Amman Jordan stop

Published on Sep 12, 2012 by unhcr

UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie and the refugee agency's chief, António Guterres, meet Syrian refugees in Jordan and hear their harrowing tales.

Published on Sep 11, 2012 by BBCMundo

Como parte de sus funciones como enviada especial de Naciones Unidas, la actriz estadounidense visitó el campo de Zaatari en Jordania, en donde más de 30.000 desplazados huyen de la violencia en Siria.




Published on Sep 11, 2012 by MaximsNewsPEOPLE
 
Jordan Times

Jordan’s role commended as host of Syrian refugees

by JT | Sep 11, 2012 | 22:55 Updated: Sep 11, 2012 | 22:55

 His Majesty King Abdullah meets with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres and UNHCR special envoy Angelina Jolie in Amman on Tuesday (Photo by Yousef Allan) 

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday highlighted Jordan’s efforts to provide humanitarian services to Syrians, reiterating the need to reach a political solution to end the bloodshed in Syria.

During separate meetings with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres and US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, the King discussed the Syrian crisis and its repercussions, a Royal Court statement said.

He cited the growing burden the displaced community is placing on Jordan’s resources, commending the UN Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR) support to the Kingdom in providing aid to the refugees.

Guterres said the international community must shoulder its responsibility towards the Syrian refugees, particularly as the current level of support is still “insufficient”.

He commended Jordan’s role in alleviating the suffering of the Syrian refugees.

Guterres voiced the UNHCR’s intention to help the Kingdom bear the burden of hosting the growing number of Syrians, stressing that Jordan is a stabilising factor in the Middle East.

The meeting was attended by UN Refugee Agency’s special envoy Angelina Jolie, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and a number of senior officials from the UNHCR.

During his meeting with Burns, His Majesty also discussed bilateral ties and efforts to bring about peace in the Middle East on the basis of the two-state solution.

The Monarch underlined Jordan’s support for a political solution to the crisis that would protect its unity and put an end to the bloodshed, according to the statement.

Senate President Taher Masri also met with Burns and highlighted Jordan’s efforts to achieve comprehensive reform.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh met with Guterres and Jolie at the Prime Ministry and discussed the developments in Syria and their social and economic impact on Jordan.

He said the Kingdom expects more Syrian refugees to cross the border, especially as the security situation is worsening in Syria, specifically in its southern region, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Tarawneh thanked the UN and other international agencies for supporting Jordan to enable it to continue its humanitarian role towards the refugees.

The premier noted that Jordan is establishing mobile schools inside the Syrian refugee camps and needs more support to develop these schools to accommodate Syrian students.

He added that the government also provides the Syrians with subsidised commodities on equal footing with citizens.

Guterres indicated that around 200,000 Syrians have crossed the borders to Jordan since the start of the unrest in Syria, stressing that this number places huge economic and social burdens on the Kingdom and that the world should understand the difficulties Jordan is facing.

For her part, Jolie voiced her appreciation of the “positive” role the Kingdom is playing to alleviate the suffering of the Syrians, Petra reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, Judeh met with Guterres and Jolie and outlined the services provided by the Kingdom to Syrian refugees. He also accompanied them on a tour of the Zaatari Refugee Camp.

At a joint press conference with Guterres and Jolie, Judeh stressed that Jordan has no intention to close its borders with Syria and will continue receiving Syrian refugees fleeing the violence.

Under Royal directives, the Kingdom will maintain its open-border policy despite its scarce resources.




Jerusalem Post

Syrian refugees move Angelina Jolie to tears

By REUTERS

09/12/2012 08:12

In her capacity as UN special envoy, Hollywood actress hears gruesome accounts of refugees first hand in Jordan.

Photo: reuters ZAATARI,

Jordan - Syrian refugees stuck in a dust-blown camp in Jordan gave gruesome accounts of civilians incinerated in their country's civil war to UN special envoy and actress Angelina Jolie on Tuesday, moving her to tears.

The United Nations is in the process of registering more than 250,000 refugees from the 17-month-old conflict in four neighbouring countries, with more than 100,000 arriving in August alone - 85,000 of those in Jordan.

On average around 2,000 Syrians arrive each day in Jordan and the country has already declared the influx is beyond what it can deal with and appealed for international help.

"Little children who were asked what they saw described body parts separated and burnt people being pulled apart like chicken. A little 9-year-old girl said that," Jolie told reporters after a two-day visit to Jordan's Zaatari camp.

"It's been a very heavy experience because often at times you come to these camps ... and rarely do you come when meet them as they cross the border and get to know people the moment they become a refugee," she said, stopping to compose herself.

"They will say: 'As the months go on there will be no more of us, our homes are gone are families are gone' ."

Escaping an escalating military campaign by Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces, refugees languish in an unfinished camp where aid agencies and authorities are struggling to provide the most basic shelter and facilities.

At Zaatari, 28,000 people live in searing late summer heat with limited facilities and choking, dust-filled winds.

