Look To The Stars News: Thandie Newton

Thandie Newton To Teach Acting In South Africa

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:30:00 -0000

Thandie Newton is to teach acting to girls at Oprah Winfrey’s Leadership Academy in South Africa.

“I am really looking forward to it as it’s such a great scheme and it’s nice to give something back,“ said Newton.

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls near Johannesburg was established in 2007 after the TV host answered a plea from Nelson Mandela. The school aims to discover, teach and inspire young South African girls to become a new generation of leaders. The academy selects 11-to-13 year-old girls whose family income is less than $700 a month, and Oprah hand-picked the first 75 students in the summer of 2006.

Scarlett Johansson Signs Champagne For Oxfam

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Moët & Chandon, the champagne of cinema, last week introduced its highly-anticipated celebrity spokesperson at the brand’s “Tribute to Cinema” gala at the Big Sky studio in London: the effervescent Scarlett Johansson.

Celebrating among the delighted and glamorous guest list was an array of British and international movie stars and socialites, including Thandie Newton, Joseph Fiennes and Melanie Laurent.

Moët’s “Tribute to Cinema” theme infused every detail of the evening, which was held at London’s Big Sky film studio. British and international celebrities arrived in “red carpet” attire and were elegantly greeted by House President Frédéric Cumenal. Following the Moët red carpet tradition from the international film festivals the House supports, celebrities were then invited to autograph a Moët & Chandon Nebuchadnezzar, which will be auctioned off in direct support of Scarlett’s charity of choice, international aid agency Oxfam and its climate change work.

“Moët and the movies both tell compelling stories and share authentic emotions with the world,” explained Scarlett Johansson, the Hollywood face of Moët & Chandon. “I am honored to have been chosen as their ambassador and to make history with the brand, as the first celebrity face of champagne!”

“Scarlett Johansson was the obvious choice as our ambassador because she, like Moët, has a magical story to tell and makes people dream”, said Frédéric Cumenal, President of Moët & Chandon. “She is a true icon of celebration — refreshingly spontaneous, generous, glamorous and she lives life to the fullest both on-screen and off”.

Stars Speak Out About Gaza In New Video

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

A group of British stars have appeared in a new video produced by Amnesty International, speaking out against the bloodshed and violence in Gaza.

Annie Lennox, Thandie Newton, former Monty Python star Terry Jones, comedian Alexei Sayle, filmmaker Mike Figgis, designer Katharine Hamnett and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button actor Jason Flemyng all voice their support for Amnesty’s ongoing efforts to secure justice for both Palestinians and Israelis and make an impassioned call for Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza in the video.

“Right now – this very minute – innocent people like you and me, children like mine and yours, are victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza,” said Thandie Newton in the film. “I want the UK government ready to initiate criminal investigations and carry out prosecutions in their own courts.”

“We’ve had a ceasefire in Gaza, a tentative ceasefire, and we now have the opportunity to get access to over 200,000 civilians who have no access to facilities,” adds Annie Lennox. “Their homes have been pulverized, they have no running water, they have no proper access to medicines, to fuel, to foods. They are desperately and urgently in need of these things and it is essential that the international aid agencies get access to the Gazan people now… In a situation like this, there are no victories. Only victims. What’s important is that we try to find a path to peace.”

More than 1,300 Palestinians died during the Israeli military offensive in December and January, but hundreds of thousands remain in desperate need of aid. It is a very real and heartbreaking humanitarian crisis. Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen hopes the film will encourage people to speak out against the war crimes and pressure the British government to make a stand.

“There’s almost a conspiracy of silence over war crimes in Gaza that’s totally unacceptable,” she said. “Speaking out is one way of trying to stop this horrible cycle of violence beginning all over again.”

Benjamin Button star Jason Flemying also appears in the video.

“This humanitarian crisis is not the result of a natural disaster,” he says in the film. “It is entirely manmade, as the result of extremely stringent Israeli blockades and international sanctions. Over 80% of the population of Gaza now relies on international aid. That compares with 10% a decade ago. The blockade guarantees bloodshed and violence.”

To view the film and learn more about the conflict and how you can help, visit the Amnesty International website.

Stars Heal Patients With A Kiss

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Written by Marie Gorrettie

Medicinema is a registered charity that has partnered with the Health Sector and the Film Industry, installing state-of-the-art cinemas on site in hospitals around the United Kingdom.

