shakes the Barley and I, Daniel Blake received the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival, Loach was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, the son of Vivien and John Loach. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School and went on to law at St Peters College. Loachs ten contributions to the BBCs Wednesday Play anthology series include the docudramas Up the Junction, Cathy Come Home and they portray working-class people in conflict with the authorities above them. Three of his plays are believed to be lost films. His 1965 play Three Clear Sundays dealt with capital punishment, and was broadcast at a time when the debate was at a height in the United Kingdom, in Two Minds, written by David Mercer, concerns a young schizophrenic womans experiences of the mental health system. Tony Garnett began to work as his producer in this period, during this period, he also directed the absurdist comedy The End of Arthurs Marriage, about which he later said that he was the wrong man for the job. Coinciding with his work for The Wednesday Play, Loach began to feature films for the cinema, with Poor Cow. The latter recounts the story of a boy and his kestrel. The British Film Institute named it No 7 in its list of best British films of the twentieth century, during the 1970s and 1980s, Loachs films were less successful, often suffering from poor distribution, lack of interest and political censorship. His documentary The Save the Children Fund Film was commissioned by the charity and it was only screened publicly for the first time on 1 September 2011, at the BFI Southbank. At the end of the 1980s, he directed some television advertisements for Tennents Lager to earn money, frank Chapple, leader of the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, walked out of the interview and made a complaint to the Independent Broadcasting Authority. A separate complaint was made by Terry Duffy of the Amalgamated Engineering, the series was due to be broadcast during the Trade Union Congress conference in 1983, but Channel 4 decided against broadcasting the series following the complaints. The film was transmitted on Channel 4, but only after it won a prize at an Italian film festival. Three weeks after the end of the strike, the film End of the Battle, was broadcast by Channel 4 in its Diverse Strands series. This film argued that the Conservative Party had planned the destruction of the National Union of Mineworkers political power from the late 1970s. The play was due to run at the Royal Court Theatre in 1987 and he directed the Courtroom Drama reconstructions in the docu-film McLibel, concerning the longest libel trial in English history
24.
David Byrne
–
Byrne is a multi-instrumentalist and is known for his distinctive voice. Since then, Byrne has released his own recordings and worked with various media including film, photography, opera. He has received Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe awards and been inducted into the Rock, David Byrne was born 14 May 1952, in Dumbarton, Scotland, to parents Tom and Emma. He is the elder of two children, two years after his birth, his parents moved to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and then to Arbutus, Maryland, in the United States, when he was 8 or 9 years old. His father worked as an electronics engineer, before high school, Byrne already knew how to play the guitar, accordion, and violin. He was rejected from his schools choir because they claimed he was off-key. From a young age, he had a strong interest in music and his parents say that he would constantly play his phonograph from age three and he learned how to play the harmonica at age five. In his journals he says, I was a peculiar young man—borderline Aspergers, Byrne graduated from Lansdowne High School in southwest Baltimore County. He started his career in a high school band called Revelation. Their repertoire consisted mostly of songs such as April Showers,96 Tears, Dancing on the Ceiling, Byrne attended the Rhode Island School of Design and the Maryland Institute College of Art before dropping out. He returned to Providence in 1973 and formed a band called the Artistics with fellow RISD student Chris Frantz, Byrne moved to New York City in May that year and was joined by Frantz and his girlfriend Tina Weymouth in September. Unable to find a player in New York, Frantz. While working day jobs in late 1974, they were contemplating a band, by January 1975, they were practicing and playing together, while still working normal day jobs. They founded the band Talking Heads and had their first gig in June, Byrne quit his day job in May 1976 and the three-piece band signed to Sire Records in November. Multi-instrumentalist Jerry Harrison joined the band in 1977, the band released eight studio albums before going into hiatus in 1988. Byrne desired to go solo, but it took three years until 1991 to announce that the band was breaking up, a brief reunion for a single Sax and Violins in 1991 occurred before dissolving again. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, following this record, Byrne focused his attention on Talking Heads. My Life in the Bush of Ghosts was re-released for its 25th anniversary in early 2006, in keeping with the spirit of the original album, stems for two of the songs component tracks were released under Creative Commons licenses and a remix contest site was launched
25.
Naomi Klein
–
Naomi Klein is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses and criticism of corporate globalization and of capitalism. This Changes Everything, Capitalism vs. the Climate was a New York Times non-fiction bestseller, in 2016 Klein was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize for her activism on climate justice. She is a member of the board of directors of the climate activist group 350. org, Naomi Klein was born in Montreal, Quebec, and brought up in a Jewish family with a history of peace activism. Her parents were self-described hippies who moved to Montreal from the U. S. in 1967 as war resisters to the Vietnam War and her mother, documentary film-maker Bonnie Sherr Klein, is best known for her anti-pornography film Not a Love Story. Her father, Michael Klein, is a physician and a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility and her brother, Seth Klein, is director of the British Columbia office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Her paternal grandparents were communists who began to turn against the Soviet Union after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and had abandoned communism by 1956. In 1942, her grandfather Phil Klein, an animator at Disney, was fired after the Disney animators strike, and went to work at a shipyard instead. Kleins father grew up surrounded by ideas of justice and racial equality, but found it difficult and frightening to be the child of Communists. Kleins husband, Avi Lewis, works as a TV journalist, the couples first child, son Toma, was born on June 13,2012. Klein spent much of her years in shopping malls, obsessed with designer labels. As a child and teenager, she found it very oppressive to have a very public feminist mother and she rejected politics and she has attributed her change in worldview to two events. One was when she was 17 and preparing for the University of Toronto, her mother had a stroke, Naomi, her father, and her brother took care of Bonnie through the period in hospital and at home, making educational sacrifices to do so. That year off prevented her from being such a brat, kleins writing career began with contributions to The Varsity, a student newspaper, where she served as editor-in-chief. After her third year at the University of Toronto, she dropped out of university to take a job at The Globe and Mail, in 2000, Klein published the book No Logo, which for many became a manifesto of the anti-corporate globalization movement. In it, she attacks brand-oriented consumer culture and the operations of large corporations and she also accuses several such corporations of unethically exploiting workers in the worlds poorest countries in pursuit of greater profits. In this book, Klein criticized Nike so severely that Nike published a point-by-point response, No Logo became an international bestseller, selling over one million copies in over 28 languages. Kleins Fences and Windows is a collection of her articles and speeches written on behalf of the anti-globalization movement. Klein and her husband, Avi Lewis made a film called The Take about factory workers in Argentina who took over a closed plant and resumed production
26.
