CINEMA: THE ORIGINAL DJANGO, FRANCO NERO, TO RECEIVE THE CAPRI LEGEND AWARD

THE FESTIVAL WILL PAY TRIBUTE TO THE NOTED ACTOR WHO WILL APPEAR IN THE NEW TARANTINO MOVIE

On December 27, noted actor Franco Nero will receive the 'Capri Legend Award', thus entering deservedly into the Blue Island’s Hall of Fame. “An Italian icon who, thanks to his unforgettable characters such as the original Django, now belongs to the mythology of cinema,” summarizes the motivation for honoring the well-known Emilia native, a star of the big screen most famous for playing the gunman in many of Corbucci’s movies. The still charming character inspired Oscar-winning Italian-American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino to make his latest movie, entitled Django Unchained. Produced by The Weinstein Company and due out in the US on Christmas Day, it will come to Italy’s big screens on January 17. The much anticipated blockbuster takes its rightful place among the major nominees for this season’s international film awards thanks to its brilliant script and a stellar cast including: Jamie Foxx (as Django), Christoph Waltz, Leonardo Di Caprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington and Franco Nero himself, strongly sought after by the film director along with another great Italian artist: master musical composer Ennio Morricone.

This celebration of Franco Nero, who has always been one of the main backers and ambassadors to the world for Capri, Hollywood, will take place on ???. Together with his wife, Vanessa Redgrave, and his son Carlo Gabriel Nero, Franco Nero will be honored with a rare 'Django Night' – which will include an eight-minute segment from the new Tarantino film as well as a screening of Corbucci’s original picture (which is gaining new popularity in the wake of Quentin Tarantino’s film). In portraying that 1966 role, still considered a milestone in the history of ‘spaghetti westerns,’ Franco Nero became a true International star. There have been dozens of remakes all over the world whose titles contain the name of the legendary character: the latest is Tarantino’s ‘Django Unchained’, set during the era of slavery in the US. 

''Franco Nero is a legend, despite his simplicity having often damaged him within the unforgiving star system,” declared Tony Petruzzi, Presidente of Istituto Capri nel mondo, explaining the motivation for the award. “It’s no accident that a genius like Tarantino has always admired him, wanted to meet him and involve him in his project. Nero is one of the very few actors with the charisma and the charm of a star as he repeatedly proven throughout his 50-year career. He was not just the cult gunman of Django and Keoma but also a wonderful performer in the Italian political noir films such as Il giorno della civetta, Il delitto Matteotti and Marcia Trionfale. He had the privilege of working with great cinema masters such as John Huston ,  Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Luis Buñuel. ''

In the golden book of the Capri Legend Award, Nero’s name will be inscribed alongside Dennis Hopper, Omar Sharif, John Malkovich, Vanessa Redgrave, Helen Mirren, Samuel L. Jackson, Sir Ben Kingsley and filmmakers like Taylor Hackford, Claude Lelouch, Andrei Konchalovsky, Baz Luhrmann, Mario Monicelli, Dario Argento and Marco Bellocchio.

Capri, Hollywood 2012 (December 26 –January 2) is an event produced by Pascal Vicedomini and promoted by Istituto Capri nel Mondo, thanks to the support of Smart (Mercedes), Hogan (Tod’s Group). The event, part of the global entertainment calendar since 1995, is supported by Mibac Directionate General, and by the Campania Region, the Chamber of Commerce of Naples and Unicef, with the participation of SNAV, Capri’s Sippic-Funicolare and Capri Press.