"The world is watching as though they mean to humiliate the Syrian people. We feel we are in a big detention center and zoo, fenced around where everyone comes to capitalize on our suffering," said Musa Awadat, a father of six. "We didn't flee from Syria to come here to another prison."

'International appeals for funding to help refugees not being met'

UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres, who toured the camp with Jolie and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, said their visit was a message to the world "to help us and the Jordanian government in order to massively invest in improving the living conditions of the refugees in this camp".

Jolie traveled to Syria in 2007 and again in 2009 to meet Iraqi refugees with her partner, actor Brad Pitt. During one trip they met Assad and his wife Asma, who later told Vanity Fair magazine that the couples lunched in the capital.
Jolie, dressed in a black T-shirt with her hair tied back, said that all appeals for international funding to tackling the refugee crisis had "not been met."

Syrian opposition groups say more than 27,000 people have died in an uprising that has lasted more than 17 months and has descended into outright civil war in the pivotal Arab state.

"The complexity of this crisis is one of the aspects that sets it apart, and the speed at which people have fled Syria," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said in Geneva on Tuesday.

"With 100,000 having fled to neighboring countries in the space of a single month, August, that makes it an extraordinary acceleration of this crisis," he told a news briefing.

He said that almost 200,000 Syrians had crossed into Jordan, although not all were registered as refugees.

In April, Jolie was promoted from serving as a UNHCR goodwill ambassador to a special envoy.

U.N. ambassador Angelina Jolie visits Syrian refugees in Jordan

By the CNN Wire Staff

September 12, 2012 -- Updated 0122 GMT (0922 HKT)

Zaatari, Jordan (CNN) -- Hoping her celebrity will bring attention to the widening Syrian refugee crisis, actress and U.N. envoy Angelina Jolie spoke of the horrors that children, many of them orphans, have witnessed in Syria.

"Body parts separated, and burned people being pulled apart like chicken -- a little 9-year-old girl said that," Jolie said during her visit to a refugee tent camp in Jordan near the Syrian border.

Every day, an estimated 2,000 Syrians are fleeing the relentless bloodshed that has gripped their country for the past 18 months, the United Nations' refugee agency said Tuesday. That adds up to more than one quarter million Syrian refugees -- 253,000 -- now living in camps and other temporary homes inside Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, and Iraq.

U.N. breakdown of refugees

Life in the dusty Zaatari refugee camp outside Mafraq, Jordan, is not easy for those living there, many of whom have almost nothing after leaving their homes amid violence. Members of one family told CNN they had fled over the border with a 4-day-old baby and the clothes on their backs.

Others complained of being short of food and water.

Escorted to the border overnight by the Jordanian military, Jolie witnessed the moment when Syrians crossed into Jordan, becoming refugees before her eyes. The actress, who is raising six children with partner Brad Pitt, said she was greatly moved by what she had seen and spoke of the connection she felt in particular with the mothers and their children as they faced such challenging times.

"The amount of innocent children that have been reported dead, the amount of innocent children I've met here who are wounded and unaccompanied -- with their parents being killed and now they're on their own -- it's impossible to imagine any mother standing by and not stepping up and doing something to prevent this," she said.

Jolie has made countless trips to the world's hotspots in her role as a U.N. goodwill ambassador -- including a visit to Syrian refugees in Turkey last year.

Jordan is bearing the brunt of the refugee crisis sparked by Syria's civil war: More than 85,000 refugees have escaped to Jordan, and many more have fled to neighboring Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.

"Jordan has already reached its limit in absorbing the refugee influx, and what is needed now is to build more refugee camps for the Syrian refugees," Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said. "We have limited means, but this is the land of the good people, and we will share with them whatever we have, no matter how little (it) is."

Jolie urged other countries to do more to help the Syrian people.

"I am grateful to Jordan and the border countries for saving the lives (of those) who are dying in Syria. It's an extraordinary thing. We encourage the international community to support the people here until one day they go back home."

Videos

AP Video

Published on Sep 11, 2012 by AssociatedPress

Her eyes welling up with tears, actress Angelina Jolie spoke of the "horrific situation" in Syria, speaking during a visit on Tuesday to a Jordanian camp for refugees who have fled the civil war. (Sept. 11)

TODAY ‏@todayshow

.@AnnCurry reports on Angelina Jolie's visit to refugee camp near Syrian border: http://on.today.com/QC2zUA

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Published on Sep 11, 2012 by Goodman84Sweden





Published on Sep 11, 2012 by BBCArabicNews

قالت نجمة هوليود أنجلا جولي ومبعوثة الأمم المتحدة الى مجيمات اللاجئين السوريين في الأردن إنها تتألم للوضع الإنساني الذي يمر به الفارون من القتال الدائر في سوريا حالياودعت الى التكاتف من أجل وضع حد للأزمة الإنسانية المتفاقمة.




