By Justin Wallner
Vice President of World Film Institute, Family Film Awards and Olympia Awards Games of Arts and Entertainment – 12 Olympias
Exclusive Personal Publicist of Dr. Antonio Gellini
“The world is but a canvas to our imagination.” – Henry David Thoreau
“I am not an Athenian, nor a Greek, but a citizen of the world.” – Socrates
“In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine”. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ancient Greece
Birthplace of the Olympiad
Nearly one millennia and a half ago, the Athenians made history in Greece and around the world when they held the very first Olympics in Athens, Greece. The purpose: to promote excellence through competition, awarding only the “Best of the Best” athletes in Greece. Physical excellence was the first emphasis in Greek culture, where it was customary for its citizens to first develop their bodies to peak performance in order to establish a strong foundation upon which to then build one’s mind throughacademic education in the arts and sciences.
The great city of Athens and the great country of Greecelive on to this day and her traditions are now being honored on a globally historic scale. The World has come together in awe and excitement, time and time again,in a spirit of Unity through the Olympic Games of Sports – in times of peace and in times of war.With the Olympic tradition firmly established in the minds and hearts of all nations, and the Olympic foundation of peakphysical performance in place, now is the time for the world to come together once again to further a more academic form of excellence; the world is uniting again forthe first “Olympics of the Arts” bringing about a deeper understanding and more advanced form of communication from one culture to another.
A New Torch of the Greek Olympiad is Being Lit
It is the Torch of the Olympia Awards Games of Arts and Entertainment – the 12 Olympias. Included in the 12 Olympias are the 9 Arts of Olympia (Dance, Music, Painting, Sculpture, Literature, Theater, Film, Fashion and Culinary Arts) and 3 separate Olympia events – the Olympia Humanitarian Awards honoring the great humanitarians of the world, the Miss Olympia pageant honoring women who possess both internal and external beautyand the Special Olympia Awards for artists with special needs.
The inaugural Olympia Awards event is scheduled to take place on October 9th, 2016 at the Los Angeles Convention Center and will be hosted by a different country every two years, awarding the “Best of the Best” artists from the host country and the many countries of the world.
Olympia Film Awards Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Academy Archive at the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences
Several of our Board Members and Staff attended another historic event the night of August 1st, 2016 at the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Academy Archive presenting The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez at Samuel Goldwyn Theater. A distinguished panel of speakers involved in the creation of the classic and historic film was interviewed prior to the viewing of the film. American Icon Dr. Antonio Gellini, our Founder & Chairman attended in support of his longtime friend of 35 years, the world-renowned actor Mr. Edward James Olmos along with the Director Mr. Bob Young and other actors and actresses. Dr. Gellini was joined by Olympia Awards Games of Arts and Entertainment Master Sculptor Mr. Ignacio Gomez and his lovely wife Mrs. Ignacio Gomez, as well as our Vice President Mr. Justin Wallner.
Special Thanks to the Publisher
“Special thanks to Mr. Mehdi Zokaei for all you’ve done over the years for my dear friend Dr. Antonio Gellini and for the Family Film Awards, World Film Institute andthe Olympia Awards Games of Arts and Entertainment – 12 Olympias.
The Family Film Awards brings all the families of the world together. Dr. Gellinistarted that 20 years agoand has revolutionized the entertainment industry as all the major motion picture studios and TV Networks are all required to create 3 family films per year, resulting in the production of over 1,000 family films.That didn’t happen beforeDr. Gellini came from a foreign land and showed America what to do to bring the world closer together. I’m honored to be President and CEO after Mr. Dick Clark, a wonderful gentleman, who started it with Dr. Gellini so many years ago.
I want to thank Dr. Gellini for creating the Olympia Awards to transform the world from being mind-driven to being heart-driven and to make it a safe, noble and free place for everyone – not just for children, but for everyone.
Thanks to Mr. Mehdi Zokaei, forprinting all of the articles to bring awareness to the world of everything we’re doing. It’s been so much appreciatedand it’s been a great help to us. We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
Mr. Allan Jay Friedman, President and CEO
World Film Institute / Family Film Awards / Olympia Awards
We at World Film Institute / Family Film Awards / Olympia Awards offer our deepest thanks to Mr. Mehdi Zokaei, President of our Advisory Board, for supporting our causes for so many years and publishing numerous related articles in the world famous Javanan Magazine, of which he is the Editor-In-Chief. Wishing you and your publication many more abundant years of continued success and prosperity!
Sneak Preview of the Academy’s Participation in the Getty-led initiative, Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA
Producer Moctesuma Esparza, cinematographer Reynaldo Villalobos, director Robert M. Young, producer/actor Edward James Olmos, and actors Bruce McGill, Tom Bower, Rosana DeSoto, and Pepe Serna attended in person for a pre-panel discussion.
Hosted by documentarian Lourdes Portillo
Challenging stereotypes that persist today, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez examines the nature of “foreignness” through the true story of Gregorio Cortez, a Mexican-American farmer accused in 1901 of murdering a Texas lawman. Edward James Olmos stars as the legendary Cortez who eludes a large-scale search for two weeks. A film that has never been released on DVD is now restored to the big screen for a new audience to rediscover.
The screening was presented as part of the Academy’s participation in Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a far-reaching and ambitious exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles, taking place from September 2017 through January 2018 at more than 60 cultural institutions across Southern California. Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of the Getty. The presenting sponsor was Bank of America.
Beginning in September 2017, From Latin America to Hollywood: Latino Film Culture in Los Angeles, 1967-2017 is a series of film screenings, conversations with filmmakers, and online content exploring the shared influences of Latino and Latin American filmmakers and the work they created or presented in Los Angeles during the past half-century. Support for this project is provided by the Getty Foundation.
Restoring The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez was filmed in a format called Super 16mm, which allowed the image to be adapted to widescreen 35mm for release. This in itself presented a technical challenge for a modern restoration. In addition, the original release prints had been created at DuArt Labs through a complex process of optical printing. The original Super 16mm camera negative was left in 36 individual rolls, totaling nearly 16 hours of material, and was not in order of the final edit.
Modern VideoFilm transferred all 36 reels of negative at HD quality, and additionally transferred a 35mm print, a 16mm television negative and the original 35mm magnetic audio tracks, all of which were used to build a map of the movie. The sections of original negative were scanned at 2K resolution and conformed to the final version. Color correction and digital restoration were performed, and the main and end credits had to be fully recreated.
The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez was restored in 2016 by the Academy Film Archive. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Directed by Robert M. Young. Produced by Moctesuma Esparza and Michael Hausman. Written by Victor Villasenor, based on the book With His Pistol in His Hand by Americo Paredes.
Cast: Edward James Olmos, Tom Bower, James Gammon, Brion James, Bruce McGill, Pepe Serna, Alan Vint, Barry Corbin, Timothy Scott, Rosana DeSoto, Michael McGuire, William Sanderson, Jack Kehoe, Victoria Plata, Mico Olmos, Lawrence DeYapp, Jr.