Andrew Paulson, the Chief Executive and Founder of Agon, the company that has been awarded the commercial rights to the World Chess Championships, created a very different opening ceremony for the FIDE London Grand Prix, held last night.
The occasion took place in the beautiful neo-classical building Somerset House which is an arts and cultural centre, and home to London Fashion Week.
Instead of a longwinded ceremony, official protocol was kept to a minimum at what was described as an "opening party". The reception was attended by more than 300 distinguished guests including Ambassadors, stars from the stage and screen, well-known models and patrons of the arts.
Invitees also enjoyed a number of performance ‘blitz' games, where the Grandmasters competing at the Grand Prix London tournament challenged guests such as the Hollywood actress Gillian Anderson (seen in the photo with Andrew Paulsen and English Junior Joshua Altman), the chess-loving supermodel Lily Cole, and the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
"Sister" Enters Oscar Race
Posted at 7:43 AM (PDT) on Friday, September 21, 2012
Family drama "Sister" enters Oscars race Swissinfo.ch September 21, 2012
Switzerland has submitted a contender for best foreign language film to the American Oscar awards: acclaimed French-Swiss director Ursula Meier’s latest work, Sister, is up for the Hollywood honour.
Sister tells the story of 12-year-old Simon who lives with his sister in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The two struggle to make ends meet, and Simon takes to stealing ski equipment from wealthy tourists and re-selling it to teens in the valley to make a meager living.
The drama was recently honored at the Berlin Film Festival with a special runner-up Silver Bear award.
Meier’s first feature film, Home, won the Swiss Film Prize for best film in 2009 and a French César nomination for best first film. Home was also entered but not nominated as an Oscar contender for best foreign language Film in 2010.
Sister is up against a slew of strong contenders from neighbouring countries for the Oscar, including France’s Intouchables, Germany’s Barbara and Austria’s Amour.
The final list of best foreign language film Oscar nominees will be announced January 15, 2013 by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Academy Awards (Oscars) will be held February 24 of next year.
Meier, a native of Besançon, France, was born in 1971 to a Swiss father and a French mother. She studied in Belgium at the Institute of Media Arts and now reportedly divides her time between Brussels, Paris and Geneva.
Mulberry Spring/Summer 2013 Show
Posted at 8:07 PM (PDT) on Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Big names of the fashion and celebrity circuit jostled for space in the front row of Mulberry's London Fashion Week show yesterday.
Kate Moss beamed as she took her place next to the catwalk and was seen sharing a joke with Alexa Chung. Near them was US singer Lana Del Rey, with Rebecca Hall also seated on the front row. Actress Gillian Anderson, tennis player Andy Murray and Downton Abbey stars Joanne Froggatt and Elizabeth McGovern were also spotted at the venue.
The rich floral culture of the English countryside was a central theme this season, as designers incorporated vibrant blooms and floral colors into their palettes.
While designers may have embraced a more grown-up look for their garments, there was still a presence of the whimsical style that has made London fashion so unique… garden gnomes littered the entrance at Mulberry.
"There's a whimsy to it, I think of freshness, I think of England, it feels very mature but very young at the same time," actress Gillian Anderson told Reuters backstage at the Mulberry show on Tuesday.
FBI Female PSA
Posted at 8:19 AM (PDT) on Thursday, September 13, 2012
FBI - Celebrating Women Special Agents:
It took a while for Hollywood and television to notice that FBI women special agents had come on the scene in 1972—and to think how they might work into old and new storylines. At first, in the early 1990s, the focus was on training and new agents…and on comedy—women trying by hook or by crook to make it in a man’s profession. Now you find our women agents portrayed in a variety of decisive roles in team environments—trying to locate missing persons, analyzing evidence, analyzing the criminal mind, and, of course, investigating paranormal activity and worldwide conspiracies. We think it’s just a matter of time before women agents are cast as the operational leaders they are in real life.
The Last Act Digital Audiobook
Posted at 12:19 PM (PDT) on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
In The Last Act, Roald Dahl, one of the world's favourite authors, tells a story of human darkness and frailty. Here, a woman's reconnection with an old-flame does not go as expected...
