Natalie Portman is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had an extensive career in film since her teenage years and starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving multiple accolades such as an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Darren Aronofsky is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction.
Shirin Neshat is an Iranian visual artist who lives in New York City, known primarily for her work in film, video and photography. Her artwork centers on the contrasts between Islam and the West, femininity and masculinity, public life and private life, antiquity and modernity, and bridging the spaces between these subjects.
Shabnam Toluei, born in Tehran, Iran, is an Iranian actress, theatre director and playwright. She is currently forbidden from working in Iran by the government because of her religion, the Baháʼí Faith, which is subject to state sanctioned persecution. Since December 2004 she is living in Paris, France. and became naturalized French citizen in 2019.
Pipilotti Elisabeth Rist is a Swiss visual artist best known for creating experimental video art and installation art. Her work is often described as surreal, intimate, abstract art, having a preoccupation with the female body. Her artwork is often categorized as feminist art.
Benjamin Millepied is a French dancer and choreographer, who has lived and worked in the United States since joining the New York City Ballet in 1995, where he became a soloist in 1998 and a principal in 2002. He has also created choreography for the company, and choreographed pieces for other major companies. He retired from the NYCB in 2011.
Hosfelt Gallery in San Francisco, California was founded in 1996 by Todd Hosfelt to exhibit contemporary international artists working in all media.
Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky from a screenplay by Mark Heyman, John McLaughlin, and Andres Heinz, based on a story by Heinz. The film stars Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, and Winona Ryder, and revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet by the New York City Ballet company. The production requires a ballerina to play the innocent and fragile White Swan, for which the committed dancer Nina Sayers (Portman) is a perfect fit, as well as the dark and sensual Black Swan, which are qualities better embodied by the new rival Lily (Kunis). Nina is overwhelmed by a feeling of immense pressure when she finds herself competing for the role, causing her to lose her tenuous grip on reality and descend into madness.
The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize or Gish Prize is given annually to "a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life." It is among the most prestigious and one of the richest prizes in the American arts. The 2019 winner Walter Hood received $250,000. The founders Dorothy Gish (1898–1968) and Lillian Gish (1893–1993) were sisters, famous as actresses from the silent era of film and mid-century theatre. About the prize, established in Lillian Gish's will, she said: "It is my desire, by establishing this prize, to give recipients of the prize the recognition they deserve, to bring attention to their contributions to society and encourage others to follow in their path." It was established in 1994 by the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Trust and is administered by JPMorgan Chase Bank.
Jane Got a Gun is a 2015 American Western film directed by Gavin O'Connor and written by Brian Duffield, Joel Edgerton, and Anthony Tambakis. The film stars Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Noah Emmerich, Rodrigo Santoro, Boyd Holbrook, and Ewan McGregor.
Natalie Portman is an actress and filmmaker with dual Israeli and American citizenship. She made her film debut in Luc Besson's action thriller Léon: The Professional, which starred her as the young protégée of a hitman. She followed this by appearing in Michael Mann's crime thriller Heat (1995), Ted Demme's romantic comedy Beautiful Girls (1996), and Tim Burton's science fiction comedy Mars Attacks! (1996). Three years later, her supporting role as the precocious, responsible daughter of a narcissistic mother played by Susan Sarandon in the drama Anywhere but Here earned Portman her first Golden Globe Award nomination. In the same year, she played Padmé Amidala in the first of the Star Wars prequel trilogyStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which brought her international recognition. She reprised the role in its sequels Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005).
Clare Lilley is a British art curator and Director of Programme, at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park which, in 2014, was named the UK Art Fund Museum of the Year. She graduated with a degree in the History of Art from Manchester University and has a particular expertise in curating and siting sculpture in the public realm. Since 2012 she has curated Frieze Sculpture in London's Regents Park and she has curated William Turnbull for Chatsworth House, Derbyshire and Jaume Plensa at San Giorgio Maggiore as Venice Biennale collateral event.
Shoja Azari is an Iranian-born visual artist and filmmaker based in New York City. He is known for his films and multimedia installations.
The Death & Life of John F. Donovan is a 2018 Canadian drama film, co-written, co-produced, and directed by Xavier Dolan, in his English-language debut. It stars Kit Harington, Jacob Tremblay, Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Thandiwe Newton, Ben Schnetzer, and Jared Keeso. The film deals with themes of celebrity, tabloid media in Hollywood, mother-son relationships, and homosexuality.
Annihilation is a 2018 science fiction psychological horror film written and directed by Alex Garland, based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer. It stars Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, and Óscar Isaac. The story follows a group of explorers who enter "The Shimmer", a mysterious quarantined zone of mutating plants and animals caused by an alien presence.
Performa is a non-profit arts organization well-known for the Performa Biennial, a festival of performance art that happens every two year in various venues and institutions in New York City. Performa was founded in 2004 by art historian and curator RoseLee Goldberg. Since 2005, Performa curators have included Charles Aubin, Defne Ayas, Tairone Bastien, Mark Beasley, Adrienne Edwards, Laura McLean-Ferris, Kathy Noble, Job Piston, and Lana Wilson. The organization commissions new works and tours performances premiered at the biennial. It also manages the work of choreographer and filmmaker Yvonne Rainer.
Bruce Bauman is an American writer. He is the author of the novels Broken Sleep (2015) and And The Word Was (2006). His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Salon, BOMB, Bookforum, Dart International Magazine, and Black Clock. He has previously been awarded the City of Los Angeles Award in literature (2008-2009), a Durfee Foundation grant, and an UNESCO/Aschberg award.
The Voice of a Woman (VOW) is an organization founded by Maureen A. Bryan in 2009, as a platform for the works of women filmmakers, artists and thought leaders internationally. The Voice of a Woman Festival, Awards, Talks and Masterclasses are presented each year in London, New York and Cannes.
Amei Wallach is a filmmaker, art critic journalist, and author from New York. Her documentaries profiling artists include: Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, The Mistress and the Tangerine (2008), Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: Enter Here (2013), and Taking Venice: The Rauschenberg Factor. Her writings have appeared in the New York Times, Smithsonian, Vanity Fair, and Art in America, and numerous publications. From 2000 to 2005, Wallach served as president of the U.S. Section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA/USA).
