Stars from cinema’s elite are gathering in Malta to take part in tonight’s prestigious European Film Awards.
Academy Award winner Helen Mirren, best known for her role in Stephen Frears’ The Queen and most recently in Hitchcock, will be honoured with the European Achievement in World Cinema Award.
Bernardo Bertolucci, whose films are known for their colourful visual style, including nine-Oscar winner The Last Emperor, will receive this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
They will be among the guests of the 25th edition of the European Film Awards hosted at the Mediterranean Conference Centre.
Meanwhile, yesterday morning 17 silver-coated statuettes of an elegantly-dressed woman arrived in Malta from the UK.
They will be the trophies given to the winners in 17 categories that include European director, actor, actress, screenwriter, editor, composer and best documentary, animated film, short film and the people’s choice award.
Contenders this year for the top prize of European Film 2012 include Michael Haneke’s Amour, Olivier Nakache’s Intouchables, Christian Petzold’s Barbara, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s Caesar Must Die, Thomas Vintenberg’s Danish drama The Hunt and Steve McQueen’s Shame featuring Michael Fassbender.
Mirren and Swedish producer Helena Danielsson will receive the European Co-Production Award 2012.
The ceremony will be opened by the President of the European Film Academy, critically-acclaimed director Wim Wenders. Other guests present at the ceremony will include actors Moritz Bleibtreu (German), Kim Rossi Stuart (Italian), Marama Corlett (Maltese) and Sir Michael Gambon (English).
German comedienne Anke Engelke, a familiar face at the European Film Awards, will be hosting the ceremony for the fourth time. He will be supported by Maltese band Brikkuni, contributing a unique touch of Malta to the show with their music.
The red-carpet event will be broadcast live on TVM2 at 6pm, with the awards ceremony starting at 8pm.
The awards will be shown live on a big screen set up in St George’s Square, Valletta.
Tomorrow evening, a question and answer session is being organised together with the screening of four of this year’s participants in the Short Film Category of the Europ-ean Film Awards 2012.
The directors participating are Albert Sackl, director of Im Freien (Rotterdam Short Film Nominee), Elina Talvensaari, director of How to Pick Berries (Bristol Short Film Nominee), Michael Lennox, director of Back of Beyond (Locarno Short Film Nominee) and Elena Pedrazzoli, producer of Einspruch VI (Drama Short Film Nominee).
The event will be held at 10.30am at the cinema of the St James Cavalier, Valletta, and entrance is free.
The awards are organised by the European Film Academy with the support of the Finance Ministry and the Malta Film Commission. Air Malta is the official carrier for the awards.
www.europeanfilmawards.eu