By: Skip Sheffield
The 17th annual Palm Beach International Film Festival debuted Thursday April 12 with “Robot & Frank” at the Muvico Parisian at CityPlace, West Palm Beach. That same evening, there was a rooftop opening night party at Two City Plaza, 701 S. Olive Ave. Guest of honor was June Lockhart, who will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement award at the annual Silver Screen Splash, to be held this year Sunday, April 15 with a brunch at the Lake Pavilion on the West Palm Beach waterfront.
Boca Raton will have a presence with regular PBIFF screenings beginning April 13 at Mizner Park Cultural Centre.
June Lockhart, whose latest film “Zombie Hamlet” is making its American debut at PBIFF, is happy to be back visiting in South Florida.
“I have had a rich full life,” commented Lockhart in a telephone interview. “I got a lifetime achievement award at the Arrowood Film Festival too. I love South Florida, and I am happy to be honored by Palm Beach International Film Festival. I always say acting is what I do, not what I am.”
June Lockhart, born in New York City in 1925, is a third generation performer. In fact there are five stars on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Two of them are for June, nominated for an Emmy for her television work with “Lassie” and “Lost in Space.” She won a Tony Award for Best Debut Performance and an Associated Press Woman of the Year in Drama Award.
In California Lockhart has been recently involved with the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic whose concerts she emcees.
“I believe in staying active and creative,” she says. “When someone suggested I do `Zombie Hamlet,’ I thought why not? I’ve done a little of everything, from Broadway to live TV to Westerns, an animal show and outer space.”
PBIFF runs through April 19 at several Palm Beach County locations. Individual tickets are $10 ($7 seniors). For more information call 561-362-0003 in Boca Raton or go to www.pbfilmfest.org.
Peter Max in South Florida Saturday, April 21
Colorful artist Peter Max makes his annual pilgrimage to South Florida with stops at Wentworth Galley, 819 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale from 12-3 p.m. Saturday, April 21 (954-468-0685) and Wentworth Town Center, Boca Raton 6-9 p.m. Saturday, April 21 (561-338-0804).
Every year Peter Max is up to something bigger. In the past year he was designated the official artist for the 100th anniversary of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. He painted a piano for Ringo Starr in 2005 which was auctioned off Feb. 12, 2012 at the Grammy Awards’ MusiCares event honoring Sir Paul McCartney. It was the highest-bid item in the 22-year history of the event.
He created a poster of Taylor Swift, which sold out on her website, and for the “piece de resistance,” he was commissioned by Norwegian Cruise Line to design the artwork for the line’s newest ship, the Norwegian Breakaway.
“It’s one of the biggest ships in the world,” Max boasts. “It costs $1 billion. The ship is being built in Holland and it will be coming to New York in around six months. They plan to berth it on the docks on the west side of Manhattan, near my studio.”
If that weren’t momentous enough for the artist, who turns 75 Oct. 19, he will be returning to Shanghai, China, where he spent his childhood until age 10, for the first time in more than 50 years.
“Three of my guys are already there, preparing for big shows in Shanghai and Nanking,” he reveals. “My nanny taught me how to draw in Shanghai when I was just 3. She helped me develop the movement of my hands with circles, squares and zigzags.”
Max has created more than 150 portraits of the most famous people in the world in his lengthy career. There is no admission charge to the Wentworth Galleries.