Alice Walker
–
Alice Malsenior Walker is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and activist. She wrote the acclaimed novel The Color Purple for which she won the National Book Award. She also wrote Meridian and The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Walker was born in Putnam County, Georgia, the youngest of eight children, to Willie Lee Walker and Minnie Lou Tallulah Grant. Her father, who was, in her words, wonderful at math but a farmer, earned only $300 a year from sharecropping. Her mother supplemented the income by working as a maid. She worked 11 hours a day for $17 per week to pay for Alice to attend college. Living under Jim Crow laws, Walkers parents resisted landlords who expected the children of black sharecroppers to work the fields at a young age, a white plantation owner said to her that black people had no need for education. Minnie Lou Walker, according to her daughter, replied You might have some black children somewhere, dont you ever come around here again talking about how my children dont need to learn how to read and write. Her mother enrolled Alice in first grade when the girl was four years old, growing up with an oral tradition, listening to stories from her grandfather, Walker began writing, very privately, when she was eight years old. With my family, I had to hide things, she said, and I had to keep a lot in my mind. In 1952, Walker was accidentally wounded in the eye by a shot from a BB gun fired by one of her brothers. In 2013, on BBC Radios Desert Island Discs, she said the act was actually deliberate, because the family had no car, the Walkers could not take their daughter to a hospital for immediate treatment. By the time reached a doctor a week later, she had become permanently blind in that eye. When a layer of tissue formed over her wounded eye, Alice became self-conscious. Stared at and sometimes taunted, she felt like an outcast and turned for solace to reading, when she was 14, the scar tissue was removed. After high school, Walker went to Spelman College in Atlanta on a scholarship in 1961 and later transferred to Sarah Lawrence College. Walker became interested in the Civil Rights Movement in part due to the influence of activist Howard Zinn, on March 17,1967, she married Melvyn Roseman Leventhal. She worked as writer in residence at Jackson State College and Tougaloo College and was a consultant in black history to the Friends of the Children of Mississippi Head Start program
27.
Jane Fonda
–
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model and fitness guru. She is a two-time Academy Award winner and two time BAFTA Award winner, in 2014, she was the recipient of the American Film Institute AFI Life Achievement Award. Fonda made her Broadway debut in the 1960 play There Was a Little Girl and she rose to fame in 1960s films such as Period of Adjustment, Sunday in New York, Cat Ballou, Barefoot in the Park and Barbarella. Her first husband was Barbarella director Roger Vadim, a seven-time Academy Award nominee, she received her first nomination for They Shoot Horses, Dont They and went on to win two Best Actress Oscars in the 1970s for Klute and Coming Home. Her other nominations were for Julia, The China Syndrome, On Golden Pond and her other major competitive awards include an Emmy Award for the 1984 TV film The Dollmaker, two BAFTA Awards for Julia and The China Syndrome and four Golden Globe Awards. In 1982, she released her first exercise video, Jane Fondas Workout and it would be the first of 22 workout videos released by her over the next 13 years which would collectively sell over 17 million copies. Divorced from second husband Tom Hayden, she married billionaire media mogul Ted Turner in 1991, Fonda was divorced from Turner in 2001. She returned to acting with her first film in 15 years, subsequent films have included Georgia Rule, The Butler, This Is Where I Leave You and Youth. She also released another five exercise videos between 2010 and 2012 and she stars with Lily Tomlin, Sam Waterston and Martin Sheen in the Netflix original series Grace and Frankie, which premiered in 2015. Fonda was a political activist in the counterculture era during the Vietnam War. She was famously and controversially photographed sitting on a gun on a 1972 visit to Hanoi. She has also protested the Iraq War and violence against women, Fonda serves on the board of the organization. Jayne Seymour Fonda was born in New York City, the daughter of actor Henry Fonda, according to her father, their surname came from an Italian ancestor who immigrated to the Netherlands in the 1500s. There, they intermarried and began to use Dutch given names and she also has English, Scottish, and French ancestry. She was named after the wife of Henry VIII, Jane Seymour. She has a brother, Peter, who is also an actor, and a maternal half-sister, Frances de Villers Brokaw, whose daughter is Pilar Corrias, the owner of the Pilar Corrias Gallery in London. In 1950, when Fonda was twelve, her mother committed suicide while undergoing treatment at Craig House psychiatric hospital in Beacon, later that year, Fondas father married socialite Susan Blanchard, just nine years his daughters senior, this marriage ended in divorce. At 15 Fonda taught dance at Fire Island Pines, New York and she attended Greenwich Academy in Greenwich, Connecticut
28.
Wallace Shawn
–
Wallace Michael Shawn is an American actor, voice actor, playwright, essayist and comedian. He also starred in a variety of series, including Gossip Girl and recurring appearances as Grand Nagus Zek in Star Trek. His plays include The Designated Mourner, Aunt Dan and Lemon and he also co-wrote the screenplay for My Dinner with Andre with Andre Gregory, and he scripted Vanya on 42nd Street, a film adaptation of Anton Chekovs play Uncle Vanya. His book Essays was published in 2009 by Haymarket Books and his latest film from June 2014 was A Master Builder based on the play by Henrik Ibsen. Shawn was born on November 12,1943 in New York City, to William Shawn, the editor of The New Yorker. Shawn attended The Putney School, a liberal arts high school in Putney, Vermont. He studied philosophy, politics and economics, as well as Latin, at Magdalen College, Oxford and he also traveled to India as an English teacher, on a Fulbright program. He then taught Latin in Manhattan but, since 1979, has made a living primarily as an actor, Shawns early plays, such as Marie and Bruce, portrayed emotional and sexual conflicts in an absurdist style, with language that was both lyrical and violent. In a conversation with Andre Gregory, parts of which were used to create My Dinner with Andre and his 1977 play A Thought in Three Parts caused controversy in London when the production was investigated by a vice squad and attacked in Parliament after allegations of pornographic content. His later plays became more political, drawing parallels between the psychology of his characters and the behavior of governments and social classes. Among the best-known of these are Aunt Dan and Lemon and The Designated Mourner, in 1997, Shawn discussed the political nature of Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Fever and The Designated Mourner in an interview. Shawns four plays have been adapted into films, The Designated Mourner, Marie and Bruce, My Dinner with Andre, oscar winner Vanessa Redgrave stars in The Fever, which first aired on HBO on June 13,2007. Shawn is credited as translator of Bertolt Brechts The Threepenny Opera and he appears briefly in voice-over during Song about the Futility of Human Endeavor. He published his first nonfiction work, Essays, on September 1,2009 and it is a collection of essays that expresses his perceptions of politics and other subjects that reflect an aspect of his life. Shawns involvement with theater began in 1970 when he met Andre Gregory, as a stage actor, he has appeared mostly in his own plays and other projects with Gregory. He made his debut in 1979, playing Diane Keatons former husband in Woody Allens Manhattan. His best-known film roles include Earl in Strange Invaders and Mr. Hall in Clueless, after seeing his performance in My Dinner With Andre, casting director Janet Hirshenson was so fond of his delivery of the word inconceivable that she cast him as Vizzini in The Princess Bride. Other roles include Baron Von Westphalen in Southland Tales, on Gossip Girl as Cyrus Rose, Shawn quite often appears on television, where he has appeared in many genres and series
29.
