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Emily Simon
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Harvard Foundation Welcomes Andy Garcia
Cambridge, Mass. - October 12, 2007 - Acclaimed actor, producer, and director Andy Garcia will be the guest of Harvard University on Tues. Oct. 16 for a lecture and screening of his feature film "The Lost City." The Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations will honor Garcia for his work with at-risk youth and his contribution to cancer research.
"The students and faculty of Harvard are delighted to host the distinguished actor Andy Garcia and to give special recognition to his benevolent work on behalf of youth at-risk and persons with cancer," said Dr. S. Allen Counter, director of the Harvard Foundation. "He is the consummate actor, intellectual, and a compassionate advocate for democracy and the preservation of Cuban culture and history."
Garcia will introduce "The Lost City" at 4:15 p.m. in the Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, Mass. The film, which is Garcia's directorial debut, earned best director and best film awards at the 2006 Imagen Awards. Garcia stars alongside Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray, and the soundtrack features several legends from the Cuban music scene.
"We are delighted to welcome actor Andy Garcia to the University as guest of The Harvard Foundation," said David Pilbeam, Interim Dean of Harvard College and Henry Ford II Professor of Human Evolution. "His body of work as an actor and producer is commendable, and his charitable work for youth and the prevention of cancer is most admirable. He is a fine example for our students."
Garcia is presently filming Columbia Pictures / MGM sequel "The Pink Panther 2." He also stars in the independent crime drama "The Air I Breathe," which premiered the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and is to open in 2008.
Born in Havana, Cuba, Garcia fled to Florida with his family after Fidel Castro's takeover of Cuba. He began acting in regional theatre before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a film career. Garcia first gained attention in Hal Ashby's "8 Million Ways to Die" and later garnered Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for his performance in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather: Part III" (1990).
Garcia received an Emmy Award nomination and his second Golden Globe Award nomination for his portrayal of legendary Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval in HBO's 2000 biopic "For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story." As the executive producer of the telefilm, Garcia also earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Made for Television Movie.
An avid musician, Garcia has produced several Grammy-nominated albums. Volume II of his "Cachao-Master Sessions" (Crescent Moon/Sony) garnered a Grammy in 1995, and Garcia won both Grammy and Latin Grammy awards for his 2004 collaboration with Israel Lopez "Cachao" entitled "¡Ahora Sí!" (Univision).
Garcia's visit is sponsored by the Harvard Foundation, the Harvard Cuban American Undergraduates Student Association (CAUSA) and the Latin Men's Collective.
A Harvard University ID is required for admission to the film screening.
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