Actor Kiefer Sutherland will become chairman of an actors conservatory in Toronto.

Sutherland, who is the son of actors Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas, will take the helm of a four-month actors conservatory at the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) until February 2010.

Attending a CFC barbecue at the Toronto International Film Festival, he said: “I am honoured to contribute to Norman Jewison’s legacy by offering the CFC my passion for storytelling, for Canada and its talent.”

In a statement the CFC said: “Over the course of four-and-a-half months, the Actors Conservatory will engage actors in the on-screen storytelling and film/TV making process, increasing their opportunities to forge relationships both on and off screen.”

Source: Splash News

At one stage, Chavez took a photographer’s camera to snap a shot of himself and threw a flower. He was accompanied by Oliver Stone who directed South of the Border, a documentary about making a trip to visit Chavez and pushing through prejudice.

Chavez made nothing less than a dramatic landing at the Venice Lido in a carabinieri helicopter. He suffers from sea sickness and would not take a boat.

Full of praise for Stone, who was himself radiant, Chavez declared:”Rebirth is happening in Latin America and Stone went to look for it and he found it. With his cameras and his genius, he’s captured a good part of that rebirth.”

Stone for his part said he made the movie to address the idea that Latin America was not democratic and misinformation in the press. “If you look now, there are seven presidents, eight countries with Chile, that are really moving away from the Washington consensus control. But in America, they don’t get that story.”

Source: Splash News

George Clooney, Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, Colin Farrell and Sir Michael Caine are just some of the stars set to attend the 34th Toronto International Film Festival next month.

Drew Barrymore, Oprah Winfrey and Demi Moore will join more than 500 celebrities expected at the major annual industry event for movies worldwide.

The festival, to be held in its namesake city, runs from September 10 to 19 and will showcase a staggering 271 feature films and 64 shorts from 64 countries.

Other celebrity stars set to attend include Michael Douglas, Michael Sheen, Sir Michael Caine, Woody Harrelson, David Duchovny and Viggo Mortensen.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were caught on video partying into the early hours at Cannes.

The pair appeared relaxed and cozied up to each other, with Jolie tugging on Pitt’s bow tie and Pitt putting his arm around Jolie’s neck in a buddy-style armlock.

Jolie’s shoulderblade tattoo was visible in the halter-style 40s gown she wore to the premiere of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, in which Pitt stars.

The pair were also pictured kissing at the Riviera festival.

Orlando Bloom, 32, is reported to have popped the question to Miranda Kerr, 26, ahead of a trip to Australia next week.

The pair have been at Cannes, where Kerr is said to have been photographed sporting a gold ring on her finger.

But in her native Australia, friends of the a Victoria’s Secret model said they were unaware of any wedding plans. Nor was Kerr was not wearing the ring last night when the couple were spotted out.

Her representative, Carlii Lyon, reportedly knows of the ring photos but will not comment.

Lyon did, however, appear more open to the idea of nuptials than was the case last November, when the merest suggestion of engagement was ardently denied.

Kerr is flying back to Australia next week for modelling engagements with department store David Jones.

The memoirs of movie legend Roger Moore could be turned into a Hollywood biopic and Johnny Depp is all set to star in that movie being planned on the life of the former James Bond actor.

Johnny Depp??? Now those who are scouting to have this chap play Roger Moore should hear to what I have to say. You will have to place more actors on your books. You must know that other leading actors would not be part of a project that stars Johnny Depp.

Personally I have nothing against Johnny and he really can act, but he won’t be able to do proper justice to the demand of playing Roger Moore. May be he should not take up the role him self.

No doubt he played the role of a pirate really well, and there will be other good movies not connected to being a pirate no doubt, but don’t get carried away. There are other talented actors in Hollywood who would really do the job much better. We do not need a debonair to play Roger Moore although that could be a pre-requisite for some fans.

Mariah Carey usually gets a lot of attention on her own but when she arrived at the Tribeca Film Festival red carpet premiere of her new movie ‘Tennessee’, there was something else that added to the media frenzy for the diva. The singer showed off a massive rock on her wedding finger. Is that an engagement ring? The 38-year old curvaceous diva has been quietly dating actor Nick Cannon for a few months now. Is there something that the quiet couple wants to say? Or is this just another way for Mariah to get more attention? If she heard of the supposed paparazzi boycott on her, it may very well be.

Blanchett is one of several actors to portray an aspect of Dylan’s life. Cate Blanchett has been named best actress at the Venice Film Festival for her role in the biopic of Bob Dylan, I’m Not There.
The actress has been hotly tipped to be nominated for an Oscar for her performance in the Todd Haynes film. Brad Pitt was named best actor for his role in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Harold Ford.
Ang Lee’s Se, Jie (Lust, Caution) won the Golden Lion for best film – after his 2005 win with Brokeback Mountain.
Lee’s sexually explicit thriller is set in Shanghai during World War II.
It tells the story of an idealistic young acting troupe who devise a plot to assassinate a Chinese official collaborating with the Japanese.
Lee said he was dedicating his prize to Ingmar Bergman, the Swedish director who died in July at age 89.
Neither Blanchett nor Pitt were at the awards ceremony but the actress sent a note of thanks.
“I’m sorry I can’t stand here throwing my arms around Todd, weeping just like a woman,” she said in a statement.
In I’m Not There, Blanchett is one of several actors to portray the singer Bob Dylan at various stages in his life. She plays the singer during his “folk-rock” years.
Director Haynes also went on to win a special jury prize for his film.
Pitt and his partner Angelina Jolie grabbed the headlines when they arrived at the festival earlier in the week.
But Pitt’s best actor win for his portrayal of legendary outlaw Jesse James came as something as a surprise.
It was his co-star, Casey Affleck, who played James’ killer Ford as a creepy social misfit, who had been widely expected to scoop the prize.