By creating purpose built cinemas in hospitals, Medicinema provides a much needed escape for the patients – it’s a welcome break from the hospital ward. Each cinema is specially designed to cater for beds and wheel chairs and nursing staff on duty throughout every Medicinema screening.

With nurses instead of usherettes, Medicinema harnesses the magic of the Silver Screen to help enrich the quality of life for patients. By screening the latest releases for patients young and old – including those in beds and on wheelchairs – patients and their families are able to escape the reality of hospital life.

As the lights dim and the film starts, with the big screen filled and Dolby Surround sound bursting into life, patients can be forgiven for thinking they are spending a night in the West End – apart from the occasional bleep of a patient’s monitor, you could be in a cinema!

Everyone needs a little escapism in their lives, especially if they’re in hospital. There is often not very much to look forward to so a visit to the cinema can give a much-needed boost to the spirits, providing the sort of family outing that is otherwise difficult in hospital. With the help and active support of the leading film distributors, Medicinema screens a wide variety of feature films from action and adventure to romantic comedies. Some films are even screened to Medicinema audiences before they go on general release.

As part of a new initiative, stars of the Silver Screen have donated kisses to celebrate ten years of Medicinema to help enhance therapeutic care for patients in hospitals around UK. To mark their 10th Anniversary, MediCinema is auctioning the HEALED WITH A KISS COLLECTION. The collection contains over 50 original signed lip prints from some of the biggest names in the Film Industry. The following are the stars who have donated Healed With A Kiss Lip Prints to help bring magic of the Silver Screen to hospital patients across UK: Madonna, Catherine Zeta Jones, Dame Helen Mirren, Sigourney Weaver, Ewan McGregor, Kate Winslet, John Hurt, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Helena Bonham Carter, Dame Judi Dench, Joan Collins, Glenn Close, Shirley MacLaine, Dame Diana Rigg, Kate Beckinsale, Thandie Newton, Nickolas Grace, Tim Roth, Jeremy Irons, Ben Stiller, Jeff Goldblum, Jim Broadbent, Honor Blackman, John Travolta, Claire Bloom, Martine McCutcheon, Greta Scacchi, Saffron Burrows, Geraldine Chaplin, Mariella Frostrup, Juliet Stevenson, Robbie Coltrane, Zoë Wanamaker, Cathy Tyson, Jason Isaacs, Anthony Andrews, Tommy Steele, Mark Addy, Kenneth Branagh, Alice Eve, and Dwayne Johnson.

The Auction party will be held in April 2009 and the complete Healed With A Kiss collection will be auctioned at the Medicinema Private Auction Party at The Movieunm, London’s biggest Film Memorabilia Museum.

The Healed With A Kiss Auction party will offer you the opportunity to own these highly collectable pieces of film memorabilia and the chance to rub shoulders with Movers and Shakers of the film industry. Hugh Edmeades, Christie’s International Auctioneer, will chair the auction in support of MediCinema. An exclusive drinks reception, live entertainment and a private tour will be followed by the auction of the healed with a kiss collection in support of MediCinema.

Here are some of the quotes from patients and their families whom MediCinema has touched:

“Really happy at the thought that I was not going to have to spend an evening on the ward, staring at a blank wall with no neighbours and chewing my lips to avoid being in pain”. Niamh.

“I completely forgot that I was in hospital, and that I had loads of needles in my arm, and when the film ended I thought “right, time to go home; and it was only when the lights came back on and I saw all the other beds and steelchairs that I remembered that I was in hospital”. Jesica, St Thomas patient.

If you would like to Bid for Original Signed Lip prints from the Stars of the Silver Screen and attend the Auction Party and bid in person please contact MediCinema: Tel:+44(0) 20 7188 3697 or email medicinema@gstt.nhs.uk.

If a celebrity lip print has caught your eye, you can make an advance bid before attending the Auction event in writing, on line or by telephone.

If you are unable to attend the Auction Party in person, you can secure an original signed lip print by placing “ABSENTEE” Bid, in writing, on line or by telephone. Please register your bid/s in the Healed with a Kiss Auction by contacting medicinema@gsst.nhs.uk or telephoning +44 (0) 20 7188 3697.

Once you have registered interest in placing an “Absentee” or advance bid, you will be contacted to confirm your bid and contact details.