CNN

PGA Show Reports

 

 

Hammond: Producers Guild Validates ‘The Artist’ As Its March To The Oscars Intensifies

By PETE HAMMOND | Sunday January 22, 2012 @ 3:23am PST

In the last two years the winner of the Producers Guild of America’s Best Picture award (or Darryl F. Zanuck award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures) has turned the Oscar race on its head. The choice in 2010 of low grossing indie The Hurt Locker over the highest grossing movie ever, Avatar just one week after its Golden Globe win was a shocker. So was last year’s defeat of The Social Network by Harvey Weinstein’s upstart, The King’s Speech also just one week after the Sony Facebook film’s Globe triumph.

Saturday night’s victory by front runner The Artist isn’t inspiring the same comparisons.  If the PGA winner had been any thing other than The Artist  the race would take on new meaning but instead it went the way most pundits expected and would appear, on the surface at least , to mean the little French black and white silent movie is well on its way to victory at the Oscars.  After all the PGA is the first real industry test and it has a good track record matching its winner with the eventual Best Picture Oscar for the past four years (it has missed three others in the last decade though).

It is the first guild to reveal its choice and many members of the PGA are also Oscar voters so it carries a good deal of weight. The glum faces of competitors in the Beverly Hilton lobby afterwards would seem indicate a sense of the seemingly inevitable crowning of The Artist that is beginning to creep into this race. There was no Newt Gingrich surging from behind to overtake the front runner, but as I pointed out to producers of both The Descendants and The Help to name two , it ain’t over ’til its over — and in fact we don’t even get the nominations until Tuesday.

Next weekend with both the DGA and SAG awards is the awards season equivalent of Super Tuesday. This is where one of the rival films is going to have to stop the momentum of Harvey’s little-movie-that-could before its Best Picture fortunes turn into a foregone conclusion and Academy voters start sniffing a winner.  It’s a strategy Lionsgate employed in 2005 when Brokeback Mountain seemed just as invincible.  The company put everything it had including a DVD screener mailing to the entire membership of SAG in order to help their movie, Crash pull off an upset. And that’s exactly what it did in beating Brokeback for the coveted SAG ensemble prize (their equivalent of Best Picture) and going on to an Oscar victory.  Both Descendants and Help are aggressively pursuing the same win and even Universal’s upstart Bridesmaids is hoping for a momentum-snapping win at SAG next Sunday. In fact all five SAG ensemble nominees have sent screeners to the 90,000-plus SAG membership, a pricey move that underlines its strategic and psychological importance. Stranger things have happened and coming as it does just as final Oscar ballots are in the mail could be something to try and slow down The Artist.

Still Thomas Langmann, producer of The Artist , played the role of underdog in his classy acceptance speech when he said, “we were just writing a love letter to American cinema. We never dreamed we would get to taste the American dream”. It went over well in the room, especially when he pointed out none of them could believe they were in the same room as Steven Spielberg, much less the same category.  Later in the lobby Executive Producer Richard Middleton told me they really didn’t dare to  dream this big. “(the Director) Michel would just tell me he hoped to get a nice DVD out of it. It never occurred to anyone we would be sitting here today. It really didn’t”.

While I was congratulating Langmann in the lobby , Harvey Weinstein came up and warned him there is still a long way to go and that nothing should be taken for granted. He recalled being on the opposite side last year when it seemed inevitable Social Network was going to win.  In fact last year Harvey didn’t make the trek up to L.A. from Sundance for the night like he did this year. But then this year he knew he might be riding a winner. Harvey looked like the cat that just ate the canary.

As for the show itself this was one of the tightest and certainly best produced PGA awards I have seen. In fact it was one of the best Guild shows period. The clip reels across the board were exceptional starting with a hilarious opening montage of movies featuring actors playing producers. It killed as did a reel introducing Milestone Award recipient Leslie Moonves that even featured clips of his (way) past career as a fledgling actor . He wisely gave that up for the career path he is on now. The clips chosen for Norman Lear Television Achievement winner (and Oscar show co-producer) Don Mischer  as well as those for David O. Selznick Career Achievement winner Steven Spielberg were also great.  In fact Spielberg was so blown away by it he asked in his speech who put it together. “I think we should have them working for us,”  he said. His colleague and co-founder of Dreamworks Jeffrey Katzenberg presented his award saying “no one has given us so many intimate , unforgettable movie moments as Steven Spielberg. As director and producer no one has given us more than any person in movie history.”  In accepting Spielberg gave credit to many of his early mentors in television  and later in film, particularly Dick Zanuck and David Brown , producers of  Jaws and his longtime producing partner (and former PGA head) Kathleen Kennedy. “I love what this Guild has become, recognizing producing as an indispensible creative necessity,”  he said.

