His new film The Sound and the Fury to screen Out of Competition Award Ceremony in the Sala Grande (Palazzo del Cinema) on 5th September at 2:30 pm
The Biennale di Venezia and Jaeger-LeCoultre are pleased to announce that the multi-talented American filmmaker James Franco has been awarded the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker 2014 prize, dedicated to a personality who has made an original contribution to innovation in contemporary cinema.
In recognition of this award, the Director of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera states: “James Franco is one of the most versatile and multi-talented auteurs on the current American scene, as an actor in cinema and theatre, director, screenwriter, producer, soap-opera star, video-artist and much more – indeed, a relentless ‘manufacturer’ of cultural imagery. The adaptation of the great classics of American literature, like his new film based on a novel by Faulkner which will be presented in Venice, is a major thread in his creative approach, characterized by boldness, lucidity, courage and self-confidence. These values transform his omnivorous verve into a concept of total art performance, founded on considerable curiosity and intelligence”.
Daniel Riedo, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, stated: “Jaeger-LeCoultre is pleased to honour the creative ingenuity of James Franco with the Glory to the Filmmaker Award. Jaeger-LeCoultre has remained loyal to the legacy of watchmaking traditions while maintaining its capacity for invention and creating authentic Fine Watchmaking legends since 1833. For close to a decade, the Maison has been closely associated with the Venice International Film Festival paying tribute to the art and artists. Jaeger-LeCoultre is committed to preserving and enhancing the “seventh art”, a discipline closely related to the watchmaking profession in terms of creativity as well as the artistic and technical mastery”.
James Franco will be awarded the prize in a ceremony that will take place in the Sala Grande (Palazzo del Cinema) on 5th September at 2:30 pm during the 71st Venice Film Festival (Lido di Venezia, 27 August – 6 September 2014) directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by the Biennale di Venezia chaired by Paolo Baratta.
Following the conferral of the award, the 71st Venice Film Festival will present the world premiere, Out of Competition, of the new film written, directed and interpreted by James Franco, The Sound and the Fury, in which Franco will star as one of the main characters, Benjii Compson. The Sound and the Fury also stars Scott Haze, Tim Blake Nelson, Joey King, Ahna O’Reilly, and Seth Rogen.
James Franco participated for the first time in the Venice Film Festival as a director and screenwriter in 2011 for Sal (Orizzonti section), a biographical tribute to actor Sal Mineo. At the Art Biennale that year he also presented the visual arts installation Rebel (as a collateral event), a tribute to the film Rebel Without a Cause by Nicholas Ray. In 2012 he came to the Lido as the star and producer of Spring Breakers by Harmony Korine (in Competition). In 2013 he was at the Venice Film Festival as the director and screenwriter of Child of God (in Competition), an adaptation of the novel by Cormac McCarthy, and as the star of Palo Alto by Gia Coppola (Orizzonti Section), based on a collection of short stories written by James Franco himself.
Jaeger-LeCoultre is a sponsor of the Venice International Film Festival for the tenth year in a row, and of the Glory to the Filmmaker prize for the eighth year in a row. The prize has been awarded in past years to Takeshi Kitano (2007), Abbas Kiarostami (2008), Agnès Varda (2008), Sylvester Stallone (2009), Mani Ratnam (2010), Al Pacino (2011), Spike Lee (2012), and Ettore Scola (2013).
James Franco is an actor, director, screenwriter, producer, teacher and author. He began his career on Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000) and received a Golden Globe Award for his performance in the biographical film James Dean (2001). Notable film credits include Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), Spring Breakers (2012), “Harry Osborn” in the Spider-Man trilogy, Milk (2008), This is the End (2013), Pineapple Express (2008) for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor and 127 Hours (2010) for which he received Academy Award, SAG and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor. He has directed several features including Child of God (2013), As I Lay Dying (2013), Sal (2011), Saturday Night (2010), and The Broken Tower (2011). He has been published several times in magazines and through his own books and is currently teaching college courses at UCLA, USC and CAL ARTS and acting classes at STUDIO 4. He recently made his Broadway debut in Of Mice & Men this spring to rave reviews and directed the off-broadway play The Long Shrift.