Danny Glover
–
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is well known for his role as Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film series, The Color Purple, To Sleep with Anger. He also has prominent supporting roles in Silverado, Witness, Predator 2, Saw, Shooter,2012, Death at a Funeral, Beyond the Lights, and Dirty Grandpa. He has appeared in other movies, television shows, and theatrical productions. Glover was born in San Francisco, the son of Carrie and his parents, who worked as postal workers, were highly active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, working to advance equal rights. Glovers mother, daughter of a midwife, was born in Louisville, Georgia and graduated from Paine College in Augusta, as an adolescent and a young adult, Glover suffered from epilepsy but has not suffered a seizure since age 35. He attended George Washington High School in San Francisco and he attended San Francisco State University in the late 1960s but did not graduate. SFSU later awarded him an honorary degree, Glover trained at the Black Actors Workshop of the American Conservatory Theater. Glover originally worked in city administration working on community development before transitioning to theater and he has said, I didnt think it was a difficult transition. Acting is a platform that can become a conveyer for ideas, art is a way of understanding, of confronting issues and confronting your own feelings—all within that realm of the capacity it represents. It may have been a leap of faith for me, given not only my learning disability, I felt all the things that someone thats 63 or 64 feels and with my own diminished expectations of who I could be would feel. Whether its art, acting or theater that Ive devoted myself to I put more passion and his first theater involvement was with Conservatory Theater, a regional training program in San Francisco. Glover also trained with Jean Shelton at the Shelton Actors Lab in San Francisco, in an interview on Inside the Actors Studio, Glover credited Jean Shelton for much of his development as an actor. Deciding that he wanted to be an actor, Glover resigned from his city administration job, later he once again starred with Busey in the blockbuster Predator 2. He also starred as the husband to Whoopi Goldbergs character Celie in the celebrated literary adaptation The Color Purple, in 1994 he made his directorial debut with the Showtime channel short film Override. Also in 1994, Glover and actor Ben Guillory founded the Robey Theatre Company in Los Angeles, focusing on theatre by, during his career, he has made several cameos, appearing, for example, in the Michael Jackson video Liberian Girl of 1987. Glover earned top billing for the first time in Predator 2 and that same year he starred in Charles Burnetts To Sleep with Anger, for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead. In addition, Glover has been an actor in many childrens movies
30.
John Greyson
–
John Greyson is a Canadian director, writer, video artist, producer and political activist, whose work frequently deals with gay themes. Greyson is also a professor at York Universitys film school, where he teaches film and video theory, film production, Greyson was born in Nelson, British Columbia, the son of Dorothy F. and Richard I. He was raised in London, Ontario and he moved to Toronto in 1980, becoming a writer for The Body Politic and other local arts and culture magazines, and becoming a video and performance artist. He directed several films, including The Perils of Pedagogy, Kipling Meets the Cowboy and Moscow Does Not Believe in Queers, before releasing his first feature film, Pissoir. Pissoir is a response to the climate of the period and, particularly, to police entrapment of men in public washrooms and parks. Greysons next film was The Making of Monsters, a musical film produced during Greysons residency at the Canadian Film Centre in 1991. The film deals with the 1985 murder by five adolescent males of Kenneth Zeller, a school teacher and librarian. The film is a documentary about the making of a movie-of-the-week, entitled Monsters, in which the young murderers are depicted as psychopathic monsters. The film features Marxist literary critic Georg Lukács as the producer of Monsters, Greysons film was pulled from distribution when the estate of Kurt Weill objected to its use of the tune of Mack the Knife. Greyson had originally received permission to use the tune, but it was withdrawn. Although copyright is no longer an issue, having lapsed in 2000, fifty years after Weills death, Greyson is best known for the feature-length films Zero Patience and Lilies. His other films include Un©ut, The Law of Enclosures and Proteus and he has also directed for television, including episodes of Queer as Folk, Made in Canada and Paradise Falls. In 2003, Greyson and composer David Wall created Fig Trees, in 2009, a film version of Fig Trees was released. This film, a feature-length documentary opera, premiered at the Berlinale as part of its Panorama section, in 2007, Greyson was the recipient of the Bell Award in Video Art. The award committee stated, John Greyson is perhaps best known to a public as a feature film director. He shoots his film projects on video with trademark video post-production techniques, an incisive social and political critic, Mr. Greyson is in fact one of the leaders in the AIDS activist video movement, among others. Mr. Greyson has supported the practice in many ways and he influences many emerging artists, Zero Patience is a 1993 musical film which challenged AIDS orthodoxy. Burton is engaged in creating a Hall of Contagion, when he loses his central exhibit, the Düsseldorf Plague Rat, he casts around for a replacement, lighting upon Patient Zero
31.
Viggo Mortensen
–
Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. is a Danish-American actor. I. Jane, A Perfect Murder, A Walk on the Moon, Mortensen received international attention in the early 2000s with his role as Aragorn in the epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings. In 2005, Mortensen won critical acclaim for David Cronenbergs crime thriller A History of Violence, Two years later, another Cronenberg film Eastern Promises earned him further critical acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. A third teaming with Cronenberg in A Dangerous Method resulted in a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture. Other well-received films have included Appaloosa, adapted from a Robert B. Parker novel, and Far from Men and he received a second Best Actor nomination in 2017 at the 89th Academy Awards for his role in Captain Fantastic. Aside from acting, his artistic pursuits include fine arts, photography, poetry. In 2002, he founded the Perceval Press to publish the works of little-known artists, Mortensen was born in New York City. His mother, Grace Gamble, was American, and his father, Viggo Peter Mortensen Sr. was Danish and his maternal grandfather was from Nova Scotia, Canada, and his maternal grandmothers family was from New England. At the age of 11, his parents divorced and he returned to New York with his mother and he then attended St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, earning a bachelors degree in Spanish Studies and Politics in 1980. Afterward, he went to Europe and lived in Spain, England and he eventually returned to the United States to pursue an acting career. Mortensen made his first film playing an Amish farmer in Peter Weirs Witness. Also in 1985, he was cast in the role of Bragg on Search for Tomorrow, Mortensens 1987 performance in Bent at the Coast Playhouse, Los Angeles, won him a Dramalogue Critics Award. Coincidentally, the play, about homosexual concentration camp prisoners, was brought to prominence by Ian McKellen. In 1987, Mortensen guest starred as a police detective on the hit series Miami Vice. I. Of these roles, Mortensen was probably best known for playing Master Chief John Urgayle in G. I, another major mainstream breakthrough came in 1999, when Peter Jackson cast him as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. In the The Two Towers DVD extras, the swordmaster, Bob Anderson. Mortensen often performed his own stunts, and even the injuries he sustained during several of them did not dampen his enthusiasm. He received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Aragorn, and was ranked No.15 on a 2015 survey of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters conducted by Empire
32.