The Last Act is taken from the short story collection Switch Bitch, which includes three other black comedies which capture the ins and outs, highs and lows of sex.
This story is also available as a Penguin audio ebook.
This audiobook is available to download from iTunes UK, Audible.co.uk and eMusic.co.uk
Giveaways!
Posted at 5:11 PM (PDT) on Saturday, September 8, 2012
In gratitude to all who have participated in our auctions, we are giving away a UNICEF brochure that contains a family photo of Gillian's brother, Aaron, since our most recent auction benefited the Neurofibromatosis Network in memory of him.
This item is a booklet (8 x 5.5 inches) from The UNICEF "Great Expectations" Photographic Exhibition, which was on display from April 10 - 20, 2003 in London. The exhibition featured photos of celebrity mothers with their children, including a photograph of Gillian with Aaron and her daughter Piper. It includes information about UNICEF and 27 small pictures of photos that were also in the exhibition.
BONUS ITEM:
If you would like to own the UNICEF brochure AND the signed Emanuel magazine ad, just send your name and mailing address to makeithappen89@aol.com.
After 6pm (PT), Thursday, September 13, a name from all the entries will be drawn randomly and the two items will be mailed to the winner (free of charge).
The Fall is the first investigative series toplining Gillian Anderson since her turn as Agent Scully in The X Files. It follows the lives of two hunters: Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson and a cunning serial killer. The Fall isn’t a whodunit but a will-they-stop him?, since the killer is known to the audience from the start, and the drama gains in intensity through the cat-and-mouse game. The case shows how a homicide team works when it comes up against every policeman’s worst nightmare.
Crimson Petal and the White on Encore
Posted at 6:50 AM (PDT) on Thursday, September 6, 2012
The Brits are back on Encore By Greg Evans Bloomberg News September 5, 2012
Jack the Ripper would appear 14 years later, but the back alleys and gaslit brothels of The Crimson Petal and the White (Sept. 10 and 11 on Encore at 8 p.m.) couldn't look more foreboding if the Victorian killer was crouching in the shadows.
Handsomely filmed in russets and velvet reds, Crimson Petal, a two-part British miniseries making its U.S. debut, gives the working girls of ye olde London their due, and a memorable voice. Adapted by British playwright Lucinda Coxon from Michael Faber's 2002 best-seller, Crimson is the story of Sugar (Romola Garai), a prostitute in 1874 who dreams of escaping the brothel and, in writings that would get a smile from Pirate Jenny, exacting bloody revenge.
Faber's tale spins on modern notions of sexism and exploitation in a world just past Dickens, and if Coxon's four-hour adaptation sometimes drags, Crimson nonetheless draws us in as the power play between man and mistress shifts back, forth and back again.
…Gillian Anderson, topping her own performance as Miss Havisham in the BBC's 2011 Great Expectations, is deliciously creepy as the cold-hearted, face-powdered brothel madam who raised Sugar.
"Sister" at BFI London Film Festival
Posted at 9:10 AM (PDT) on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
London Film Festival Unveils Lineup By Nancy Tartaglione, International Editor Deadline.com September 5, 2012
The BFI London Film Festival will screen 225 features including 14 world premieres and a further 111 live action and animated shorts. Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie is the previously announced opener and Mike Newell’s Great Expectations closes the fest. The festival runs Oct. 10-21 in the British capital.
This year significant changes have been made to the structure of the Festival programme with new focused categories that are clustered around the themes of Love, Debate, Dare, Laugh, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Sonic and Family. With over 200 features screened during the Festival this new approach is designed to help Festival goers find the films that mean the most to them and to open up entry points for new audiences.
Sweet, passionate, tough – LOVE is a complex and many splendoured thing. The Love Gala is Michael Haneke’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner AMOUR, with Haneke making a welcome return to the Festival this year.
Other titles in this section include: BROKEN starring Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy; Ira Sachs’ KEEP THE LIGHTS ON; Xavier Dolan’s LAURENCE ANYWAYS; Liz Garbus’ documentary tribute to Marilyn Monroe LOVE, MARILYN; ROBOT AND FRANK starring Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon, and Ursula Meier’s SISTER with Léa Seydoux and Gillian Anderson.