That definitely seems to be the case and current PGA presidents Mark Gordon and Hawk Koch announced the Guild is thriving and just welcomed its 5000th member. “J.J. Abrams is number 4999 and Brad Pitt  is number 5000,”  they said. Pitt, a nominee for Moneyball didn’t win but his significant other, Angelina Jolie won a standing ovation as she accepted the socially conscious Stanley Kramer Award for her Bosnian war-set film, In The Land of Blood and Honey. She said she was “humbled” by it before singling out her cast who were on all sides of the early 90′s conflict that became the bloodiest war in Europe since World War 2. “This belongs to them. It is their story and their film and by honoring them you remember them and we thank you,”  she said.

One of the highlights of the show was a clip Mischer ran in his acceptance detailing the stress he was under while directing the 2002 Winter Olympic games opening ceremony as the skaters who were passing the torch were going so slow the fabled Olympic flame was in danger of burning out. George Clooney also got lots of laughs presenting his former E.R. boss Les Moonves’s award, particularly with a riotous impression of the CBS honcho. Moonves got him back saying, “I think everyone is aware of the last few weeks and what a low profile you have taken,” he quipped .  ”Every production is a minor miracle, every TV show, every movie,”  he said while giving credit to producers like Mark Burnett and Jerry Bruckheimer for overcoming the odds and turning out hits.

With the 2012 PGA awards now history the march towards Oscar night intensifies and nominees get announced at the crack of dawn Tuesday morning. Will there be surprises? Hope so. We have to keep this thing interesting.

Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt trade views on filmmaking

 

24 Frames

Producers Guild Awards: 'The Artist' takes home top honors

January 21, 2012 | 10:20 pm

The Producers Guild of America gave its top prize to "The Artist" Saturday night, confirming the black-and-white film's status as an Oscar front-runner heading into the nominations for the 84th Academy Awards Tuesday morning. The PGA and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have agreed on best picture winners the last four years. Producer Thomas Langmann, the son of acclaimed French actor, writer and director Claude Barri, accepted the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures for "The Artist," which took home the Golden Globe for best motion picture, comedy or musical, earlier this month.
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius, the film is a love letter to Hollywood's Golden Age, telling the story of the intersecting fates of silent film star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) and plucky song-and-dance gal Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) at the dawn of the talkies. Since making its debut at the Cannes Film Festival last year, the movie has been collecting accolades and acclaim.
"When Michel and I dreamed of making 'The Artist,' we dreamed of writing a love letter to American cinema," Langmann said. "We just didn't know that we would get a taste of the American dream."
But "The Artist" wasn't the only recurring presence on the awards season circuit to take home a prize Saturday at the 23rd annual PGA Awards gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Steven Spielberg's 3D performance capture film "The Adventures of Tintin," based on the work of Belgian artist Herge, won in the PGA's animated film category -- it, too, won a Golden Globe. The director accepted the statuette with his producing partner Kathleen Kennedy; "Tintin's" third nominated producer, Peter Jackson, did not attend the ceremony.
Spielberg, whose other 2011 feature, the stately World War I drama "War Horse," had been nominated alongside "The Artist," also was honored with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures. In presenting the award, DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg said of Spielberg, "He's a great storyteller. He's maintained a deep affinity with his audiences."
During his acceptance speech, Spielberg credited his career to the fact that he came across producers who believed in him, refueled his confidence when it ran low and took a chance on him. He explained that an important aspect in making films is "being able to take chances on men and women who deserve a break. No one can succeed alone."
He continued, "For every film and television show nominated tonight, someone reached out and gave a hand. I am grateful to feel all of yours holding mine right now."
Actor Michael Rapaport certainly seemed both grateful and terribly surprised when his documentary about the groundbreaking hip-hop collective A Tribe Called Quest, "Beats, Rhymes and Life," took home honors for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures -- Rapaport, Edward Parks, Frank Mele and Debra Koffler were the honored producers.
"I really can't believe we won," a visible shaken Rapaport said, before coming out with an off-the-cuff expletive.
On the television side, the Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic TV-drama went to HBO's Prohibition era drama "Boardwalk Empire," while ABC's popular sitcom "Modern Family" won the Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic TV, Comedy.
After collecting the first prize of the evening, "Modern Family" producer Danny Zuker appropriately made the audience roar with laughter. "I have to tell you, all through the streets today there was Producer's Guild fever and it's just such a relief for it to all be over."
Comedian Stephen Colbert and the team from Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" won for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television, though Colbert was not on hand to accept. PBS' Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning miniseries "Downtown Abbey" and its trio of producers, Julian Fellowes, Nigel Marchant and Gareth Neame, took home the PGA's long-form television award.
The prize for competition television went to CBS' globe-trotting contest "The Amazing Race" -- honored producers were Jerry Bruckheimer, Elise Doganieri, Jonathan Littman, Bertram van Munster and Mark Vertullo. PBS' "American Masters" duo Susan Lacy and Julie Sacks won for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction TV.
Among the evening's other honorary awards, "Spider-Man" star Tobey Maguire presented comics icon Stan Lee with his Vanguard Award, while television veteran Don Mischer accepted the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television. Both men received a standing ovation in the ballroom, as did actress Angelina Jolie, who was given the Stanley Kramer Award for her feature directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," a love story set against the backdrop of the Bosnian war.
CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves won the Milestone Award, which was presented to him by George Clooney. After his own standing ovation, Moonves quipped that "there is no one in the world I would change places with, except this guy," and promptly pointed to Clooney.
The evening also saw Alicia Keys perform a rendition of her Jay-Z duet "Empire State of Mind" and her song "No One."
-- Susan King and Jasmine Elist