Canadian Jewish News
–
The Canadian Jewish News is a non-profit, national, English-language tabloid-sized newspaper serving Canadas Jewish community. The national edition of the newspaper is published in Toronto, a weekly Montreal edition in English with some French began its run in 1976. The Canadian Jewish News was founded by M. J, the CJN was considered a provocative paper into the 1970s but was later considered something of a lapdog for the community. According to his daughter, Atara Beck, “He believed that a newspaper should be a thorn in the side of the establishment, though independent, the newspaper has been owned, since 1971, by a group of Jewish leaders allied with what was then the Canadian Jewish Congress. In 1979, it adopted editorial guidelines that prevent articles from criticizing the state of Israels security policies, by 2013, the CJN had a circulation of 40,000 copies per week. On April 22,2013, the newspaper issued termination notices to its 50 staff, the publishers sought benefactors to provide funding that would allow the CJN to continue as an exclusively online publication less reliant on advertising. Among others, editor Mordechai Ben-Dat and senior staffer and columnist Sheldon Kirshner were let go, goldstein subsequently introduced a more diverse range of contributors to the newspaper. The content of the revamped paper was described as racier. By 2016, the newspapers subscriptions remained mostly unchanged at 31,000, list of newspapers in Canada Canadian Jewish News Drawing the line, There are many subjects writers can discuss in The Canadian Jewish News. Criticizing the security policies of the Israeli government is not one of them, Ryerson Review of Journalism, Spring 2005
33.
Simcha Jacobovici
–
Simcha Jacobovici is an Israeli-Canadian film director, producer, freelance journalist, and writer. His parents are from Iași, Romania, Simcha Jacobovici earned a B. A. in Philosophy and Political Science from McGill University and an M. A. in International Relations from the University of Toronto. He is an Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies at Huntington University, Jacobovici has been a guest lecturer at numerous conferences and on various campuses including Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, McGill University, UCLA, and York University. He is married and the father of five children, Jacobovici is a three-time Emmy-winner for Outstanding Investigative Journalism and a New York Times best-selling author. As an early advocate of airlifting Ethiopian Jews to Israel, he wrote a piece on the subject for New York Times and made a documentary entitled Falasha. His film on the Arab-Israeli conflict, Deadly Currents, was runner-up for the Peace Prize at the 1991 Berlin Film Festival and his film Tales from the Organ Trade, co-produced and directed by his associate Ric Esther Bienstock, explored the sale of kidneys. Over the past decades, Jacobovici has engaged in what he calls investigative archaeology and his most controversial claim is the identification of a tomb in Jerusalem as that of Jesus of Nazareth and his family. The tomb was discovered in the Talpiot neighborhood, in 2012, he investigated a Second Temple-era burial cave in Armon Hanatziv by means of a robotic arm with a camera. He believes the cave may be the site of disciples of Jesus. Jacobovici hosted three seasons of The Naked Archaeologist on VisionTV in Canada and The History Channel in the United States, in 2013, the series began to be broadcast on the Israel Broadcast Authority Channel 1. Jacobovici has written for The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, The Globe and Mail, Los Angeles Times and he blogs on SimchaJTV, The Times of Israel and The Huffington Post. He occasionally writes for the Jerusalem Post and he has been interviewed on numerous television shows, among them Anderson Cooper 360, Larry King Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show, NBC Today Show, and ABC Nightline. His new book with Professor Barrie Wilson, The Lost Gospel, Jacobovici is also the co-author of two eBooks, “Michelangelo’s Angels and Demons and “The James Revelation, published by Zoomerbooks, as a companion to his television series “Biblical Conspiracies”. The Jesus Family Tomb, The Discovery, the Investigation, the Jesus Discovery, The New Archaeological Find That Reveals the Birth of Christianity. The Lost Gospel, Decoding the Ancient Text that Reveals Jesus Marriage to Mary the Magdalene,2014 Edward R. Murrow Award from the Overseas Press Club of America for the documentary Tales from the Organ Trade. 2014 Jack R. Howard Award for Television/Cable In-Depth National and International Coverage from the Scripps Howard Award for the documentary Tales from the Organ Trade. 2014 Norman Bethune Award for Excellence in International Health Reporting from the Canadian Medical Association Media Awards for Health Reporting for the documentary Tales from the Organ Trade,2013 Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards Gold Dolphin in the category of Science & Knowledge for the documentary Resurrection Tomb Mystery. 2013 Raven Award for Best Feature Documentary from the Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival for the documentary Tales from the Organ Trade,2013 Banff World Media Festival Rockie Award in the category of Social & Humanitarian Documentaries for the documentary The Age of Anxiety
34.
Simon Wiesenthal Center
–
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, United States, was established in 1977 and named for Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. According to its statement, it is an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to repairing the world one step at a time. The Center is accredited as an organization at the United Nations, the UNESCO. The organization aims to foster tolerance and understanding through community involvement, educational outreach and he founded and headed the Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna. Simon Wiesenthal had nothing to do with the operation or activities of the SWC other than giving it its name, the SWC is headed by Rabbi Marvin Hier, its Dean and Founder. Rabbi Abraham Cooper is the Associate Dean and Rabbi Meyer May is the Executive Director, the organization publishes a seasonal magazine, Response. The Center’s educational arm, Museum of Tolerance, was founded in 1993, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance is one of many partner organizations of the Austrian Service Abroad and the corresponding Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service. Two films produced by the division, Genocide and The Long Way Home have received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, moriah films has worked with numerous actors to narrate their productions. Including but not limited to Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Douglas, Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman, Patrick Stewart, the headquarters of the Simon Wiesenthal Center is in Los Angeles. However, there are also offices located at the following cities, New York City, Miami, Toronto, Jerusalem, Paris, Chicago. Through its national and international offices the Center carries out its above mentioned mission of preserving the memory of the Holocaust, between 1984 and 1990 the Center published seven volumes of Simon Wiesenthal Center Annual, focusing on the scholarly study of the Holocaust, broadly defined. The Library and Archives of the center in L. A. has grown to a collection of about 50,000 volumes and non-print materials. Moreover, the Archives incorporates photographs, diaries, letters, artifacts, artwork and rare books, which are available to researchers, students, in November 2005, the Simon Wiesenthal Center gave the name of four suspected former Nazi criminals to German authorities. The names were the first results of Operation Last Chance, a drive launched that year by the center to track down former Nazis for World War II-era crimes before they die of old age, the center is featured in the real-life-story-based Freedom Writers. An exterior view of the center is given, and there are scenes inside the museum, in 2013, the SWC released a comprehensive report on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. The report also noted that the BDS campaign attacks Israels entire economy and society, in its filing of the suit, the CBSP labelled the accusations ridiculous, stating that its charitable work consisted of providing aid to some 3,000 Palestinian orphans. The Wiesenthal Center appealed the ruling, and the appeal was granted in July 2009. Numerous other sources, including Maurice Motamed, the Jewish member of the Iranian parliament, the National Post later retracted the original article and published an article, to the contrary
35.
