Diff’10 to host public conversation with Sean Penn

DIFF ALERT: IN CONVERSATION WITH SEAN PENN EVENT

Note:- The Dubai International Film Festival informs its fans that Lifetime Achievement Honoree Sean Penn is unable to attend DIFF 2010 due to the political situation and upheaval in Haiti following the recent election. Penn has flown to Haiti to check on his staff and camp.

Penn has issued the following statement to all DIFF fans:

“I am honored to receive the Dubai Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award and had every intention of being there to accept it in person. Regretfully, the situation in Haiti has worsened and it was of the utmost importance that I be there to ensure the safety of my staff and the J/P HRO camp. I look forward to attending Dubai’s Festival in the future.” – Sean Penn

Fans who bought tickets to the public audience are being contacted by the DIFF Box Office; they can either exchange their tickets for other DIFF screenings or get a refund.

For more information about the work Sean Penn and his organization are doing in Haiti, go to www.jphro.org.

A-list American actor and director and international social and political activist Sean Penn will participate in a public ‘In Conversation With,’ question-and-answer session with fans from across the nation on Dec. 13 at the First Group Theatre, Madinat Jumeirah, from 7pm to 8pm. Tickets to the event, priced at Dhs25, are on sale now.

Into the Wild

Penn, whose career spans nearly three decades, more than 45 films and notable successes as producer, actor, director and screenwriter, is one of the Festival’s three Lifetime Achievement honorees this year. Two-time Academy Award winner and five-time nominee Penn is best known for his performances in Dead Man Walking, Sweet and Lowdown, I Am Sam, Mystic River, Milk and older genre classics Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Carlito’s Way.

Sweet and Lowdown

His performances have also been singled out by the Cannes and Berlin film festivals and critics associations around the world, as has his directing work on films including Into the Wild, The Crossing Guard and The Pledge.

Penn’s humanitarian work — including his reportage from Iran and Iraq in recent years, and tireless campaigning on behalf of the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the earthquake-ravaged Haiti – has also won numerous admirers around the world. In January 2010, Penn founded the J/P Haitian Relief Organization, which focuses on medical aid, protection, and re-location.

Diff’10 is screening two path-breaking movies from Penn’s extraordinary repertoire: Sweet and Lowdown (1999) and Into the Wild (2007).