- Title: USA: JESSICA LANGE AWARD SPECIAL WOMEN IN FILM AWARD
- Date: 9th June 2000
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 09, 2000) (REUTERS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) WASHINGTON SAYING "The best thing I can tell you is the fact that we're being honoured for something that should be as natural as breathing. It's a good thing because it may help someone else say oh, okay, I can do that because it's very simple. It's really very simple. So, I feel p
- Embargoed: 24th June 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, USA AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA9STNG5MKGS1KACLEO9LUJECZB
- Story Text: Actress Jessica Lange, along with actor Denzel Washington and his wife Pauletta, were among the honorees at the 2000 Women in Film awards held in Los Angeles.
Actress Jessica Lange received the 200 Women in Film Crystal award for her positive contributions to the role of women in the entertainment industry. The two-time Academy award winner was honoured for the enduring excellence of a body of work which has garnered her a total of six Oscar nods.
Lange took pains to qualify the actor's importance to society.
"I think it's important we keep in mind who we're role models for and what exactly we would like them to learn or to emulate or to experience because of us," she told the audience at a news conference prior to the awards ceremony.
On hand to present her award was longtime friend and "Blue Sky" co-star (for which Lange won the best actress Oscar) Tommy Lee Jones. "She has the the courage, the fortitude, to continue making opportunities for herself at a time when it becomes more and more difficult for a woman to get a job," Jones told Reuters.
The Dorothy Arzner Directors Award, for the important role women directors play in film and television series, was given to Mimi Leder. Leder began her directorial career in television on the hit series "L.A. Law" and helmed both "The Peacemaker" and "Deep Impact" for mentor Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks. Leder recently wrapped shooting on the Kevin Spacey-Helen Hunt-Haley Joel Osment film "Pay It Forward".
While Denzel Washington was absent, his wife Pauletta and co-honoree was onhand to receive the group's Humanitarian award, for the couple's support of equal opportunities for all and their endeavours to improve the human condition. Mrs.
Washington was quick to point out that, despite her husband's star power, all of their charitable endeavours are a joint project. "He's (Denzel) just been the spokesperson," she explained. "Today it's just flipped -- I think he's very happy and proud that I am able to be the voice of the family today."
The Washingtons were recognised for their work with the Boys and Girls Club of America (where Dennzel serves as the national spokesperson), the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, the Rape Treatment Center and the Cedars-Sinai Brain Trust.
The 24th Annual Women in Film awards were held at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on Friday, June 09. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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