Hamas
–
Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organization. It has a service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Hamass military wing objected to the truce offer, analysts have said that it seems clear that Hamas knows that many of its conditions for the truce could never be met. The attacks on civilians have been condemned as war crimes and crimes against humanity by human rights such as Human Rights Watch. In the January 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, Hamas won a plurality in the Palestinian Parliament, Hamas rejected those changes, which led to the Quartet suspending its foreign assistance program and Israel imposing economic sanctions on the Hamas-led administration. In March 2007, a unity government headed by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas was briefly formed. Israel and Egypt then imposed a blockade of the Gaza Strip. In 2011, Hamas and Fatah announced an agreement that provides for creation of a joint caretaker Palestinian government. Progress stalled, until an April 2014 agreement to form a unity government. It is not regarded as a terrorist organization by Iran, Russia, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, China, an EU court found the EUs earlier designation flawed, but its decision has been appealed by the European Council. It is a point of debate in political and academic circles over whether or not to classify Hamas as a terrorist group, Hamas is an acronym of the Arabic phrase حركة المقاومة الاسلامية or Harakat al-Muqāwama al-Islāmiyya, meaning Islamic Resistance Movement. The Arabic word hamas means courage or zeal, the Hamas covenant interprets its name to mean strength and bravery. Hamas, as its name implies, aims to liberate Palestine from the Israeli occupation by resisting it, Hamas inherited from its predecessor a tripartite structure that consisted in the provision of social services, of religious training and military operations under a Shura Council. Traditionally it had four distinct functions, a social welfare division, a military division for procuring weapons and undertaking operations, a security service. The exact nature of the organization is unclear, secrecy being maintained for fear of Israeli assassinations, formally, Hamas maintains the wings are separate and independent. Matthew Levitt maintains this is a public myth, davis argues that they are both separate and combined for reasons of internal and external political necessity. Communication between the political and military wings of Hamas is difficult, owing to the thoroughness of Israeli intelligence surveillance, after the assassination of Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi the occasional political direction of the militant wing diminished, with field commanders given discretional autonomy on operations. The governing body is the Majlis al-Shura, the principle behind the Council is based on the Quranic concept of consultation and popular assembly, which Hamas leaders argue provides for democracy within an Islamic framework
36.
Los Angeles Times
–
The Los Angeles Times, commonly referred to as the Times or LA Times, is a paid daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008, the Times is owned by tronc. The Times was first published on December 4,1881, as the Los Angeles Daily Times under the direction of Nathan Cole Jr. and it was first printed at the Mirror printing plant, owned by Jesse Yarnell and T. J. Unable to pay the bill, Cole and Gardiner turned the paper over to the Mirror Company. Mathes had joined the firm, and it was at his insistence that the Times continued publication, in July 1882, Harrison Gray Otis moved from Santa Barbara to become the papers editor. Otis made the Times a financial success, in an era where newspapers were driven by party politics, the Times was directed at Republican readers. As was typical of newspapers of the time, the Times would sit on stories for several days, historian Kevin Starr wrote that Otis was a businessman capable of manipulating the entire apparatus of politics and public opinion for his own enrichment. Otiss editorial policy was based on civic boosterism, extolling the virtues of Los Angeles, the efforts of the Times to fight local unions led to the October 1,1910 bombing of its headquarters, killing twenty-one people. Two union leaders, James and Joseph McNamara, were charged, the American Federation of Labor hired noted trial attorney Clarence Darrow to represent the brothers, who eventually pleaded guilty. Upon Otiss death in 1917, his son-in-law, Harry Chandler, Harry Chandler was succeeded in 1944 by his son, Norman Chandler, who ran the paper during the rapid growth of post-war Los Angeles. Family members are buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery near Paramount Studios, the site also includes a memorial to the Times Building bombing victims. The fourth generation of family publishers, Otis Chandler, held that position from 1960 to 1980, Otis Chandler sought legitimacy and recognition for his familys paper, often forgotten in the power centers of the Northeastern United States due to its geographic and cultural distance. He sought to remake the paper in the model of the nations most respected newspapers, notably The New York Times, believing that the newsroom was the heartbeat of the business, Otis Chandler increased the size and pay of the reporting staff and expanded its national and international reporting. In 1962, the paper joined with the Washington Post to form the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service to syndicate articles from both papers for news organizations. During the 1960s, the paper won four Pulitzer Prizes, more than its previous nine decades combined, eventually the coupon-clipping branches realized that they could make more money investing in something other than newspapers. Under their pressure the companies went public, or split apart, thats the pattern followed over more than a century by the Los Angeles Times under the Chandler family. The papers early history and subsequent transformation was chronicled in an unauthorized history Thinking Big and it has also been the whole or partial subject of nearly thirty dissertations in communications or social science in the past four decades. In 2000, the Tribune Company acquired the Times, placing the paper in co-ownership with then-WB -affiliated KTLA, which Tribune acquired in 1985
37.
