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MUMBAI: Oliver Stone will receive the first annual Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(MGM) Leo The Lion Award on 21 May at the Cannes Film Festival.
The award will be presented to Stone by MGM chairman and CEO Harry
Sloan, at a cocktail reception to be held at the Majestic Hotel.
The award has been established to recognise and encourage artistic
excellence in individuals who, through significant contributions
to filmmaking, have made an indelible impact on the overall value
and merit of the library of MGM released films as well as on the
world's movie going public.
Stone's first film on the Vietnam war - Platoon - starring
Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger and Forest Whitaker, will
have a special screening. Platoon which earned $135 million
at the US box office during its 1986 release and won the Oscar for
Best Picture, is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Sloan says, "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is proud of its film legacy.
This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Oliver Stone's Platoon.
This was not just another war film. It was written and directed by
a combat veteran who brought an authenticity to cinema that had not
been seen before, and consequently set the standard for all other
films concerning the US involvement in Vietnam. MGM is honoured that
the 2006 Cannes Film Festival has scheduled a special anniversary
presentation of Platoon."
Stone says, "Getting to make Platoon was one of the
highlights of my life. To have it shown 20 years later in this great
garden of cinema is a deep honour." MGM COO Rick Sands confirmed
that Oliver Stone, Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe
who star in the film would be travelling to Cannes for the special
anniversary presentation.
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