Veteran actor Danny DeVito was honored for his contribution to cinema at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic on Saturday. The diminutive 62-year-old, whose film The Good Night was in competition at the festival, collected the Crystal Globe prize in person to a standing ovation. Good going Danny take all the occolade’s you can get man. It’s a good thing to win and award for doing something in life that you love. In a career spanning nearly four decades, DeVito has starred in movie classics including One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and L.A. Confidential and has directed other hits such as Hoffa and Matilda. He is also well known for his producing skills. After working so hard for so long, awards are always encouraging and way to let the person know that his work has not only been recognized but also appreciated. Way to go Danny boy hope there is more to kick as always from you.

Bernardo Bertolucci will receive an honorary Golden Lion award at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
The actor who is well known for his movies-“Last Tango in Paris” and “The Last Emperor” will receive his award during Sept. 8 closing ceremony.
“Bertolucci is a great Italian filmmaker, who’s had the courage to give a cosmopolitan dimension to his own personal inspiration”, said Davide Croff, president of the Venice Biennale, which includes the film festival.
Bertolucci is Italy’s best known filmmaker. His 1987 tale of China’s last emperor- “The Last Emperor” won nine Oscars, including for best director.
From his first feature film in 1962 to his last work in 2003, “The Dreamers” Bertolucci has often shown his movies in Venice. As part of the homage, the festival will also feature a restored version of the 1970 film, “La Strategia del Ragno (The Spider’s Stratagem)” organizers said Monday.
This year is the 75th anniversary of world’s oldest film festivals those of Venice and the award of Bertolucci will mark the event. But because of war and other reasons the festival wasn’t held every year so this year actually it will be its 64th edition. The opening is on 29 August.
“Atonement” the film adaptation of Ian McEwan’s best-selling novel will open this year’s event.
The movie, directed by Joe Wright, stars James McAvoy, Romola Garai, Saoirse Ronan, Vanessa Redgrave and Keira Knightley- who also starred in Wright’s 2005 film, “Pride & Prejudice.”

Angelina Jolie, who plays the widow of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in “A Mighty Heart” said she was overwhelmed by Mariane Pearl’s inner strength and her ability to let go of hatred.”For me, so much of why this film was important to do is because I highly doubt there is anybody in this room who has more reason to hold hate inside herself than Mariane, and she doesn’t”, Jolie told reporters Monday at the Cannes Film Festival. She is a very compassionate, thoughtful person who looks to dialogue to change things, to make things better. … That is, I think, a lesson for all of us”, the 31-year-old actress said.
“A Mighty Heart”, directed by Michael Winterbottom, is based on Mariane Pearl’s memoir of the same name. It recounts the search for her husband after his abduction in Pakistan in 2002, where he was researching a story on Islamic militants.
She was more than five months’ pregnant at the time. Their son, Adam, was born a few months later.
Jolie’s character breaks down only once in the movie — near the end — when she learns of her husband’s death.
“I was very, very nervous to get it right”, Jolie said of her role.
Pearl said her friendship with Jolie grew over the course of the project.
“I think about the fact that my son will see the film one day, and this is a great moment of pain for me”, Pearl said. “And this role was played by somebody who loves me, and it means a lot to me. I remember being six months pregnant and thinking, `I can’t imagine at this time not having the father with me … and being concerned about his life, and trying to eat and trying to remember to get some sleep and trying to take a deep breath and physically even just moving around’”, she said.
Pearl was captured by Islamic militants in January 2002. Despite worldwide pleas for his release, he was beheaded nine days later; video of the killing was posted the Internet.

About a decade ago, when Leonardo DiCaprio was on the cusp of megastardom and Al Gore was the U.S. vice president, the two talked together about global warming.
Now an all-out environmental activist, DiCaprio has followed Gore’s lead by bringing a climate change documentary to the Cannes Film Festival. DiCaprio co-produced and co-wrote “The 11th Hour,” which explains how humans have changed the climate and how to fix the damage.
“It’s such an amazingly large issue, and you suddenly feel like, what can I do? What can I do? It’s too big for me to deal with,” the 32-year-old actor told reporters Saturday in a beach cabana overlooking the Mediterranean.
DiCaprio said the environmental movement owed a great debt to Gore, whose “An Inconvenient Truth” was shown at Cannes and won an Academy Award for best documentary feature.
“I think that movie, through the cinematic format, was able to convey science to the public and to the media in a way that it had never done before”, DiCaprio said.
He said at their meeting about 10 years ago, Gore “took his time to talk to me about the issue of global warming, which I didn’t really understand very much about, and from then on I’ve kind of been more active.”
While “An Inconvenient Truth” laid out the science behind global warming and its impact, DiCaprio’s film doesn’t try to prove that global warming exists — it accepts that it does and goes from there. It asks and responds to philosophical questions such as, how did mankind let nature deteriorate to this point?
DiCaprio also narrates the movie, which was directed by Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners and includes commentary by visionaries from physicist Stephen Hawking to former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
For a new project, DiCaprio is looking for a script with an environmental theme.
“It can’t be just a film about the environment for the sake of doing it”, he said. “It’s got to be powerful and moving. … It’s got to be good.”