[Entertainment wRap] Yoko Ono gets peace prize, Tokyo filmfest kicks off

MANILA, Philippines – Here are some entertainment stories in the week of October 13 to 19.

Yoko Ono scoops German peace prize

Yoko Ono, the Japanese artist and widow of John Lennon, won a prestigious German prize on Thursday, October 17, for her artistic and political work.

“Now is time for action and action is peace. Think peace, act peace, spread peace, and let’s make it all together,” said Ono after receiving the prize at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.

Since her Montreal honeymoon with Beatles rocker John Lennon, during which the couple called for peace from their marital bed, Ono has used her celebrity to raise awareness for causes.

She handed the 10,000 euros ($13,700) that come with the Institute for Foreign Relations Award to Boniface Mwangi, who runs an organization that helps young artists in Kenya.

Ono had previously won a separate German human-rights prize for peace activism, as well as for her more recent work championing equality for women and gays.

Alain Delon quits Miss France committee over far-right row

Iconic French movie star Alain Delon said Friday, October 18, he was quitting as honorary president of the Miss France beauty contest committee after it berated him for backing the far-right National Front party.

“Your committee thought it was good to react publicly,” the 77-year-old actor said in a scathing letter.

“Your diatribe is as absurd as it is narcissistic and obsessive. Your attitude shows contempt for your public, which has a right to vote for who they want,” he said in the letter, seen by Agence France-Presse.

The veteran star, whose career spans 5 decades and includes the classic Italian films “Rocco and His Brothers” and “The Leopard” – both by the Marxist aristocrat Luchino Visconti – had said in an interview with Swiss newspaper Le Matin that the “National Front is taking a very important place and I approve of it, I support it, and I understand it very well.”

“For years, the Le Pen father and daughter team [Jean-Marie, the founder of the National Front, and Marine, its current leader] have been fighting, but they’ve been fighting a lonely battle,” Delon said.

“Now, for the first time, they are no longer alone. They have the French people.”

That provoked a tongue-lashing from the organizers of the contest, who said Delon had been chosen only because of his acting skills and international stature and distanced themselves from his comments.

Hollywood glamour in Tokyo film festival

Watch the trailer for the opening film ‘Rigor Mortis’ here:

Hollywood glitz descended on the Japanese capital this week, with Tom Hanks, Robert de Niro, and Francis Ford Coppola lined up as among the guests of one of Asia’s largest movie celebrations.

Works from Iran and Georgia were among those on offer, alongside several Chinese feature films nominated for two competitions.

The international film section’s “Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix” carries with it a $50,000 paycheck, and the new “Best Asian Future Film Award” section, aimed at showcasing Asian and Middle Eastern films, offers a $10,000 purse.

The 9-day event began on Thursday with the screening of Hong Kong horror flick “Rigor Mortis,” directed by Juno Mak, which is in the running for the “Asian Future” award.

Past award winners include Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, whose film, “Babel” won the Prix de la Mise en Scene (Best Director Award) at Cannes in 2006, and Michel Hazanavicius, whose film, “The Artist,” won 5 Academy Awards in 2012.

In 2012, 1,332 films from 91 countries and regions were nominated in the international competition, according to organizers.

Previous highlights of the festival include the French film “Untouchable,” the 2011 winner of the Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix. “Untouchable” later set a world record for attendance for a French-language film and was a long-running hit in Japan.

The film festival is aimed at introducing high-profile international films that have not been released in Japan and promoting Japanese independent movies to the international industry. – With reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com