For more information about the Auction Party please contact MediCinema on +44 (0) 20 7188 3697 or email medicinema@gstt.nhs.uk.

Win Jessica Alba's Handbag

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Throughout November, make-up giant Revlon will be donating a percentage of their profits to Rainbow Trust, a children’s charity which provides support to families dealing with terminal or life threatening illnesses. And to celebrate, they are running a competition to win Jessica Alba’s handbag.

As part of the month-long initiative, Revlon has also teamed up with In Style magazine to auction off bags signed by some of Hollywood’s favorite starlets – including Keira Knightley, Elle Macpherson, Claudia Schiffer and Thandie Newton, Sharon Osbourne, and Eva Green – at a champagne tea event at The Berkeley hotel ballroom on the 4 November.

“This is going to be a fun, über glam event which will raise lots of money for an incredibly good cause,“ said Trish Halpin, editor of In Style. “After all – what woman doesn’t want a fantastic handbag?”

“Revlon are proud to be working alongside In Style Magazine to hold the UK’s first-ever In Style Handbag Auction to raise money for the Rainbow Trust Charity,“ added Scott Peterson, commercial director UK & Ireland for Revlon. “This amazing event is perfectly suited to Revlon’s heritage of contemporary glamour and iconic beauty. We are also pleased to bring this event to life in-store through our partnership with Boots to raise even more money and grateful to our spokeswoman Jessica Alba for donating her designer bag for the Boots customers to win.”

More information about the competition and auction can be found at the In Style website.

Celebrities Clean Out Their Closets For Charity

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:09:39 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Is your closet looking a little empty? Or maybe a little boring? Have the moths eaten holes in your favorite frock? Well, never fear, help is here – in the form of a couple of celebrity auctions for great causes.

March will see the opening of Katherine Heigl’s new film 27 Dresses, and to mark the occasion, 20th Century Fox is auctioning 27 celebrity dresses on eBay. Fabulous frocks from Heidi Klum, Thandie Newton, Mariah Carey, Geri Halliwell, Naomi Campbell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Alesha Dixon will be up for sale in the special event, with all proceeds going to the Lavender Trust, an initiative of the UK charity Breast Cancer Care to raise money for young breast cancer sufferers.

The auction also features a stunning white John Galliano dress worn by Kylie Minogue to Cannes 2007, and a full length silver halter top belonging to her sister, Danni Minogue. The auction starts on eBay at 7pm on March 4, and a different dress will be auctioned every day.

If accessories are more your thing, then an exciting auction being held in Britain may be of interest. The Grace House North East Children’s Appeal Celebrity Bag Auction features a range of bags donated by some of England’s top stars, including members of Girls Aloud, as well as Dame Judi Dench, Twiggy, Sarah Ferguson, celebrity chef Ainsley Hariott, and newsreader Kirsty Young.

The event, to be held at the Apartment Bar in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on March 6, is sponsored by Makoosh, an online jewelry store, and will raise money to build the region’s first hospice for terminally ill children. The auction follows a similar event held last year, which raised $19,500, and featured items donated by Annie Lennox and Graham Norton.

“It is fabulous to see so many household names come out in force to support Grace House by donating their favourite handbags and manbags to be auctioned,” said Grace House Fundraising Assistant Sumera Bashir. “I would like to thank them all for making this event possible.”

More information about the auction can be found at www.gracehouse.co.uk.

Thompson And Newton Help Raise Funds For Breast Cancer Charity

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 15:56:06 -0000

Written by Steve Purcell

Film stars Emma Thompson and Thandie Newton were among the stars at the Lavender Trust Speakeasy event in London on Wednesday night.

The Lavender Trust is an initiative of the UK charity Breast Cancer Care which raises money for young breast cancer sufferers. Its lively 1920s-inspired Speakeasy event spurred Thompson, Newton and others to take to the stage and sing. Model Sophie Dahl performed two songs with jazz singer Jamie Cullum, while Sting was among other celebrity attendees.

The event raised £200,000, a quarter of which came from a fundraising auction.

Look To The Stars News: Thandie Newton

Thandie Newton To Teach Acting In South Africa

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Scarlett Johansson Signs Champagne For Oxfam

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Stars Speak Out About Gaza In New Video

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Stars Heal Patients With A Kiss

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Win Jessica Alba's Handbag

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Celebrities Clean Out Their Closets For Charity

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