Paul Simon
–
Paul Frederic Simon is an American musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Simons fame, influence, and commercial success began as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, formed in 1964 with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote nearly all of the songs, including three that reached No.1 on the U. S. singles charts, The Sound of Silence, Mrs. Robinson. In 1986, he released Graceland, an inspired by South African township music. Simon also wrote and starred in the film One-Trick Pony and co-wrote the Broadway musical The Capeman with the poet Derek Walcott. On June 3,2016, Simon released his 13th solo album, titled Stranger to Stranger, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Album Chart and the UK charts. Simon has earned sixteen Grammys for his solo and collaborative work, in 2001, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2006 was selected as one of the 100 People Who Shaped the World by Time magazine. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine named Simon as one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists, in 2015, he was named as one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters by Rolling Stone. Among many other honors, Simon was the first recipient of the Library of Congresss Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2007, in 1986, Simon was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music, where he currently serves on the Board of Trustees. Simon was born on October 13,1941, in Newark, New Jersey and his father, Louis, was a college professor, double bass player, and dance bandleader who performed under the name Lee Sims. His mother, Belle, was a school teacher. In 1945, his family moved to the Kew Gardens Hills section of Flushing, Queens, the musician Donald Fagen has described Simons childhood as that of a certain kind of New York Jew, almost a stereotype, really, to whom music and baseball are very important. I think it has to do with the parents, Simon, upon hearing Fagens description, said it isnt far from the truth. Simon says about his childhood, I was a ballplayer, Id go on my bike, and Id hustle kids in stickball. He adds that his father was a New York Yankees fan and he didnt play with me as much as I played with my kids. He was at work until late at night, Simons musical career began after meeting Art Garfunkel when they were both 11. They performed in a production of Alice in Wonderland for their sixth-grade graduation and their idols were the Everly Brothers, whom they imitated in their use of close two-part harmony. Simon also developed an interest in jazz, folk, and blues, especially in the music of Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly
38.
Toronto Star
–
The Toronto Star is a Canadian broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. a division of Star Media Group, the Star was first printed on Toronto World presses, and at its formation The World owned a 51% interest in it as a silent partner. That arrangement only lasted for two months, during time it was rumoured that William Findlay Billy Maclean, the Worlds proprietor, was considering selling the Star to the Riordon family. After an extensive fundraising campaign among the Star staff, Maclean agreed to sell his interest to Hocken, the paper did poorly in its first few years. Hocken sold out within the year, and several owners followed in succession until Sir William Mackenzie bought it in 1896 and its new editors, Edmund E. Sheppard and Frederic Nicholls, moved the entire Star operation into the same building used by the magazine Saturday Night. This would continue until Joseph E, holy Joe Atkinson, backed by funds raised by supporters of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, bought the paper. The supporters included Senator George Cox, William Mulock, Peter Charles Larkin, Atkinson was the Stars editor from 1899 until his death in 1948. Its early opposition and criticism of the Nazi regime saw the paper one of the first North American papers to be banned in Germany. He championed many causes that would come to be associated with the welfare state, old age pensions, unemployment insurance. The Government of Canada Digital Collections website describes Atkinson as a radical in the best sense of that term, the Star was unique among North American newspapers in its consistent, ongoing advocacy of the interests of ordinary people. The friendship of Atkinson, the publisher, with Mackenzie King, Atkinson became the controlling shareholder of the Star. The Star was frequently criticized for practising the yellow journalism of its era, for decades, the paper included heavy doses of crime and sensationalism, along with advocating social change. From 1910 to 1973, the Star published a weekend supplement, shortly before his death in 1948, Joseph E. Atkinson transferred ownership of the paper to a charitable organization given the mandate of continuing the papers liberal tradition. In 1949, the Province of Ontario passed the Charitable Gifts Act, barring charitable organizations from owning parts of profit-making businesses. It would continue to supply sponsored content to the CRBCs station CRCT, in 1971, the newspaper was renamed The Toronto Star and moved to a modern office tower at One Yonge Street by Queens Quay. The original Star Building at 80 King Street West was demolished to make room for First Canadian Place, the new building originally housed the papers presses. In 1992, the plant was moved to the Toronto Star Press Centre at the Highway 407 &400 interchange in Vaughan. In September 2002, the logo was changed, and The was dropped from the papers, during the 2003 blackout, the Star printed the paper at a press in Welland, Ontario
39.
Jerry Seinfeld
–
Jerome Allen Jerry Seinfeld is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director. He is known for playing a version of himself in the sitcom Seinfeld. Seinfeld was heavily involved in the Bee Movie, in which he voiced its protagonist, in 2010, he premiered a reality series called The Marriage Ref. He directed Colin Quinn in the Broadway show Long Story Short at the Helen Hayes Theater and he is the creator and host of the web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. In his stand-up comedy career, Seinfeld is known for specializing in comedy, often ranting about relationships. In 2005, Comedy Central named Seinfeld their 12th Greatest Stand-up Comedian of All Time, Seinfeld was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father Kalmen Seinfeld collected jokes he heard while serving in World War II and his mother, Betty, is of Syrian-Jewish descent, her parents Selim and Salha Hosni were from Aleppo. Seinfeld grew up in Massapequa, New York, and attended Massapequa High School on Long Island, at the age of 16, he spent time volunteering in Kibbutz Saar in Israel. He later attended State University of New York at Oswego, transferring after his year to Queens College, City University of New York, graduating with a degree in communications. Seinfeld developed an interest in comedy after brief stints in college productions. In 1976, after graduation from Queens College, he tried out at a night at New York Citys Catch a Rising Star. Seinfeld appeared on open mic nights at Budd Friedmans Improv Club while attending Queens College, in 1979 he had a small recurring role on the sitcom Benson, playing Frankie, a mail delivery boy who had comedy routines that no one wanted to hear. However, Seinfeld was abruptly fired from the due to creative differences. Seinfeld has said that he was not actually told he had been fired until he turned up for the session for an episode. Seinfeld created The Seinfeld Chronicles with Larry David in 1988 for NBC, the show was later renamed Seinfeld to avoid confusion with the short-lived teen sitcom The Marshall Chronicles. By its fourth season, it had become the most popular, the final episode aired in 1998, and the show has been a popular syndicated re-run. Along with Seinfeld, the show starred Saturday Night Live veteran Julia Louis-Dreyfus and experienced actors Michael Richards, Alexander played George, a caricature of Larry David. Seinfeld holds the distinction of being the actor to appear in every episode of the show
40.
