HOLLYWOOD, CA, August 16, 2006 -- The 10th Annual Hollywood Film Festival, co-chaired by Paula Wagner and presented by STARZ, is proud to announce that this year's festival will honor the cast of "BOBBY" with the "Hollywood Ensemble Acting of the Year Award," Disney's "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST" with the "Hollywood Visual Effects of the Year Award," Disney/Pixar's "CARS" with the "Hollywood Animation of the Year Award," and 20th Century Fox's "X-MEN: THE LAST STAND" with the "Hollywood Make-Up of the Year Award."

The awards will be bestowed upon the honorees as part of the Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony on Monday evening, October 23, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The announcement was made today by Carlos de Abreu, Founder and Executive Director of the Hollywood Film Festival. "Every year we are very proud to honor excellence in the art of filmmaking in all its disciplines, and this year's honorees are outstanding examples of that excellence," said Mr. de Abreu.

"BOBBY," written and directed by Emilio Estevez, revisits the night Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down at the Ambassador Hotel in 1968. With an incredible ensemble cast portraying fictionalized characters from a cross section of America, the film follows 22 individuals who are all at the hotel for different purposes but share the common thread of anticipating Kennedy's arrival at the primary election night party, which would change their lives forever. This historic night is set against the backdrop of the cultural issues gripping the country at the time, including racism, sexual inequality and class differences.

The film, a release by the Weinstein Company that will open in theaters on November 22, features Harry Belafonte, Joy Bryant, Nick Cannon, Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburne, Brian Geraghty, Heather Graham, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, David Krumholtz, Ashton Kutcher, Shia LaBeouf, Lindsay Lohan, William H. Macy, Svetlana Metkina, Demi Moore, Freddy Rodriguez, Martin Sheen, Christian Slater, Sharon Stone, Jacob Vargas, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Elijah Wood.

"PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST" will be honored with the festival's "Hollywood Visual Effects of the Year Award." From Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films and directed by Gore Verbinski, this summer blockbuster enthralled audiences with its extraordinary and thrilling visual effects. Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is back in this sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and he owes an unpaid debt -- his soul -- to Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) and his army of sea-phantoms. In dangers of their own, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) are also caught up in Jack's fight to save himself from eternal damnation.

"CARS," an animated feature from Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios, will receive the festival's "Hollywood Animation of the Year Award." Directed by John Lasseter and Joe Ranft, "CARS" is the story of Lightning McQueen, a hot-shot animated stock-car voiced by actor Owen Wilson. En route to a big race, the cocky McQueen gets lost and lands in Radiator Springs. There he finds the true meaning of friendship and family with the help of Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), Sally Carrera (Bonnie Hunt) and other members of the community.

"X-MEN: THE LAST STAND," from 20th Century Fox and Donners' Company, will be awarded the "Hollywood Make-Up of the Year Award." Brett Ratner directed the film. In "X-MEN: THE LAST STAND" a "cure" for mutants threatens to alter the course of history. For the first time, mutants have a choice: retain their uniqueness, though it isolates them, or give up their powers and become human. The opposing viewpoints of mutant leaders Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), who preaches tolerance, and Magneto (Ian McKellen), who believes in the survival of the fittest, are put to the ultimate test -- triggering the war to end all wars.

Other industry professionals who will be honored for their achievements at the Gala Awards Ceremony are Oscar-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond who will receive the "Hollywood Cinematographer of the Year Award," Academy Award-winning editor Joel Cox who will be honored with the "Hollywood Editor of the Year Award," Academy Award-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla who will get the "Hollywood Composer of the Year Award," two-time Oscar-winning production designer John Myhre who will receive the "Hollywood Production Designer of the Year Award," costume designer Penny Rose who will be honored with the "Hollywood Costume Designer of the Year Award," and casting director Francine Maisler who will be honored with the "Hollywood Casting Director of the Year Award."

Prior years' Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony nominees, honorees and presenters have been a virtual "who's who" of Hollywood's A-list talent and executives, including Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, Annette Bening, Halle Berry, Orlando Bloom, Matthew Broderick, Sandra Bullock, Chris Columbus, Russell Crowe, Cameron Crowe, Billy Crystal, Benicio Del Toro, Danny DeVito, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr., Colin Farrell, Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, Jamie Foxx, Mel Gibson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Haggis, Tom Hanks, Goldie Hawn, Anthony Hopkins, Ron Howard, Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie, Diane Keaton, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney, Lucy Liu, George Lucas, Michael Mann, Rachel McAdams, Matthew McConaughey, Ewan McGregor, Sam Mendes, Mike Myers, Joaquin Phoenix, Sydney Pollack, Keanu Reeves, Susan Sarandon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Martin Scorsese, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Charlize Theron, John Travolta and Naomi Watts, among many others.

The 2006 Annual Hollywood Film Festival will take place from October 17 to 23. The festival's screenings take place at ArcLight Theatres in Hollywood. Its Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony will be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Monday, October 23.

Starz Entertainment Group LLC (SEG) is a premium movie service provider operating in the United States. SEG offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz® and Encore® brands with approximately 14 million and 26 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment Group airs more than 1,000 movies per month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced services including Starz HDTV, Starz On Demand and Vongo(SM). Starz Entertainment Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation, www.starz.com.

For more information please go to http://www.hollywoodfestival.com

Festival Contact:
Hollywood Film Festival®
Ph: 310.288.1882
awards@hollywoodawards.com