Inside the Producers Guild Awards with Spielberg and Jolie: 'The Artist' Wins Again

Awards by Beth Hanna


 Angelina Jolie Accepts the Stanley Kramer Award:

After being introduced by Morgan Freeman as "producer, director, writer and woman of my dreams," a visibly moved Angelina Jolie took the stage to accept the Stanley Kramer award. Speaking to the audience and also pointedly to Spielberg she said, "In the early '90's, great filmmakers were standing on stages like this being recognized for "Schindler's List"... We meant it when we said 'Never again.' But at that same time in film history, the war in Bosnia was in full force - concentration camps, rape camps, and mass executions. And the world turned a blind eye. The cast of 'Blood and Honey' were all personally affected by that war... This [award] belongs to them, and in honoring [this film] you honor them."

 

“The Artist” Wins Producers Guild, Angelina Makes Impassioned Speech

01/22/12 10:22am Roger Friedman

Our own LEAH SYDNEY reports from Hollywood: Thomas Langmann, the son of late famed French film director Claude Berri, won the Producers Guild of America award last night for bringing “The Artist” to the screen. It was presented to him by Annette Bening.  “The Artist,” from the Weinstein Company, is now set to garner many Oscar nominations on Tuesday. At a pre-panel for the PGA yesterday, even Steven Spielberg praised Michel Hazanavicius‘s extraordinary silent black and while film for its genius. It was quite an evening for the PGA: Alicia Keys performed, and other awards went to the The Colbert Report, Moden Family, Boardwalk Empire, CBS chief Les Moonves (who’s kept CBS a consistent winner), and to Steven Spielberg‘s “The Adventures of Tin Tin.”
Some notes from Leah: Morgan Freeman gave the Stanley Kramer Award to Angelina Jolie for her debut film “In The Land of Blood and Honey.” Freeman said Jolie, the director  made “a powerful visceral film made by brave and bold artist…Here is the writer, producer director and woman of my dreams.” Angelina then came on and gave a truly a beautiful , earnest speech that had the crowd mesmerized.
“To be in any way associated with Stanley Kramer is such an honor. It’s extraordinary and we are humbled.” She then went on and said “to my family bcause without them nothing is possible and I have nothing.  ‘Schindler’s List’ was honored here,” she said, looking at Spielberg. “It was an extraordinary film and we meant it when we said never again. But at that exact time in Bosnia in 1994 the war was happening there, 40 minutes away from Italy the world turned a blind eye.  It took great bravery and personal hardship for them to tell their story. But they did so so that in years to come someone will not be accepting an award for a war that is happening now.  Sadly that will probably be the case. By honoring this film you are honoring them as well for that we are grateful.”
Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee also won an award, presented to him by Tobey Maguire, his last “Spider Man.” Awards were also won by Masterpiece Theater, and “The Amazing Race.”
Leah reports that right before the show Moonves –kidding that he had no acceptance speech– asked writer director Judd Apatow to help him. Apatow quipped, “Does that mean you’re going to hire me now?” Stan Lee told Leah his biggest problem these days is being mistaken for Brad Pitt. (Long hair, scruffy beards.)
On a personal note, I know how much winning the PGA means to Langmann for “The Artist.” As a child in occupied France, his father was given to a Christian family rather than be killed in the Holocaust. Years later, his mother, a beloved woman, killed herself. The Holocaust story has hung over his family like a dark shadow. His father, who directed “Jean de Florette,” died two years ago. The surprise success of “The Artist” has been a miracle. Many congratulations.



 Ministry of Gossip Home

Angelina Jolie honored at Producers Guild Awards

Angelina Jolie was the woman of the night at the Producers Guild Awards, honored with the Stanley Kramer Award for her work on "In the Land of Blood and Honey.

It was recognition that caused A-lister Jolie to turn into a giddy little girl when she heard the news, she told the Ministry on Saturday night.
"What I hope is that our film helps people not forget the past," said Jolie, whose directorial effort is set against the backdrop of the Bosnian war and the violence in the Serbian-run detention camps. "I want people to see what these people have gone through and that they are able to tell their story through their bravery. Their story matters."
PHOTOS: The scene at the Producers Guild Awards
Karen Sharpe Kramer, widow of director Stanley Kramer, said that the award in his name was created to honor socially conscious filmmaking and when it came time to decide on this year's recipient, it was a "hands-down" vote for "Blood and Honey."
"I think women are better directors of violence for film," Kramer said boldly. "Genocide continues throughout the world, and if a film like this can keep being seen, we can help bring an end to the violence."
When asked if she would give up her career as an actor to continue directing, Jolie quickly and confidently said, "Definitely."
"I would love to not be in front of camera. It's nice to shine a spotlight on another actor," she said -- as rows of cameras snapped photos of her standing elegantly in a black Michael Kors gown with lace detail.

