Top Box Office Movies - Meryl Streep to Receive Coolidge Award in April 2006

Legendary Actress Meryl Streep to receive the Pretigious Coolidge Award

E-MAIL DANIEL BERMAN

Photo: The Coolidge Corner Theatre as captured by local artist Kaaren Parma.

HONORS THE FILM WORK OF MERYL STREEP: SCREENINGS AND SEMINARS SCHEDULED THROUGHOUT MARCH STREEP ARRIVES IN BOSTON TO ACCEPT COOLIDGE AWARD APRIL 5

Boston, MA - The Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Massachusetts, has planned a month-long celebration showcasing the work of internationally acclaimed actor Meryl Streep. Last month the Coolidge Corner Theatre announced that Streep will be the recipient of the third annual Coolidge Award, honoring a selected film artist whose work advances the spirit of original and challenging filmmaking. Streep is scheduled to arrive in Boston to accept the honor at a special ceremony on Wednesday, April 6 at 8:30 pm. The gala celebration will include testimonials from colleagues and other luminaries including Lily Tomlin and Kevin Kline (co-stars in her newest film A Prairie Home Companion), director Robert Altman, Chris Cooper (co-star Adaptation), author Susan Orlean and others to be announced shortly. Other highlights of the Gala Award Ceremony will include selected scenes from Streep’s body of work and live musical performances from singer/songwriter Patty Larkin, BSO violinist Sheila Fiekowsky, and students of the Brookline Music School. The ceremony will culminate with the presentation of the award to Streep.

Preceding the ceremony, on April 5 at 6:00 pm the Coolidge presents a sneak preview screening of A Prairie Home Companion. The film, which features Streep as a country-western singer, is scheduled for theatrical release in early summer by Picturehouse. Director Altman, who will be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Academy Awards next month, is scheduled to be in attendance to introduce the Coolidge screening.

While in Boston, Streep will participate in related festivities. On Thursday, April 6 at 1:00 pm, the Coolidge has programmed a panel discussion spotlighting the process of adapting the best-selling novel The Orchid Thief to the 2003 film Adaptation. Streep will be joined by Adapation co-star Chris Cooper and novelist Susan Orlean. Streep received an Oscar nomination for her role in the film, a writer based on Orlean. Also invited to participate, but not confirmed at press time, is screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. Preceding the panel discussion, Adaptation will be screened at 10:00 am and then again after the panel discussion at 3:00 pm. Ticket buyers of the panel discussion may attend either screening free of charge.

In anticipation of Streep’s arrival, the Coolidge has programmed several screenings of her work and four seminars. Moviegoers can indulge in Streep’s spectacular on-screen achievements throughout consecutive Mondays in March and April when the Coolidge unspools five highlights from her prolific career in its beautifully restored 600-seat Movie House I, featuring a giant screen. It all begins on Monday, March 13 with a screening of the 1978 film The Deer Hunter. Streep won her first of 13 Oscar nominations for her role in this powerful and controversial story about a group of friends in Middle America during the Vietnam War era, and the dramatic impact that the war played on their lives.

March 20 brings to the Coolidge screen Streep’s first Oscar-win performance in the 1979 Kramer vs. Kramer. Co-starring opposite Dustin Hoffman, Streep plays a wife and mother who leaves her family and later comes back to fight for custody of her child. Culminating in a dramatic courtroom battle, the film made a historic mark in its portrayal of the “modern” family and the complexities of divorce. Streep radiates the screen on March 27 when the Coolidge spotlights Sophie’s Choice, her second Oscar win and one of her most memorable performances as a Polish-Catholic survivor of a Nazi concentration camp. April 10 brings Silkwood, based on the real-life story of famed Karen Silkwood’s heroic uncovering of the life-threatening practices in the Oklahoma nuclear power plant. On April 17 Streep effortlessly steps into the shoes of Danish Baroness Karen Blixen, who chronicles her love affair and travels in director Sydney Pollack’s sweeping romantic tale Out of Africa.

Four acting-themed seminars are also programmed throughout March and early April, providing Boston filmgoers an opportunity to learn more about Streep’s amazing career and contribution to the world of cinema. On Wednesday, March 15 Tufts University professor Susan Kouguell leads the seminar Fiction Into Film: The Hours A Screenwriting Case Study, exploring the many details of the novel-to-screenplay process. There will be a free screening of The Hours the following evening in the Coolidge’s Video Screening Room. On Wednesday, March 22, Harvard University professor J.D. Connor discusses The Actor’s Challenge: Meryl Streep’s Roles in Adapted Films. The following evening the Coolidge hosts a free screening of The French Lieutenant’s Woman in the Video Screening Room. On March 29, Boston College professor Michael Civille leads Poker-Faced and Gorgeous: The Early Performances of Meryl Streep, chronicling her early career during an era of anti-glamour and the social upheavals of the 1970s. A free follow-up screening of Manhattan will be shown in the Video Screening Room the following evening.

On Sunday, April 2 at noon a special seminar, The Comedic Roles of Meryl Streep, is presented by renowned publicist Lois Smith, co-founder of the legendary firm PMK Public Relations. Smith -- whose career has included working with the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Anthony Hopkins, Robert Altman, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson – offers unique and personal insights into Streep’s career and role choices with a focus on comedy. The seminar will be followed by a 35mm screening of the film Defending Your Life, co-starring and directed by Albert Brooks.

All programs are open to the public and admission to the three Wednesday evening seminars are $9.50 each with a reduced $6.50 Coolidge Members admission price (available day of seminar only and on a first-come basis). The Sunday seminar with Lois Smith is $6/general admission and free to Coolidge Members. Unless otherwise noted, all retrospective screening are $6 to the general public and free to Coolidge Members.
The complete line-up of events, screenings and ticket information for the Coolidge Award Ceremony honoring Meryl Streep is posted with updates on the Theatre's website, www.coolidge.org. People are encouraged to buy tickets in advance, which are available at the theatre box office, or on-line through the website.

The Coolidge Corner Theatre is one of the nation's few independently operated movie theaters, run by the not-for-profit Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation. In the past few years the Coolidge has won several awards and special acknowledgements, most notably for a successful capital campaign supporting upgrades, renovations and a stunning restoration to the Theatre's original Art Deco detail. The inspiration for the annual Coolidge Award comes from a continued commitment to celebrate bold filmmaking and a recognition of the Coolidge's role in building audiences for this work. The focus of the award rotates annually to highlight the many categories of films that the Coolidge has championed over the years in its mission to showcase high quality and diverse programming. The award was launched in 2004, and the inaugural recipient was Chinese director Zhang Yimou. The 2005 recipient was Italian cinematographer Vittorio Storaro.

The Coolidge Award 2006 is made possible by the generous support of the Patricia Larsen Foundation, Scott Rosenberg, Susan and Robert Stoller, Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, LEF New England, Chobee Hoy Real Estate, Inc. and Massachusetts Cultural Council. Additional support continues to grow from numerous individuals, sponsors and community-based businesses. More details about the Coolidge Award festivities will be announced in the coming months. The Coolidge Corner Theatre is located at 290 Harvard Street in the heart of Coolidge Corner, Brookline, Massachusetts. For information on programming, call 617-734-2500, or visit the website at www.coolidge.org.

Marianne Lampke
Beacon Cinema Group
617-628-8777 (November - May)
508-255-4859 (June - October)

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