Hollywood Film Festival Honors Carey Mulligan, Berenice Bejo, Jean Dujardin, Elle Fanning, Amber Heard, Andrea Riseborough, Shailene Woodley, & Anton Yelchin

Academy Award-nominated actress Carey Mulligan will be honored with the “Hollywood Supporting Actress Award,” Berenice Bejo, Jean Dujardin, Elle Fanning, Amber Heard, Andrea Riseborough, Shailene Woodley and Anton Yelchin will receive the “Hollywood Spotlight Award” at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Oct. 10, 2011 – The 15th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards, presented by Starz Entertainment, are pleased to announce that Academy Award-nominated Carey Mulligan will receive the “Hollywood Supporting Actress Award,” and Berenice Bejo, Jean Dujardin, Elle Fanning, Amber Heard, Andrea Riseborough, Shailene Woodley and Anton Yelchin will receive the “Hollywood Spotlight Award,” at the festival’s Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony, which will take place October 24, 2011, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

The announcement was made today by Carlos de Abreu, Founder and Executive Director of the Hollywood Film Festival. “It is a privilege to honor Carey Mulligan, Berenice Bejo, Jean Dujardin, Elle Fanning, Amber Heard, Andrea Riseborough, Shailene Woodley and Anton Yelchin for their great talent,” said Mr. de Abreu.

The Hollywood Film Awards Gala launches the awards season. In the past eight years a total of 73 Oscar nominations and 27 Oscars were given to the honorees of the Hollywood Awards.

The 2011 Hollywood Film Festival has also announced that they will honor five-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close with the “Hollywood Career Achievement Award,” Academy Award-nominated actress Michelle Williams with the “Hollywood Actress Award” for “My Week with Marilyn,” Academy Award-nominated actor Christopher Plummer with the “Hollywood Supporting Actor Award” for “Beginners,” actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt with the “Hollywood Breakthrough Actor Award” for “50/50,” and actress Felicity Jones with the “New Hollywood Award” for “Like Crazy.” Other honorees include the cast of “The Help” (Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Chris Lowell, Ahna O’Reilly, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, Cicely Tyson, and Mike Vogel), Director Michel Hazanavicius, Producer Letty Aronson, Screenwriter Diablo Cody, Film Composer Alberto Iglesias, Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, Editor Stephen Mirrione, Production Designer James Murakami, and Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Farrar at their annual Awards Gala. In addition, Gore Verbinski’s “Rango” will be honored at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony, along with additional honorees to be announced in the coming weeks.

ABOUT CAREY MULLIGAN

Mulligan can currently be seen in FilmDistrict’s action thriller “Drive,” opposite Ryan Gosling, Bryan Cranston, and Oscar Isaac. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, “Drive,” is based on the James Sallis novel. Mulligan will next been seen in “Shame,” directed by Steve McQueen. The film stars Michael Fassbender, who plays a thirty-something man living in New York who is unable to manage his sex life. Mulligan plays his troubled younger sister. “Shame” will be released in the U.S. by Fox Searchlight in December.

This fall, Mulligan began production on director Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” in Sydney, Australia. The film is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel. Mulligan plays Daisy Buchanan. The film will be released by Warner Brothers in 2012.

In September 2010, Mulligan starred in Fox Searchlight’s “Never Let Me Go,” based on the award winning novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. Also in September 2010, Mulligan appeared in Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” from 20th Century Fox, starring alongside a cast including Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin, Frank Langella, and Susan Sarandon.

Mulligan received an Academy Award nomination, a Golden Globe nomination, a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination and garnered critical acclaim for her starring role in the Sony Classics film “An Education,” written by Nick Hornby and directed by Lone Scherfig. Also, she received the British Independent Film Award for “Best Actress,” was named “Best Actress” by the National Board of Review, and was named “Best Actress” by the Orange British Academy of Film (BAFTA). Additional film credits include “Public Enemies,” “The Greatest,” “Brothers,” “Pride and Prejudice” and “And When Did You Last See Your Father” with Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth.

