FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Name: Dennis Dembia
Rogers & Cowan
Tel: +1 310 854 8114
Email: [email protected]
SEAN PENN TO RECEIVE THE ZURICH FILM FESTIVAL’S
GOLDEN ICON AWARD
Zurich, Switzerland – August 19, 2011 – The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) announced today that
multiple Academy Award® winning actor and humanitarian Sean Penn will receive the coveted Golden
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Icon Award at this year’s Festival, taking place September 22 – October 2 . The announcement was
made by ZFF Directors Karl Spoerri and Nadja Schildknecht.
Serving as the Festival’s most prestigious symbol of recognition, awarded in appreciation of the lifetime
achievements of an actor or actress, the Golden Icon Award will be awarded to Mr. Penn on
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Wednesday, September 28 at the corso theatre. As part of the award ceremony, the Festival will pay
tribute to Penn’s unprecedented achievements as a legendary actor and filmmaker and will present
Penn’s most recent directorial effort, “Into the Wild”. Also, a special retrospective will be featured
during the festival which will include “At Close Range,” “Dead Man Walking,” “Sweet and Lowdown,”
“Mystic River” and “Milk,” among others.
Commented Spoerri, “Sean Penn is a man whose remarkable film career is matched only by his
extraordinary and ongoing humanitarian pursuits that have helped improve so many lives. On screen,
and off, Sean has a legendary presence and is revered around the world. He is one of the finest actors
of our generation and defines the term icon. We are both honored and excited to have him attend the
Zurich Film Festival and accept the Golden Icon Award.”
Two-time Academy Award® winner Sean Penn has become an American film icon in a career
spanning nearly three decades. Penn has been nominated five times for the Academy Award® as Best
Actor for "Dead Man Walking," "Sweet and Lowdown," "I Am Sam" and won his first Oscar® in 2003
for his searing performance in Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River" and his second Oscar® as Best Actor in
2009 for Gus Van Sant's "Milk." The performance as gay rights icon Harvey Milk also garnered Penn
"Best Actor" awards from The Screen Actors Guild, New York Film Critics Circle and Los Angeles Film
Critics Association.
Penn has also received Best Actor awards at the Cannes ("She's So Lovely") and Berlin ("Dead Man
Walking") Film Festivals, as well as being a two-time winner of Best Actor honors at the Venice Film
Festival ("Hurlyburly," "21 Grams"). Penn can currently be seen in Terrence Malick's drama "The Tree
of Life" opposite Brad Pitt and the upcoming Paolo Sorrentino "This Must Be The Place." Both films
premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
Penn's feature film directorial debut came with 1991's "The Indian Runner," which he also wrote and
produced. In 1995, he directed "The Crossing Guard," which he also wrote and produced. His third film
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as director/producer was 2001's "The Pledge" starring Jack Nicholson and was named in the Top Ten
Films of 2001 by The National Board of Review. Since then, Penn wrote and directed the United States
contribution to the compilation film "11'09'01." This important project gathered 11 acclaimed directors
from around the world to create short films in response to the horrific events of September 11, 2001. In
2003 the film was nominated for a French Cesar in the best European Union Film category and
received a special recognition award from the National Board of Review. As writer, producer and
director, "Into the Wild" marked Penn's fourth feature film, which opened to rave reviews in September
2007. The film, based on Jon Krakauer's best-selling non-fiction book, premiered at the Telluride and
Toronto Film Festivals and appeared on many lists of the top ten films of 2007.
Penn has appeared on stage in productions including Alfred Hayes' "Girl on the Via Flaminia" and
Albert Innaurato's "Earthworms In Los Angeles." On Broadway, Penn performed in Kevin Heelan's
"Heartland" and John Byrne's "Slab Boys." He appeared in David Rabe's "Hurlyburly," at the
Westwood Playhouse, and "Goose and Tom Tom," at Lincoln Center, both productions directed by the
author. Most recently, Penn starred opposite Nick Nolte and Woody Harrelson in "The Late Henry
Moss," written and directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Sam Shepard.
In 2002, Sean Penn was presented with the Modern Master Award at the Santa Barbara International
Film Festival, and in 2003, became the youngest recipient to ever receive the Donostia Lifetime
Achievement Award from the San Sebastian Film Festival. In 2004, he was honored with the John
Steinbeck Award for outspoken torch-bearers in the creative arts. In 2008, Penn received the Desert
Palm Achievement Award for Acting, after being presented in 2007 with the Director of the Year Award
for "Into the Wild" from the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Penn served as President of the
jury for the 2008 Cannes International Film Festival and later that year was named a Knight in the
French Legion of Honor.
