The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) announced today that multiple Academy Award® winning actor and humanitarian Sean Penn will receive the coveted Golden Icon Award at this year’s Festival, taking place September 22nd – October 2nd. The announcement was made by ZFF Directors Karl Spoerri and Nadja Schildknecht. Serving as the Festival’s most prestigious symbol of recognition, awarded in appreciation of the lifetime achievements of an actor or actress, the Golden Icon Award will be...

The 19th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will honor Academy Award winner Sean Penn with the Director of the Year Award for his latest film Into the Wild at the Festival’s annual Awards Gala on Saturday, January 5, 2008. Past director honorees include Alejandro González Iñárritu for Babel, Anthony Minghella for Cold Mountain, Alexander Payne for Sideways and Ang Lee for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.Festival chairman Earl Greenburg said, “Into the Wild is a magnif...

Close to 200,000 film-goers took part in the various screenings and activities at the 55th edition of the San Sebasti?n International Film Festival, which came to a close on September 29th. Ticket sales were up 8% this year, with a total of 100,576 tickets sold compared with 93,253 in 2006. Added to this figure are the 60,300 entrances by Festival accredited participants and the 18,000 children who enjoyed the morning screenings at the Velodrome, in addition to the peop...