Influential film director Paul Verhoeven will receive the 2007 Capri Cult Award during the 12th Annual Capri, Hollywood – The International Film Festival it was announced today by Pascal Vicedomini, festival founder. Producer Mark Canton will serve as Chairman of the festival, which will be held December 27th  through January 27th at various locations throughout Capri, Italy.  Legendary Italian film director Lina Wertmuller will make the presentation in person in a special ceremony.  The Capri Cult Award is a special acknowledgement of Verhoeven’s unique perspective and for the “high quality of his films.”

Producer Mark Canton will serve as Chairman of the 12th Annual Capri, Hollywood gathering.  “We are thrilled that Mr. Verhoeven has agreed to accept this year’s 2007 Capri Cult Award,” said festival producer and organizer, Pascal Vicedomini. “His unique and innovative body of work exemplifies a talent that has helped to distinguish itself as one of the world’s greatest directors. He is a proud example of the caliber of filmmakers and directors who will join us in Capri for one of the most important film preceding the 2008 Academy Awards.” Born and raised in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Verhoeven directed four of the most successful Dutch films ever made.  After receiving a PhD in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Leiden, he joined the Royal Dutch Navy, where he made documentaries.

Upon returning to civilian life, he began working behind the camera on the Dutch television adventure series Floris starring actor, Rutger Hauer. His career segued from television to motion pictures with his first film, Turkish Delight. The film became the highest grossing Dutch film ever made and was nominated for an Academy Award.  Verhoeven went on to direct Cathy Tippel, Spetters, The Fourth Man, Flesh + Blood, and Solider of Orange, which is universally regarded by critics as the finest Dutch film ever made. Verhoeven may be best known by international audiences for the box office smash hit, RoboCop, a slick science fiction saga of a police officer turned into a destructive killing machine. He followed this mega-hit with Total Recall, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone, which received an Academy Award for its mind-bending special effects. In 1992, Verhoeven directed the provocative thriller, Basic Instinct, one of the most talked about films of the year.

Three years later, he directed the film Showgirls, spotlighting the ugly and dark side of Las Vegas.  His additional credits include Hollow Man and Starship Troopers, a futuristic sci-fi adventure film about humans who must battle giant alien bugs. Throughout his career, Verhoeven’s films consistently reflect his uncompromising vision, a fascination with moral dilemmas as well as honest and brutal depictions of sexuality and violence.

His latest film, Black Book, is a fast-paced World War II resistance thriller and marks his first European production in over 20 years. The slogan of this year’s Capri, Hollywood 2007 will be The European Cinema Lives, “a testament to the fact that all great cinema does not just originate in Hollywood,” said Marco Di Lello, Minister of the Tourism and Cultural Departments of the Campania Region of Italy and a festival sponsor.  

This year’s highlights include juried awards of the best Italian films of 2007 and The Fiuggi International Symposium on producing helmed by Academy Award winning writer/producer/director Bobby Moresco. Other directors in attendance will include attendees Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Four Feathers) Michael Radford (The Merchant of Venice, Flawless) Terry Gilliam (director: Brothers Grimm, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 12 Monkeys) John Irvin (The Moon and The Stars, The Garden of Eden) and Claude Lelouche (A Man and A Woman), among others. 

The 12th Annual Capri, Hollywood International Film Festival is jointly produced by Pascal Vicedomini and the Capri World Institute, with support from the Film Department of the Italian Ministry of Culture, The Campania Region of Italy, The Naples Chamber of Commerce, Kimbo Coffe and Fiuggi Mineral Water.  For further information, please check www.caprihollywood.com