As a journalist, Penn has written for Time, Interview, Rolling Stone and The Nation magazines. In
2004, Penn wrote a two-part feature in The San Francisco Chronicle after a second visit to the war-torn
Iraq. In 2005, he wrote a five-part feature in the same paper reporting from Iran during the election
which led to the Ahmadinejad regime. Penn's landmark interviews with Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez, and Cuba's President Raul Castro, were published in The Nation and The Huffington Post.
Penn's interview with President Castro was the first-ever interview with an international journalist.
Penn's humanitarian work has found him in New Orleans in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina and more recently in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. In January 2010, Penn founded the J/P Haitian
Relief Organization which focuses on medical aid, protection, and re-location. His organization is
currently serving as UN IOM designated Camp Management for the largest IDP camp in Port-auPrince and established the first emergency re-location in the country. For his efforts, Penn received the
Commander's Award for Service (US Army 82nd Airborne Division), 82nd Airborne Award for
Meritorious Service, the Operation Unified Response JTF Haiti Certificate from Lieutenant General, US
Army Commander P.K. Keen, along with the 1st Recon 73rd Division Coin of Excellence, 2nd Brigade
Combat Team Coin of Excellence, Commendation of Excellence United States Southern Command,
and Award of Excellence by the Deputy Commander US Southern Command. Earlier this year, Penn
was honored with the "Children's and Families Global Development Fund Humanitarian Award"
presented by the Ambassador of the Republic of Haiti, Raymond A. Joseph and his wife, Lola PoissonJoseph. In July 2010 Penn was knighted by Haitian President Rene Preval in a ceremony in Port-AuPrince. Penn recently received the 2010 Hollywood Humanitarian Award from the Hollywood Film
Festival and the 2011 Stanley Kramer Award from the Producers Guild of America.
Entering just its seventh year, the Zurich Film Festival has established itself as a marquee European
Festival, discovering and promoting independent voices and talent from around the world and
showcasing a diverse array of international films. ZFF continues to serve as the setting for many World
and European premieres.
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Established in 2008, ZFF’s Golden Icon award has previously been awarded to Sylvester Stallone
(2008), Morgan Freeman (2009) and Michael Douglas (2010).
About the Zurich Film Festival
The Zurich Film Festival was founded in October 2005 and became firmly established upon the
national and international festival landscape within a very short period of time. This year’s seventh
edition will again see Zurich transformed into an eleven-day film festival capital celebrating the art of
film in all its facets!
The aim of the Zurich Film Festival is to offer audiences an insight into the work of young, upcoming
filmmakers from around the globe and to promote the exchange of ideas between established film
workers, young talent and the public.
The international competition will witness young filmmakers competing for the coveted Golden Eye –
the festival’s main award. In addition to the competition, we will also present the latest films by
renowned filmmakers as exclusive gala premieres. Furthermore, the New World View series will focus
upon the current cinematic oeuvre of a developing film region. In the past years, we have been
focusing on Israel (2008), Argentina (2009) and Australia (2010).
Numerous fringe events and parties give individuals from the field of film and movie-smitten visitors the
opportunity to discuss happenings and bring the cinema day to an agreeable end in a pleasing and
relaxed atmosphere
ZFF is organized by Spoundation Motion Picture GmbH, based in Zurich, in cooperation with local
institutions and sponsors. The Zurich Film Festival cooperates with numerous distributors and
producers from Switzerland and abroad. The idea to found a festival in Zurich came from Karl Spoerri.
Today, the festival directors are Karl Spoerri (artistic director) and Nadja Schildknecht (public relations,
marketing and sponsoring).
The Zurich Film Festival is generously supported by its main sponsors: Credit Suisse, Die Post, Kuoni
and Audi.
For more information please visit www.zurichfilmfestival.org
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Pacific Design Center
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8687 Melrose Avenue, 7 Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90069
T 310 854 8100
F 310 854 8101
640 Fifth Avenue
th
5 Floor
New York, NY 10019
T 212 445 8400
F 212 445 8290
th
5 Floor, Cardinal Place
80 Victoria Street
London, SW1E 5JL U.K.
T 044 20 3048 0480
F3 044 20 3048 0401