Sacha Baron Cohen
–
Sacha Noam Baron Cohen is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. A graduate of Christs College, Cambridge, Baron Cohen is most widely known for creating and portraying four fictional characters, Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, like his idol Peter Sellers, he uses a variety of accents and guises for his characters. In most of his routines, Baron Cohens characters interact with unsuspecting people who do not realise they are being set up for comic situations and self-revealing ridicule. His other work includes voicing King Julien XIII in the Madagascar film series and appearing in Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Hugo and he made a cameo as a BBC News Anchor in Anchorman 2, The Legend Continues. In 2016, he played an English football hooligan brother of an MI6 spy in the comedy film Grimsby, at the 2012 British Comedy Awards, he received the Outstanding Achievement Award, accepting the award while reprising his Ali G character. In 2013, he received the BAFTA Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy, Baron Cohen was born in Hammersmith, west London. His mother, Daniella Naomi, who worked as a movement instructor, was born in Israel and his father, Gerald Baron Cohen, a clothing store owner, was born in London and raised in Wales. He is fluent in both Hebrew and English, Baron Cohens fathers family were Eastern European Jews who moved to Pontypridd, Wales and London, England, and his mothers family are related to Welsh, Iranian and German Jews. His paternal grandfather, Morris Cohen, had added Baron to his surname and his maternal grandmother, who lived in Haifa, Israel, trained as a ballet dancer in Germany. Baron Cohen has two brothers, Erran and Amnon. Erran is a composer and has worked on several of Sachas films, Baron Cohens cousin, Simon, is an internationally renowned autism researcher. Baron Cohen was educated at The Haberdashers Askes Boys School, an independent school in Elstree, Hertfordshire, Baron Cohen went on to the University of Cambridge, entering Christs College, Cambridge, where he read history, graduating in 1993 with upper-second-class honours. While attending the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club, Baron Cohen acted in the plays Fiddler on the Roof and Cyrano de Bergerac, after leaving university, Baron Cohen worked for a time as a fashion model, appearing in many fashion magazines. By the early 1990s, he was hosting a programme on Windsor cable televisions local broadcasts with Carol Kirkwood. In 1995, Channel 4 was planning a replacement for its series The Word, Baron Cohen sent in a tape of himself in the character of Kristo, an Albanian fictional television reporter, which caught the attention of a producer. Baron Cohen hosted Pump TV from 1995 to 1996, Peter Sellers, known for portraying a wide range of comic characters using different accents and guises, was referred to by Baron Cohen as the most seminal force in shaping early ideas on comedy. He took clown training in Paris, at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier, of his former pupil, Gaulier says, He was a good clown, full of spirit. In the late 1990s, Baron Cohen made his first feature appearance in the British comedy The Jolly Boys Last Stand
41.
Natalie Portman
–
Natalie Portman is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was in the 1994 action thriller Léon, The Professional and she was later cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Born in Jerusalem to an Israeli father and American mother, Portman grew up in the eastern United States from the age of three. She studied dancing and acting in New York, and starred in Star Wars, in 1999, Portman enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology, alongside her work as an actress, she completed a bachelors degree in 2003. During her studies she starred in a second Star Wars film and she played leading roles in the historical dramas Goyas Ghosts and The Other Boleyn Girl, and also appeared in Thor and its 2013 sequel. In 2010, Portman starred in the thriller film Black Swan. Her performance received critical acclaim and she earned her first Academy Award for Best Actress, her second Golden Globe Award, the SAG Award, the BAFTA Award. In 2016, she portrayed First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the biographical drama Jackie and she was nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and won the BFCA for Best Actress. In May 2008, Portman served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury, the same year she directed a segment of the collective film New York, I Love You. Her first feature film as a director, A Tale of Love, Portman was born on June 9,1981 in Jerusalem. Her original given name was Neta-Lee, a Hebrew name and she is the only child of Shelley, an American homemaker who works as Portmans agent, and Avner Hershlag, an Israeli fertility specialist and gynecologist. Her maternal grandparents, Bernice and Arthur Stevens, were from Jewish families who moved to the United States from Austria and Russia, Natalies paternal grandparents, Mania and Zvi Yehuda Hershlag, were Jewish immigrants to Israel. Zvi, born in Poland in 1914, moved to what was then Mandatory Palestine in 1938 and eventually became an economics professor, One of Natalies paternal great-grandmothers was born in Romania and was a spy for British Intelligence during World War II. Portmans parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University and they corresponded after her father returned to Israel and were married when her mother visited a few years later. In 1984, when Portman was three years old, the moved to the United States, where her father received his medical training. Portman, a citizen of the United States and Israel, has said that although she really love the States. Thats where I feel at home, Portman and her family first lived in Washington, D. C. but relocated to Connecticut in 1988 and then moved to Jericho, New York, on Long Island, in 1990. While living in the Washington, D. C. area, Portman attended Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland
42.
Jason Alexander
–
Jay Scott Greenspan, known by his stage name Jason Alexander, is an American actor, voice actor, comedian and director. Alexander is best known for his prominent role as George Costanza in the television series Seinfeld, Other well-known roles include Phillip Stuckey in the film Pretty Woman and the title character in the animated series Duckman. Alexander has had a career on stage, appearing in several Broadway musicals including Jerome Robbins Broadway in 1989. He appeared in the Los Angeles production of The Producers and he was the Artistic Director of Reprise. Broadways Best in Los Angeles, where he has directed several musicals, Alexander was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Jewish parents Ruth Minnie, a nurse and health care administrator, and Alexander B. He has a half-sister, Karen Van Horne, and a half-brother, Alexander grew up in Livingston, New Jersey and is a 1977 graduate of Livingston High School. He attended Boston University but left the summer before his senior year and he was later given an honorary degree in 1995. He is a magician, and only switched to acting as a career when he realized that he was unlikely to succeed as a magician. Alexander began his career on the New York stage and is an accomplished singer and dancer. Returning to the stage in 2003, Alexander was cast in a run, opposite Martin Short. Alexander also appeared with Kelsey Grammer in the 2004 musical adaptation of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, Alexander was recently named the Artistic Director of Reprise Theatre Company in Los Angeles, where he previously directed Sunday in the Park with George. He is scheduled to direct the revival of Damn Yankees at Reprise. In 2015, he replaced Larry David as the lead in Davids Broadway play Fish in the Dark, Alexander is best known as one of the key cast members of the award-winning television sitcom Seinfeld, in which he played George Costanza. He did, however, win a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series for his work, before Seinfeld, he starred in a short-lived CBS sitcom called Everythings Relative in 1987 which lasted six episodes. Concurrently with his Seinfeld role, Alexander provided the voice of the character in the cult animated series Duckman. Alexander also voiced Catbert, the director of human resources. Alexander made cameo appearances in the season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Alexander also appeared in the season of Curb Your Enthusiasm
43.