ABOUT AMBER HEARD — “The Rum Diary”

As stunning as she is talented, Amber Heard is making waves with her captivating performances on the big screen. She will next be seen in “The Rum Diary” starring opposite Johnny Depp and Aaron Eckhart. The dramatic adventure film is an adaptation of the Hunter S. Thompson novel and will be released on October 28.

She recently completed production on the independent film “Syrup,” a dark satire also starring Shiloh Fernandez. Heard also starred in John Carpenter’s “The Ward” and the independent film, “And Soon the Darkness,” on which she also served as a co-producer. Some of her other films include “Zombieland,” “The Stepfather,” “The Pineapple Express,” and “North Country.”

ABOUT BERENICE BEJO -“The Artist”

Bejo can currently be seen in Michel Hazanavicius’ silent film, “The Artist,” opposite Jean Dujardin. The film follows a silent movie superstar and a young dancer who become interlinked as the arrival of talking pictures threatens their destinies. In 2001, she entered America’s big screen by performing in “A Knight’s Tale,” and in 2002’s “24 Hours in the Life of a Woman.” Some of her film credits include “What Love Means,” “Prey,” Henri-George Clouzot’s “Inferno,” “Modern Love,” “OSS117: Cairo, Nest of Spies,” “Final Arrangements,” “Le Grand Role,” and Cavalcade.”

ABOUT ELLE FANNING — “Super 8”

Elle was most recently seen last summer starring in the blockbuster film “Super 8” for director J.J. Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg. She made her feature film debut in 2001 at the young age of two when she co-starred as a “Young Lucy” in New Line Cinema’s “I Am Sam.” Since then she has starred in more than 10 films and numerous episodes of television. In 2004, Elle appeared in Focus Films’ “The Door in the Floor” from director Tod Williams.

In 2006, Elle appeared in two movies. The first was Paramount’s “Babel,” directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Next was Touchstone’s “Deja Vu,” directed by Tony Scott and starring Denzel Washington. In 2007, Elle filmed “Reservation Road” where she played “Emma Learner,” the daughter of Joaquin Phoenix, and director John August’s “The Nines.” In 2008, she played the young Cate Blanchett in Paramount’s and director David Fincher’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” opposite Brad Pitt. Also that year, Elle starred as “Phoebe Lichten” in the independent film “Phoebe in Wonderland” opposite Patricia Clarkson, Felicity Huffman and Bill Pullman, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival with rave reviews for its young star.

In 2010, Elle starred alongside Stephen Dorff in Sofia Coppola’s film “Somewhere,” which won the Golden Lion for Best Picture at the Venice Film Festival. Elle was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award for her performance in the film.

She will next be seen starring in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Twixt,” which had its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival, and this December stars opposite Matt Damon and Scarlett Johannson in Fox’s “We Bought a Zoo” for director Cameron Crowe.

ABOUT JEAN DUJARDIN — “The Artist”

In 1995, Jean Dujardin began his first one-man show, the same year he met Eric Collado, Bruno Salomone, Emmanuel Joucla, and Eric Massot with whom he created the “Nous C Nous.” In 1999, he became “Loulou” in “Un gars, une fille.” This part permitted him to show his talent to a larger public. Since the end of “Un gars, une fille” in 2003, he has appeared in many films.

ABOUT ANDREA RISEBOROUGH — “W.E.”

Having spotted Andrea at the National Theatre, Mike Leigh offered her a place in the company of his latest film “Happy Go Lucky.”

Andrea had a number of film releases in 2010 and early 2011. The first was “Made in Dagenham,” a true story directed by Nigel Cole (“Calendar Girls”), in which she plays the role of a woman working in a Ford factory fighting for equal pay. Her role as a waitress in Rowan Joffe’s remake of “Brighton Rock” received rave reviews at last year’s Toronto Film Festival. Following this, Andrea starred in “Never Let Me Go” (January 2010), an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel.

