Rutnam at gala dinner honouring Spielberg
Producer/Director of the film, The Road from Elephant Pass(Alimankada)Chandran Rutnam, which being screened at the Regal Cinema and the CEL Circuit throughout the country, attended the gala dinner held on, December 9, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, honouring renowned dir- ector, Steven Spielberg, with America’s Democratic Legacy Award, presented by the Anti-Defamation League.
The organizers included Sid Sheinberg, former Chairman of Universal Studios, Harold Brown, Bruce Ramer, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Robert Sugarman, Abraham Foxman and other industry giants. Over dinner, Richard Dreyfess, Drew Barrymore, Noa Dori, Kirk Douglas and Sid Sheinberg took turns at the podium to praise Spielberg for his work as a filmmaker and humanitarian.
“You have guided all of us in showing what kind of people we should be in the world through your filmmaking,” said Drew Barrymore, who starred in Spielberg’s “E.T.” In his remarks, Spielberg reminded people to pay attention, which he said could be a difficult task, “in this new and wildly expanding digital universe,” where multi-tasking is the rule.
“We e-mail, we hyperlink, we blog, and yet, xenophobia exists; bigotry endures, racism endures, anti-semitism endures,” he said. “They endure in societies and cultures all around the world, and they have found a new frightening home in cyber-space.
“Spielberg called bigotry and acquired condition that can be eradicated only through education, experience and, mindfulness, and accepted ADL’s highest honour, “in mutual recognition of our ambitions to dedicate ourselves to the defence of human dignity, human rights and human life - all human life.“Chandran was one of many invited guests at this important star-studded event.
Former recipients of this award include Henry Kissinger, U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Invited to sing the National Anthem of the United States was America’s hottest star of American Idol fame, Adam Lambert. Chandran’s friendship with Steven Spielberg goes back twenty-five years when “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” was filmed in Sri Lanka. Spielberg, who requested a personal viewing of Chandran’s new film, will pay a private visit to Sri Lanka next month as Chandran’s guest.
dailynews.lk
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