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Monday, November 27----Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage will be the recipient of the Career Achievement Award at the 3rd annual Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), which runs from December 7 to 10 in the beautiful island nation in the Carribean. Cage, a long time Bahamas resident, will receive the Award by screen icon Sean Connery, who was recently honored himself at the inaugural Rome Film Festival last month.

Over the four day Festival, BIFF will screen a selection of Nicolas Cage’s films including: FACE/OFF, ADAPTATION and WILD AT HEART. There will also be a conversation with the actor, during which additional highlights of Mr. Cage’s career will be presented, including his Academy Award turn as the drunken nihilist in LEAVING LAS VEGAS.

“To have the pleasure of presenting a Tribute to Nicolas Cage, a respected actor and respected person throughout the world is an honor,” noted Leslie Vanderpool, BIFF Director. “We are thrilled to welcome him and celebrate his Career Achievements. He is a gentleman who marches to the beat of his own drum and continues to challenge himself and the industry."

Nicolas Cage, the nephew of celebrated film director Francis Ford Coppola, first came to the public’s attention with his role as a punk from the wrong side of the hills in VALLEY GIRL. His hang-dog expression and intense but quirky charm made him a distinct film presence in such films as David Lynch's Cannes Film Festival winner WILD AT HEART.

Cage has since starred in over 55 films, mixing big budget action flicks with intense dramas and invigorating comedies. He is an actor who feels at home on a mega-Hollywood set as he does in a low budget indie. Cage is one of the rare actors who can move seamlessly from comedy to drama to high-octane action but still keep his unique persona front and center.

Whether in romnatic screwball comedies (MOONSTRUCK, RAISING ARIZONA, HONEYMOON IN VEGAS), sophisticated dramas (MATCHSTICK MEN, BIRDY, CITY OF ANGELS, THE WEATHER MAN) or big budget action flicks (THE ROCK, CON AIR, NATIONAL TREASURE), Cage's on- screen persona appeals to both men and women, and has a considerable international following. The actor has also become a proflific producer (SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE, THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE and LORDS OF WAR), and made his directorial debut in 2002 with the drama SONNY, starring James Franco and Brenda Blethyn.

Cage achieved a career high as the drunk with a tender heart in the his Oscar winning performance in LEAVING LAS VEGAS (1995),written and directed by Mike Figgis. The performance also brought him a Golden Globe Award, as well as Best Actor nods from the Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York film critics associations, and Best Actor honors at the Independent Spirit Awards , the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the San Sebastian Film Festival. His role as the frizzy-haired neurotic writer in the Spike Jonze-directed ADAPTATION was an unexpected comic turn, which won Cage nominations for the Academy Award and the BAFTA Best Actor prize.

The prolific actor/director has a number of projects in development, including a buzzed-about lead role in THE SADHU, an adaptation of a popular comic book that is steeped in Indian mythology. New age guru Deepak Chopra will pen the screenplay about a colonial soldier who travels to India and becomes a spiritual warrior. Chopra also will produce the film with his son Gotham Chopra.

Sandy Mandelberger
Awards Watch Editor