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From PRNewswire

The international film industry will gather to honour the most significant films of the year at the Eighth Annual Cinema For Peace Awards and Charity Gala on Monday, February 9, 2009, at the Konzerthaus Berlin. Twenty years after the Peaceful Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall, this year’s Cinema For Peace Gala will focus on ecological awareness and the preservation of our environment; tolerance and peace in the time of war and natural disasters; and social commitment.

Awards will include The Cinema For Peace Award for Most Valuable Movie of the Year; The International Human Rights Film Award; and The International Green Film Award. For the first time, Cinema For Peace, along with Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief-Prosecuter of the International Criminial Court, will award the Cinema For Peace Award for Justice.

This year’s event chairs will include special honouree Leonardo DiCaprio, who will be presented with the International Green Film Award presented by BMW by Mikhail Gorbachev. The award is akin to a “Green Oscar,” offering a platform for environmental activists and dedicated artists to draw attention as well as strengthen and encourage the public conscience for environmental issues. The Award comes with a $250,000 donation for an environmental foundation or film project.

Leonardo DiCaprio has been at the forefront of the environmental movement for years, He is a board member of Global Green USA and the National Resources Defense Council. At the age of only 24, he set up The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which helps draw attention to environmental issues. DiCaprio supports various environmental causes, and has financed and produced short films on the subject of environmental protection, including “Global Warming” and “Water Planet,” as well as the environmental documentary film “11th Hour.”

In keeping with Cinema For Peace’s tradition of working with well-known stars and their projects, the award marks the beginning of a collaboration between DiCaprio and the Cinema For Peace Foundation.