AUSTRIA: Milla Jovovich and Antonio Banderas attend Life Ball press event

Record ID: 656334

  • Title: AUSTRIA: Milla Jovovich and Antonio Banderas attend Life Ball press event
  • Date: 19th May 2012
  • Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (MAY 19, 2012) (REUTERS) ***BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EDITOR OF VOGUE ITALIA FRANCA SOZZANI AND FASHION MODEL ALEX WEK ARRIVING AT PRESS CONFERENCE ACTORS MILLA JOVOVICH AND ANTONIO BANDERAS AND FASHION MODEL KAROLINA KURKOVA ARRIVING AT PRESS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF MEDIA WATCHING CONFERENCE SPEAKERS SITTING AT CONFERENCE TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS MILLA JOVOVICH, SAYING: "I am so happy to be able to do anything I can to raise awareness and help educate people to understand more about the disease and try and find more funds to essentially get a cure, which we don't have right now. One of the points that is very dangerous today is that a lot of kids in Western Europe and America think 'Oh we have all these drugs now for AIDS, it's okay'. Well it's not okay. You know, those drugs might help, but then, hey, you're gonna get a cold and get sick and that's what's gonna kill you." MEDIA WATCHING CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR ANTONIO BANDERAS, SAYING: "Four out of every ten girls in distant region of the south of Africa are raped there. That's almost 40 percent of the young girls' population. At the same time 51 percent of the people over there, 51 percent, they are HIV positive. So the risk for these girls of getting infected is enormous. But the problem that they face is basically that these girls raped, they - whether because of fear, shame, or because it is institutionalized somehow, that adults, they have the right actually to do these unbelievable practices in our world - they are scared to just take these people to justice." MEDIA WATCHING CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIFE BALL FOUNDER GARY KESSLER, SAYING: "I never expected that this is going to be 20 years because it was supposed to be one of a kind event. I started the Life Ball in 1993. I lost one of my dearest friends just a few months later, it made me continuing the Life Ball. I told this story many, many times. It's a long journey through 20 years, through the support of so many fashion icons, so many people out of the music business, talents, models. But most of all, the guests of Life Ball, they are amazing every year." MEDIA WATCHING CONFERENCE FACADE OF BUILDING WITH RED RIBBON BANNER
  • Embargoed: 3rd June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Austria
  • Country: Austria
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA3WH64Z49UUZYDRUHGOZUI96R1
  • Story Text: A star-studded press conference featuring actors Antonio Banderas and Milla Jovovich was held on Saturday (May 19) in Vienna, announcing the 20th annual Life Ball charity event to be held on Saturday evening.
    Life Ball is Europe's largest AIDS fundraising event and is held annually at Vienna's historic City Hall building. Over the years it grew into one of the highlights of Vienna's ball season, with many international celebrities attending the event, and some of the biggest designer names in fashion industry sponsoring the glamorous fashion show which is traditionally held before the ball.
    Among the celebrities who decided to lend their support this year were supermodels Karolina Kurkova and Alex Wek as well as actors Milla Jovovich and Antonio Banderas. Jovovich arrived as an ambassador for the American AIDS research foundation amfAR, an organisation which became Life Ball co-organizer in 2006.
    "I am so happy to be able to do anything I can to raise awareness and help educate people to understand more about the disease and try and find more funds to essentially get a cure, which we don't have right now. One of the points that is very dangerous today is that a lot of kids in Western Europe and America think 'Oh we have all these drugs now for AIDS, it's okay'. Well it's not okay. You know, those drugs might help, but then, hey, you're gonna get a cold and get sick and that's what's gonna kill you," actress Milla Jovovich said.
    Every year LIFE AIDS, the non-profit organisation which founded the Life Ball, presents the Crystal of Hope, an award given to organisations honouring outstanding projects in fighting AIDS. This year the winner is the project Operation Bobbi Bear which helps raped girls in South Africa, and actor Antonio Banderas was picked to present the award at the gala event.
    "Four out of every ten girls in distant region of the south of Africa are raped there. That's almost 40 percent of the young girls' population. At the same time 51 percent of the people over there, 51 percent, they are HIV positive. So the risk for these girls to get infected is enormous. But the problem that they face is basically that these girls raped, they - whether because of fear, shame, or because it is institutionalized somehow, that adults, they have the right actually to do these unbelievable practices in our world - they are scared to just take these people to justice," actor Antonio Banderas said.
    Since this year Life Ball will celebrate its 20th anniversary, the traditional fashion show, held on a red-ribbon-shaped catwalk, will retrace the past two decades of Life Ball fashion designs, with creations by renowned designers such as Roberto Cavalli, Gianfranco Ferre and Vivienne Westwood.
    "I never expected that this is going to be 20 years because it was supposed to be one of a kind event. I started the Life Ball in 1993. I lost one of my dearest friends just a few months later, it made me continuing the Life Ball. I told this story many, many times. It's a long journey through 20 years, through the support of so many fashion icons, so many people out of the music business, talents, models. But most of all, the guests of Life Ball, they are amazing every year," Life Ball founder Gary Kessler said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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