Producers Guild Awards red carpet: Angelina Jolie, Jessica Chastain go black to basics -- PHOTOS

by Kate Ward

 An A-list crowd packed the seats at last night’s Producers Guild Awards, but its red carpet was anything but flashy. Celebrities chose to go demure for the event, with many deciding that black was best. (Just see perennial red carpet stunners Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who continue to prove this awards season that they’re better looking than we’ll ever be. Not that we’re bitter or anything.)
 

Injured Brad Pitt: No More Cane, But...

Today 10:16 AM PST by Marc Malkin

Just because Brad Pitt is no longer wobbling around on a cane, that doesn't mean he's in the clear.
The Moneyball actor says there's still work to be done on his busted knee...


"It's better," Pitt told me exclusively last night at the 23rd annual Producers Guild Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. "I have to wear a brace for a month."

"Then I'll have rehab," he said. "I'll be alright as long as the kids don't hit me from the side."
The world's most famous father of six injured his knee earlier this month when he took a fall while carrying daughter Vivienne.
Angelina Jolie has said the pain never actually slowed Mr. Pitt down. "He's not that kind of guy," she told reporters at the Palm Springs International Film Festival shortly after the accident. "He still does everything."
A busted knee isn't the only thing I talked about with Pitt. Come back here later on for more scoop. Also, I'll tell you what Jolie told me about quitting acting.

Bad fish, big pond

Celebs gather at Producers Guild Awards

By Todd Kushigemachi, Dave McNary

Hollywood showed its love for last year's movies and its disappointment in Saturday night's dinner at the Producers Guild of America Awards. While presenting the Milestone Award to Leslie Moonves, George Clooney sounded off about "that fucking fish. "I'm not sure what it was, but it came from the L.A. River," Clooney said from the Beverly Hilton stage. 

Graham King and Brad Pitt attend the Variety's 2012 PGA Nominees Breakfast at Landmark Nuart Theatre.

Other A-list presenters included Kathy Bates, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain and Morgan Freeman, who described honoree Angelina Jolie as "producer, director, writer ... the woman of my dreams."

 

Morgan Freeman presents the Stanley Kramer Award to Angelina Jolie. 

Accepting the David O. Selznick Achievement Award, Steven Spielberg took time to thank his wife, Kate Capshaw, "who so innocently asked me last night if David O. Selznick was Irish. He's the other - ish."

Kathleen Kennedy offers congrats to Steven Spielberg, who receives David O. Selznick Award.

Earlier in the day, Spielberg also provoked big laughs at the PGA Awards 2012 Nominees Breakfast, presented by Variety, when he answered a question about where he had gotten his inspiration to produce "War Horse."

"My wife saw the play and said, 'You've got to do this,'" he revealed at the Landmark Theaters confab.
"Bridesmaids" producer Barry Mendel said that pic's director, Paul Feig, shot a massive amount of footage -- 1.2 million feet -- in order to be assured that the comedy was captured.

 
 George Clooney segues from fish to pics at PGA Awards.


"Ides of March" producer Grant Heslov recalled that he and Clooney had originally set up their adaptation of the stage play when Barack Obama was running for president. "We didn't think that a very cynical look at politics would play well at the point when Obama had been elected," he noted. "About a year went by and we said, 'Maybe we can do this.'"

Michael Manheim and Judd Apatow flank PGA prexy Mark Gordon at the Beverly Hilton.

Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Brad Pitt: I’m ‘Very Proud’ Of Angelina

First Published: January 23, 2012 5:15 PM EST Credit: Getty Images

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Caption With award season in full swing, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been stepping out night after night in support of their numerous films. On Saturday, Access Hollywood caught up with the power couple at the Producer’s Guild Awards, where the actress-turned-writer/director was honored.

Brad told Access that he’s overjoyed with his ladylove’s success with her directorial feature debut, “In the Land of Blood and Honey.”

“I am very proud of her,” Brad said of Angelina, who was awarded the Producer’s Guild Stanley Kramer Award. “I remember the morning she woke up and said, ‘I’m going to write something,’ and six months later, she’s shooting.

“I know what it means to her and the people of the country and uniting people on both sides,” he said of the film, which is set during the Bosnian War. “It’s no small feat.”

And though the couple both have films with Oscar nomination buzz, they both told Access they might be preoccupied with other things come Tuesday morning.

“I’m sure we’ll be busy with the kids,” Angelina explained.

A modest Brad, who could be nominated for his film, “Moneyball,” added, “I haven’t thought it.”