Andrea can next be seen starring in Madonna’s new film “W.E.” where she plays the role of Wallis Simpson. The film showed at this year’s Venice and Toronto Film Festivals, and will be released this December. She also stars opposite Michael Sheen in “Resistance,” which will be released in London later this year. Andrea most recently finished filming “Welcome to the Punch” with James McAvoy and is currently filming “Disconnect.” Both are set to be released in 2012.

ABOUT SHAILENE WOODLEY – “The Descendants”

Shailene Woodley began her career at the age of 5 when an agent recognized her potential and signed her on the spot. She has been working ever since. She started in commercials and then got her first TV role in the 1999 movie of the week “Replacing Dad,” which starred two-time Oscar nominee Mary McDonnell. More recently, she played the title character in the popular Warner Bros. movie “Felicity: An American Girl Adventure,” which was produced by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Julia Roberts.

Her first lead role performance earned this review: “Felicity offers Woodley’s feisty performance; she’s warm and cheeky, and immensely fun to watch.” Woodley’s other television work includes recurring roles on “Crossing Jordan” (as a young Jill Hennessy), “The O.C.,” and “Jack & Bobby” (where she played the daughter of John Slattery). She has also made guest appearances on series like “Cold Case,” “My Name is Earl,” “CSI: NY” (playing an angel-faced killer), and “Close to Home.” She also had a lead role opposite Ann-Margret and Matthew Settle in the television movie “A Place Called Home,” and co-starred with William Mapother and Treat Williams in “Moola.”

ABOUT ANTON YELCHIN – “Like Crazy”

Anton Yelchin is one of Hollywood’s hottest rising stars. With his highly acclaimed performances in “Charlie Bartlett,” “Star Trek,” “The Beaver,” “Fright Night,” “Like Crazy” and a slew of starring roles in major films this year, Yelchin is quickly becoming a household name. “Like Crazy”, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the coveted Grand Jury Prize, hits theaters October 28, 2011. Yelchin, who is receiving critical raves for his performance as an American college student who falls for a British exchange student and experiences the joy and heartbreak of first love, was just recently honored by the Aspen Film Festival with the “Artist to Watch” award for his performance in the film.

Earlier this year he Yelchin lent his voice to the role of “Clumsy Smurf” in Sony’s summer blockbuster film “The Smurfs.” He starred opposite Toni Collette and Colin Farrell in “Fright Night,” a remake of the 1985 comedy-horror picture about a teenager who discovers his neighbors are vampires. Yelchin recently finished work on the film “Odd Thomas.” In the film Yelchin will play the title character of “Odd Thomas,” a short-order cook with clairvoyant abilities that encounters a mysterious man with a link to dark and threatening forces. In the film Yelchin will star alongside Willem Dafoe, Addison Timlin and Patton Oswalt. “Odd Thomas” is set to be released in 2012.

Yelchin’s past projects include “New York, I Love You,” “Terminator Salvation” opposite Christian Bale, “Middle of Nowhere” opposite Susan Sarandon, “Alpha Dog,” “Hearts of Atlantis” for which he won a Young Artist Award, among many others.

ABOUT STARZ ENTERTAINMENT, LLC:

The festival and awards presenter is Starz Entertainment, LLC, a premium movie and original programming entertainment service provider operating in the United States. The company offers 17 premium channels including the flagship STARZ® and ENCORE® brands with approximately 19 million and 32.9 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs in total more than 1,000 movies and original series every month across its pay TV channels. Starz Entertainment is recognized as a pay TV leader in providing HD, On Demand, HD On Demand and online advanced services for its STARZ, ENCORE and MOVIEPLEX brands. Starz Entertainment (www.starz.com) is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, which is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation and is attributed to the Liberty Starz tracking stock group (NASDAQ: LSTZA).

SOURCE: Hollywood Film Festival