British Academy of Film and Television Arts/Los Angeles (BAFTA/LA) Honoring Don Cheadle, Tilda Swinton and Stephen Frears at the 17th Annual 2008 BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards
Los Angeles, CA, October 3, 2008

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts/Los Angeles (BAFTA/LA) once again will recognize outstanding film and television talent at its 17th Annual BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards on Thursday, November 6, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel. The 2008 honorees include actor and producer Don Cheadle with the BAFTA/LA Humanitarian Award Presented by Volvo; BAFTA and Academy Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton with the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year; and BAFTA award-winning television and film director Stephen Frears with the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing. Sean Penn was previously announced as the honoree for this year's Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film.

"This year's honorees have established themselves as innovators in their field, bringing a unique perspective and artistic strength to their work. They have inspired us with their performances and filmmaking prowess on the screen, as well as on the world stage." says BAFTA/LA Chairman Peter Morris.

Don Cheadle's humanitarian efforts include co-founding Not on Our Watch, a non-profit organization dedicated to focusing global attention and resources towards putting an end to mass atrocities around the world. In 2007, he co-authored Not on Our Watch with human rights activist John Prendergast, to raise further awareness about the genocide in Darfur, as well as producing and starring in the documentary Darfur Now.

Cheadle's film credits include this year's Traitor, and he will next be seen in the 2009 Dreamworks comedy Hotel for Dogs starring opposite Emma Roberts, and director Antoine Fuqua's Brooklyn's Finest opposite Richard Gere and Ethan Hawke. Cheadle got his start in acting via a recurring role on the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and a two-year stint on Picket Fences. He has starred in several notable tele-films, including A Lesson Before Dying, for which he earned an Emmy Award nomination, and The Rat Pack, which garnered him a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for his portrayal as Sammy Davis, Jr.

In 1995, Cheadle was named Best Supporting Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for his breakout performance opposite Denzel Washington in Devil in a Blue Dress. The latter also earned him his first NAACP Image Award nomination, and subsequent nods included his roles in Rosewood and Bulworth. 2002 marked Emmy and Independent Spirit Award nominations for Best Support Actor in Things Behind the Sun. In 2005, Cheadle was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Critics' Choice, NAACP Image, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations as Best Actor for his portrayal of real-life Rwandan hero Paul Rusesabagina in Terry George's acclaimed Hotel Rwanda. He next starred in and produced Paul Haggis' independent feature Crash, which won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, among a host of honors.

He has collaborated multiple times with directors Steven Soderbergh for Traffic, Out of Sight and the trio of Ocean's movies, and Brett Ratner for After the Sunset, Rush Hour 2, and The Family Man. Cheadle is also a writer, singer and musician, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Spoken Word Album, for his narration/dramatization of the Walter Mosley novel Fear Itself.

Tilda Swinton won a BAFTA Award and an Academy Award for her performance in Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton, alongside George Clooney. She also received Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe Award nominations for her portrayal. Ms. Swinton had earlier been a Golden Globe Award nominee for David Siegel and Scott McGehee's The Deep End, which also brought her an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

A native of Scotland, Swinton started making films with the English director Derek Jarman in 1985, with Caravaggio. They made several more films together, including The Last of England, The Garden, War Requiem, Edward II (for which she was named Best Actress at the 1991 Venice International Film Festival), and Wittgenstein, before Mr. Jarman's death in 1994. She gained wider international recognition in 1992 with her portrayal of Orlando, based on the novel by Virginia Woolf under the direction of Sally Potter. Since then, her films have included Conceiving Ada, Teknolust (in four roles), Female Perversions, Love is the Devil, Possible Worlds, The Beach, Vanilla Sky, Academy Award-winning Adaptation, Young Adam, Thumbsucker; Constantine, The Man from London, and The Chronicles of Narnia tales.

Tilda was just seen in the hit film Burn After Reading, directed by the Coen Brothers. She will next be seen in David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Erick Zonca's Julia, which received its world-premiere at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival. It will be released in the UK in December 2008 and in the US in the spring. She recently completed a role in Jim Jarmusch's new film The Limits of Control, after she appeared in the writer/director's Broken Flowers. And most recently she has shot Luca Guadagnino's Io Son L'Amore (I Am Love), a love story shot entirely in Italian and Russian. This summer, Tilda launched the Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams film festival in her hometown of Nairn, Scotland, which she hopes to bring to Beijing, China, next year.

Stephen Frears made his directorial debut with Gumshoe (1971), a tribute to the hardboiled detective drama. He then helmed a few made-for-television films, and several commercials, including one for Diet Coke starring George Michael. His breakthrough came in 1985 when he completed his work on My Beautiful Laundrette, about a relationship between a young Pakistani and a London street punk. The film explored issues encompassing homosexuality, racism, and inter-generational tensions and earned great acclaim, including a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award nomination. Frears next project was Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987), followed by some of the most successful films of his career - Prick up Your Ears (1987); Dangerous Liaisons, which garnered him a Best Director BAFTA nomination and an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; and The Grifters (1990), which gained Frears more international acclaim.

Frears' subsequent films have been of wildly mixed genres, including Hero (1992) and Mary Reilly (1996), as well as television movies The Snapper (1993) and The Van (1996). The year 2000 marked Frears' return to more familiar territory. Collaborating again with John Cusack, Frears completed High Fidelity, which was adapted from Nick Hornby's popular novel of the same name. Dirty Pretty Things (2002) earned him praise from critics,as well as a British Independent Film Award for Best Director and an Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Film. His TV film, The Deal (2003), earned a BAFTA TV Award for Best Single Drama. He had a huge success on his hands with The Queen (2006), starring Helen Mirren in the title role of Queen Elizabeth II. He received Best Director nominations from both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards.

BAFTA/LA's outreach programs benefit members and other professionals working within the entertainment industry, as well as the Los Angeles community at large. BAFTA/LA provides exclusive access to screenings, Q&A's with talent and filmmakers, conversations with leading UK-based film and television executives, and the Heritage Archive, featuring broadcast-quality interviews with distinguished British members of the film and television industries. Educational outreach for students and the Los Angeles community includes an after-school screening program for inner-city youth at the Helen Keller Park Recreation Center, and a recent partnership with FilmAid to mentor young filmmakers. Additional programs include seminars in association with local universities and festivals, scholarships for post-graduate programs, and recognizing professional and student talent with awards at film festivals throughout the U.S.

Maintaining a long tradition of recognizing the finest filmmaking and television talent, BAFTA/LA hosts a series of social networking events, including the Annual BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards, the BAFTA Film Awards Brunch, the Annual Garden Party, the BAFTA/LA Comedy Awards, and the Awards Season Film and Television Tea Parties in January and September. BAFTA/LA is affiliated with BAFTA in London, and members vote annually for the prestigious BAFTA Film Awards. BAFTA/LA also presents its annual Britannia Awards every November, where it has honored such luminaries as Denzel Washington, Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Caine, and Martin Scorsese with the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film. For more information on BAFTA/LA, visit www.baftala.org

The BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards 2008 is Presented by Bombardier Business Aircraft.

Britannia Awards Sponsors
American Airlines, British Airways, DIAGEO, VOLVO, Waterford Wedgwood, Mikimoto, Mandarin Oriental, Tiffany, Hartmann, Armand de Brignac.

Entertainment Market Place, LLC are the exclusive marketing and sponsorship consultants for BAFTA/LA, and brokered all the sponsorship agreements. For more information on BAFTA/LA partnerships please contact 1 310 463 1936.