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L.A. Premiere and Bosnian Screening

REUTERS

Dec. 23 - Angelina Jolie's film In The Land Of Blood And Honey in Sarajevo brings painful memories to the residents of Bosnia's capital. Nickie Omer reports. ( Transcript:
"In The Land of Blood and Honey" is actress Angelina Jolie's debut as a feature film director. A love story between a Serbian man and a Bosnian-Muslim woman, forced apart in the 1992 Bosnian conflicts, many people in Sarayevo have found it difficult to watch. Jolie has given the Bosnian capital an exclusive week-long screening of the film before it officially hits theatres in the region in February. SOUNDBITE: Rukija Vrckalo, Sarajevo resident, saying (Bosnian): "I don't have words, I only feel sick and want to cry. I don't have words for this, everything has come back to me, I was here during the war and everything came back to my memory. I think that film is fantastic, well done." SOUNDBITE: Sekib Sokolovic, Sarajevo resident, saying (Bosnian): "This is the strongest film ever made about what happened in the war, it told the truth about Bosnia and Herzegovina." During shooting, the Bosnian Women Victims of War association thought the plot was inaccurate and their protests forced Jolie's filming permit to be revoked. She had to present her script to Bosnia's culture ministry to get the permit reintstated. Jolie used unknown local actors to make the film more authentic, and much of the feedback from audiences has been positive. SOUNDBITE: Kevin Sullivan, Bosnia war correspondent, saying (English): "It was very powerful and successful drama. I thought it explored issues in a very authentic way. I thought it avoided many cliches that one might have expected and I thought it was a substantial and important contribution to understanding the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina." The Hollywood Foreign Press obviously agrees - nominating it for a Golden Globe for best foreign language film. Nickie Omer, Reuters. Angelina Jolie's film hard to watch for Sarajevo war survivors (2:06)

THR on KFP2 Presser

Angelina Jolie, Jack Black on Finding Inner Peace in 'Kung Fu Panda 2' (Cannes)

10:10 AM 5/12/2011 by Gregg Kilday, THR

"I don’t think inner peace exists at the Cannes Film Festival," jokes Dustin Hoffman.

CANNES -- “I don’t think inner peace exists at the Cannes Film Festival,” Dustin Hoffman said, offering his deadpan assessment of the scene as DreamWorks Animations Kung Fu Panda 2 express rolled into town.

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•Cannes Film Festival

DWA, which makes it an annual habit of grabbing the attention of the international press assembled in Cannes, held its own screening Tuesday night of the new sequel to the original Kung Fu Panda, which collected $632 million in grosses worldwide when it was released in 2008.
It followed up with a press conference Thursday morning at the Carlton Hotel that included Jack Black, who plays the reluctant panda warrior Po, Angelina Jolie, who voices Po’s comrade-in-arms Tigress, Hoffman, who lends his voice to kung fu master Shifu and the movie’s director Jennifer Yuh Nelson.
The new movie revolves around Po’s search for inner peace even as he battles a new villain, the peacock Lord Shen, who’s voiced by Gary Oldman.
And so one of the first questions tossed at the actors was what they themselves consider inner peace.
“My inner peace is in pieces,” Black joked, while Jolie, showing a kind of radiant graciousness as she put up with the often off-the-wall questions, responded more seriously, saying, “Especially for people who have children, you wake up and they’re healthy, you know that’s the most important thing, so you have that peace. But I think we’re all searching for it as part of the human journey. We all have moments of inner peace, then we lose it, then we look for it again.”
It remained for Hoffman -- who at one point announced, “It’s tough to get laughs in this room” -- to turn the question on the questioners as he added, “I have never had as much inner peace as I have at the moment, being infront of all these cameras and sitting next to Angelina. It doesn’t get anymore inner than that.”
The new movie also follows Po’s search for his birth parents -- the panda has been brought up by a goose, a fact that went unexplained in the first movie. So the press naturally wanted to know of Jolie, how her six kids, who included three adopted children, reacted to that aspect of the film.
Smiling easily, Jolie said, “I brought my children to see the movie and they absolutely loved the movie and laughed though the whole thing.”Although she admitted she wondered if they would have questions, the issue never came up. “They just felt that much more proud that they were a little more like Po,” she added.
Nelson, the movie’s director, also talked about the role that Guillermo Del Toro, who is credited as creative consultant, played on the film. “It was a very long process, three years, and he came in right in the middle, when things were the messiest and pointed out all the things in the movie that we really should believe in and he helped us come up with some really great ideas,” she explained. “Part of what he did was try to make Shen even cooler. He came in and cracked a lot of jokes and really cheered us on. He was just an inspiration to work with.”