Lisa Kudrow
–
Lisa Valerie Kudrow is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. She went on to produce, write and star in the 2005 HBO series The Comeback and she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for both seasons, in 2006 and 2015 respectively. She also starred in Web Therapy, which aired for four seasons on Showtime, as a producer of the series, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class – Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program for the show in 2012. She is also one of the producers of the TLC reality program Who Do You Think You Are and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Program for the series in 2012 and 2014. I Love You, Bandslam, Hotel for Dogs, Easy A, Neighbors, its sequel Neighbors 2, Sorority Rising and The Girl on the Train. Lisa Kudrow was born in Los Angeles, California, to Nedra S. a travel agent, and Dr. Lee N. Kudrow and she has an elder sister, Helene Marla, and an elder brother, Santa Monica neurologist David B. Kudrow was raised in a middle-class Jewish family and had a Bat Mitzvah ceremony and her ancestors immigrated from Belarus, Germany, Hungary and Poland, and some of them lived in the village of Ilya, in the Minsk area. Lisas paternal grandparents were David Kudrow and Gertrude Farberman and her paternal great-grandmother, Mera Mordejovich, was murdered in Ilya during the Holocaust. Her paternal grandmother immigrated to Brooklyn, where her father grew up, Kudrow attended Portola Middle School in Tarzana, California. In 1979, at the age of 16, she underwent rhinoplasty to reduce the size of her nose and she graduated from Taft High School in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Kudrow received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Vassar College, intending to follow in her fathers footsteps and research headaches. At the urging of her brothers friend, comedian Jon Lovitz, she began her comedic career as a member of The Groundlings. Kudrow has credited Cynthia Szigeti, her teacher at The Groundlings, for changing her perspective on acting, calling her the best thing that happened. Briefly, Kudrow joined with Conan OBrien and director Tim Hillman in the improv troupe Unexpected Company. She was also the regular female member of the Transformers Comedy Troupe. She played a role in an episode of the NBC sitcom Cheers and she tried out for Saturday Night Live in 1990, but the show chose Julia Sweeney instead. Prior to Friends, she appeared in at least two produced network pilots, NBCs Just Temporary in 1989, playing Nicole, and CBS Close Encounters in 1990, playing a Valley girl. Kudrow was cast to play the role of Roz Doyle in Frasier, Kudrow said in 2000 that when rehearsals started, I knew it wasnt working
44.
Lenny Kravitz
–
Leonard Albert Lenny Kravitz is a Bahamian American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. His retro style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop, folk, in addition to singing lead and backing vocals, Kravitz often plays all of the instruments himself when recording. He has been nominated for and won awards, including American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Radio Music Awards, Brit Awards. On December 1,2011, Kravitz was made an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and he played Cinna in the Hunger Games film series. Kravitz was born in Manhattan, New York, the son of actress Roxie Roker and his father was from a Jewish family. His mother was of Bahamian and African-American descent, and was from a Christian family, Kravitz is the cousin of television weather presenter Al Roker. During his early years, Kravitz did not grow up in a religious environment, after a spiritual experience when he was 13, he started attending church, becoming a non-denominational Christian. Kravitz was named after his uncle, Private First Class Leonard M, in 2014, he posthumously received the Medal of Honor in a ceremony that awarded it to 23 other servicemen who were passed over because of their ethnicity. Kravitz grew up spending weekdays on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, with his parents,6 for elementary school, and weekends at his grandmother Bessie Rokers house in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Kravitz began banging on pots and pans in the kitchen, playing them as drums at the age of three, at the age of five, he wanted to be a musician. He began playing the drums and soon added guitar, Kravitz grew up listening to the music his parents listened to, R&B, jazz, classical, opera, gospel, and blues. My parents were supportive of the fact that I loved music early on. Around the age of seven, he saw The Jackson 5 perform at Madison Square Garden and his father, who was also a jazz promoter, was friends with Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Short, Miles Davis and other jazz greats. Ellington even played Happy Birthday for him one year when he was about 5, Kravitz often went to see New York theater, where his mother worked. His mother encouraged his dreams of pursuing music, in 1974, the Kravitz family relocated to Los Angeles when Kravitzs mother landed her role on The Jeffersons. At his mothers urging, Kravitz joined the California Boys Choir for three years, where he performed a repertoire, and sang with the Metropolitan Opera. He took part in Mahlers Third Symphony at the Hollywood Bowl, I was attracted to the cool style, the girls, the rock n roll lifestyle, Kravitz said. Kravitzs other musical influences at the time included Fela Kuti, Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye, Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis, John Lennon, Kravitz attended Beverly Hills High School
45.
Patricia Heaton
–
Patricia Helen Heaton is an American actress and model. She is known for portraying Debra Barone on the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond from 1996 to 2005, a seven-time Emmy Award nominee, Heaton won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2000 and 2001 for Everybody Loves Raymond. Patricia Heaton was born in Bay Village, Ohio, the daughter of Patricia and Chuck Heaton, Heatons mother died of an aneurysm when the actress was 12. The fourth of five children, Heaton was raised as a devout Roman Catholic. Heaton has three sisters, Sharon, Alice, and Frances, and one brother, Michael, who is the Minister of Culture columnist for the Plain Dealer, while attending Ohio State University, she became a sister of Delta Gamma Sorority. She later graduated with a B. A. in drama, in 1980, Heaton moved to New York City to study with drama teacher William Esper. Heaton made her first Broadway appearance in the chorus of Dont Get God Started, after which she and fellow students created Stage Three, when Stage Three brought one of their productions to Los Angeles, Heaton caught the eye of a casting director for the ABC drama Thirtysomething. She was cast as an oncologist, leading to six appearances on the series from 1989 to 1991, other TV guest appearances include, Alien Nation, Matlock, Party of Five, The King of Queens, and Danny Phantom. Heatons feature films include Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Beethoven, The New Age, Heaton was featured in three short-lived sitcoms—Room for Two, Someone Like Me and Women of the House—before landing the role of Debra Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond. She was nominated in each of the series last seven seasons for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, with her win in 2000, she became the first of the cast members on the show to win an Emmy. She has also collected two Viewers for Quality Television Awards and a Screen Actors Guild trophy for her work on the series, starting September 2007, Heaton co-starred with Kelsey Grammer in Back to You, a situation comedy on Fox. The show was canceled in May 2008, Heaton appeared on the season seven of Extreme Makeover, Home Edition where she helped build a home for a firefighter and his family. S. Heaton was the producer for the 2005 documentary The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania and she was also one of the producers of the William Wilberforce drama Amazing Grace. In January 2007, Heaton returned to the stage to co-star with Tony Shalhoub in the Off-Broadway play The Scene at Second Stage Theatre in New York City, for this performance, Heaton was nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress category for the 22nd Lucille Lortel Awards. Since September 2009, she has starred in the ABC comedy The Middle, in 2011, Heaton was ranked at No.24 on the TV Guide Network special, Funniest Women on TV. In October 2015, Heaton began hosting Patricia Heaton Parties, a show on The Food Network. The program showcases party friendly foods and home entertaining tips and she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 22,2012. The star is located at 6533 Hollywood Blvd. in front of The Hudson Apartments, in 2003, Heaton appeared in a series of television and radio commercials as spokesperson for the various incarnations of the grocery chain Albertsons, such as Acme, Jewel and Shaws
