FILM SOCIETY'S 36TH GALA TRIBUTE TO HONOR TOM HANKS

Newly Renovated Alice Tully Hall hosts star-studded Gala Tribute, April 27, 2009

Nora Ephron, Sally Field, Ron Howard, Mike Nichols, Julia Roberts, John Patrick Shanley and Robert Zemeckis to present award to Hanks

Mara Manus, Executive Director of The Film Society of Lincoln Center, announced  the lineup of presenters for the 36th Gala Tribute honoring two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks at the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall, Monday, April 27, 2009. The star-studded event will feature remarks by many of Hanks’s friends and collaborators, as well as film clips commemorating his lauded career. The evening will culminate in the presentation of the Gala Tribute award.

 

            The Film Society’s Annual Gala Tribute began in 1972 and honored Charles Chaplin – who returned to the US from exile to accept the commendation. Since then, the award has honored many of film’s visionary talents, including Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Laurence Olivier, Federico Fellini, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Diane Keaton and, most recently, Meryl Streep.

 

This year’s gala evening will start with VIP cocktails with the honoree in the Hauser Patron Salon in Alice Tully Hall and a seated dinner in the glass atrium. The presentation of the award will be in the Starr Theater with tributes by writer/director Nora Ephron, actress Sally Field, director Ron Howard, writer/director Mike Nichols, actress Julia Roberts, writer/director John Patrick Shanley, director Robert Zemeckis, and more guests to be announced. The evening will end with a dj’ed dance party sponsored by 42 Below Vodka, also in the glass atrium.

 

            Tom Hanks joins this illustrious list after spending much of the past two decades honing his impeccable skills in a series of acclaimed dramatic performances. He became the first actor in more than 50 years to win back-to-back Academy Awards—first as the assailed AIDS-stricken lawyer Andrew Beckett in Jonathan Demme’s “Philadelphia” (1994) and then as a picaresque hero for America’s post-war generation in Robert Zemeckis’s “Forrest Gump” (1995). His roles in recent years have included the survivor Chuck Nolan in Zemeckis’s “Cast Away” (2000), the Irish American mob hit man Michael Sullivan in Sam Mendes’s “Road to Perdition” (2002) and the titular opportunistic senator in Mike Nichols’s “Charlie Wilson’s War” (2007).

           

Meanwhile, Hanks’s career has been distinguished by his frequent collaborations with two prominent American directors: Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg. The first partnership resulted from Hanks’s cameo appearance on “Happy Days” in 1982, which helped Hanks land his first starring film role in Howard’s “Splash” (1984). They have since worked together on “Apollo 13” (1995), “The Da Vinci Code” (2006) and its forthcoming sequel “Angels & Demons” (2009), as well as executive produced the television mini-series “From the Earth to the Moon” (1998).

 

Hanks and Spielberg have partnered as actor and director on three films—“Saving Private Ryan” (1998), “Catch Me If You Can” (2002), and “The Terminal” (2004)—though their collaboration dates back to Spielberg’s work as a producer on the Hanks-led comedies “The Money Pit” (1986) and “Joe vs. the Volcano” (1990). As producers, they have also worked together on projects including the celebrated World War II mini-series “Band of Brothers” (2001) and the upcoming mini-series “The Pacific” (2009) based on the war in the Pacific theater.

 

Hanks has also teamed up with producer Gary Goetzman to create Playtone, a production company which has produced box office hits “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” (2002), “The Polar Express” (2004) and “Mamma Mia” (2008) in addition to critically acclaimed television series “John Adams” (2008) and “Band of Brothers.” Playtone has recently joined forces with Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films to produce the adaptation of the David Wroblewski novel “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.”

 

This year’s Gala Co-Chairs are Liz Swig, Kent Swig, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee. The Tribute Chairs are Irene and Bernard Schwartz.

 

The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from 42 Below, The New York Times, Stella Artois, Illy Caffé, The New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

The Gala Tribute is sponsored by 42 Below, Stella Artois, American Airlines, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Dolby, and The Francis Coppola Winery.

 

Tickets for the gala evening are available at the following levels: single tickets to the Gala Tribute and the Champagne Reception are $350; seating for one at the Gala Dinner and one ticket to the Gala Tribute and the Champagne Reception, plus recognition in the Official Program as a Supporter are $1500; tables for ten at the dinner with ten tickets to the Gala Tribute and the Champagne Reception and recognition in the Official Program as a Patron are $15,000; a preferred table for ten at the Gala Dinner, ten preferred tickets to the Gala Tribute and the Champagne Reception in Alice Tully Hall, and recognition in the Official Program as a Benefactor are $25,000; and access for ten to the VIP cocktail reception with Tom Hanks, premium table of ten at the Gala Dinner, ten VIP tickets to the Gala Tribute and the Champagne Reception in Alice Tully Hall and recognition in the Official Program as a Vice Chair are $50,000.  For more information www.filmlinc.com/special/gala/gala.htm, call 212.875.5668 or email [email protected].