Jolie, Black seek "inner peace" in Kung Fu Panda 2

By Mike Collett-White CANNES, France (Reuters) - Actress Angelina Jolie said 3D animation drama "Kung Fu Panda 2" was about finding your "inner peace," while co-star comic Jack Black pondered whether all life forms had "fleeting moments of existentiality." – 2 hrs 6 mins ago

At a sometimes surreal press conference to promote the movie at the Cannes film festival on Thursday, the topics of discussion ranged from violence in film to China to adoption, although Black never allowed proceedings to get too serious.
"My inner peace is in pieces at the moment," he quipped to a large crowd of reporters in a plush hotel ballroom.
Kung Fu Panda 2 is the sequel to the successful 2008 original which earned $632 million at the international box office, and Black said there would be further sequels should the movies continue to succeed commercially.
In Kung Fu Panda 2, portly panda hero Po, voiced by Black, must find inner calm to defeat his nemesis Lord Shen, an evil peacock played by Gary Oldman who sets out to conquer China with an "unstoppable" weapon and to destroy kung fu once and for all.
He also discovers that he is adopted -- not a major surprise to movie goers considering his "father" is a goose.
Oscar-winner Jolie provides the voice for Tigress, while Dustin Hoffman portrays Master Shifu, Po's mentor in a story set in ancient China against backdrops of lush forests, towering temples and crowded cities.
Although Kung Fu Panda 2 is not in the main Cannes line-up, the festival welcomes such blockbusters because they attract A-list stars like Jolie and generate the kind of buzz among media and fans on which the annual event thrives.
Jolie is in France with her family, and partner Brad Pitt is expected on the red carpet later in the festival for his part in Terrence Malick's in-competition "The Tree of Life."
ADOPTION A "HAPPY WORD"
The actress said the fact that Po discovers he is adopted in the movie meant her three adopted children felt closer to the character. She also has three biological children.
"I brought my children to see the movie and they absolutely love the movie ... and I wondered whether they'd ask me questions about it.
"But because 'adoption' and 'birth mothers' and 'orphanage' and all that in our home these are happy words, they're used to these discussions and they just felt that much more proud that they were a little more like Po."
Asked about the violence in the film, Black replied: "It (the film) discourages weaponry. I don't like guns. I don't own one. I like laser blasters. That's where I draw the line."
Hoffman said the first movie he ever saw was the cartoon "Bambi," which contained surprisingly disturbing scenes.
"You can connect Bambi and Pinocchio to violence," said the 73-year-old Oscar winner. "In Bambi there was a big fire in the woods. I literally remember bursting out crying and leaving because all the animals were being killed by fire."
Asked whether he thought pandas had "existential moments," Black replied:
"Maybe they do for brief moments, gnawing on a bamboo shoot they think what is life all about? What is the point in this meaningless universe that goes on forever? May be all life forms have fleeting moments of existentiality. You can print that."
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

Cannes 2011: Kung Fu Panda returns to the Riviera

Jolie, Black and Hoffman bring A-list glitz to the fest.

By Richard Jordan | May 12th 2011

Source: Total Film

Hollywood hit the Croisette in force this morning as Jack Black, Angelina Jolie and Dustin Hoffman turned up to promote animated sequel Kung Fu Panda 2.
The trio, along with debut director Jennifer Yuh, made their way into a packed press conference after the usual posing-with-a-cuddly-panda photo duties.
Jolie was classy and charming, Black was typically boisterous and Hoffman kept himself amused by offering some hilariously sardonic responses to some of the sillier questions.
The film picks up the story of titular warrior Po (Black), who sets out to defeat evil peacock Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) with the help of fellow ‘Furious Five’ fighter Tigress (Jolie) and red panda master Shifu (Hoffman).
“The trick with sequels is you have to make it better than the first one, and I think we’ve pulled it off,” said Jolie.
“It was more fun the second time around because we’d all gotten to know each other [on the press tour for the first movie] and our characters had history, so it was fun to jump in.”
When asked why he’d signed on for a sequel, Hoffman quipped: “At my age I have no short-term memory, so I can’t answer that…”
Being serious for a moment, he added: “I think we’re in a golden age of animation and I think this is as good as it gets.
“It’s very difficult to make any sequel as good if not better than the first and I do think my colleagues have made a deeper, more emotional film.”
Black, meanwhile, applauded the film’s anti-weapon stance, albeit in his own unique style.
“The Furious Five never use actual weapons. It’s all kung fu, so in a way it’s a non-violent film – it discourages weaponry!” he said.
“I don’t like guns. I like laser blasters, but that’s where I draw the line.”
Amid all the craziness, first-time director Yuh hardly got a look-in, although she did manage to applaud the involvement of exec producer Guillermo del Toro.
“It’s a very long process,” she explained of the film’s three-year production. “Guillermo came in right in the middle and helped us come up with some really great ideas, like making Shen even cooler.
“He cracked a lot of jokes and really cheered us up in the middle of a really long project. He was just an inspiration to work with.”
Kung Fu Panda 2 opens on 10 June.

Read more: Cannes 2011: Kung Fu Panda returns to the Riviera | TotalFilm.com