Earlier this evening, Ewan attended the rather rainy red carpet at Cannes for the premiere of Amour. The first batch of pictures have just been added to the gallery – enjoy!
The bountiful game: Ewan McGregor on the fragile existence of babies who owe their lives to Soccer Aid and Unicef in India
WRITING exclusively for Scotland on Sunday, Ewan McGregor recounts an emotional visit to a pioneering unit saving tiny lives in one of the poorest parts of India
IT WAS my first trip to India with Unicef. In fact, it was my first trip to India at all. I had come to the city of Patna in the western state of Bihar to make a short film for Soccer Aid, and I felt I had a good idea of what to expect. I knew people who had travelled in India and they had said, amongst other things, that it was completely frantic.
When I arrived in Patna it was exactly that. Unbelievable, a real assault on the senses. Driving to the hotel from the airport it was a mayhem of motorbikes and animals and cars and rickshaws.
I expected to be overwhelmed by the poverty and I was. It is difficult to comprehend, seeing people living and sleeping on the streets everywhere you look. As we were driving through the city I saw children everywhere, playing in places that children should not be playing. Places covered in rubbish and faeces. It made me realise how incredibly difficult these children’s lives are.
I was in Patna to see Unicef’s work helping to tackle the high rate of newborn mortality in India’s second-poorest state. Nearly half of the population live below the poverty line in Bihar, which means they survive on less than $1 a day. Because of this, when mums-to-be are carrying their babies they struggle to find enough food to keep themselves and their unborn baby healthy. Often, that means babies are born tiny, weak and struggling to survive.
Of the one in 20 babies who die before their first birthday, more than half do so in their first 28 days of life. Malnutrition in pregnant women is a major cause of this high rate of newborn mortality, as it causes babies to be born too early and dangerously small, which leaves them fighting for their lives.
HBO have passed on the new Ewan McGregor pilot The Corrections.
Variety reports that the cable network has chosen not to pick up the series, starring McGregor and based on a novel by Jonathan Franzen.
The bestselling novel tells the story of a troubled Midwestern family over a span of several decades, from the mid-20th century to Christmas in the new millennium.
Shot in February, the pilot was directed and adapted by Noah Baumbach, known for his work on the Ben Stiller movie Greenberg.
It featured a cast including Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rhys Ifans, Chris Cooper, Greta Gerwig and Dianne West.
McGregor recently starred opposite Emily Blunt in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.
He will next be seen in the drama The Impossible with Naomi Watts.
“Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission” Part 2 Screen Captures
546 screen captures of the second part of Ewan’s recent documentary for UNICEF, Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission have now been added to the gallery. Enjoy!
I have just uploaded 316 HD/Blu-Ray quality screen captures of Ewan as bad guy Kenneth from his 2011 action-thriller Haywire. Remember to pre-order your copies for delivery on May 21 (UK) and May 01 (US). Remember there are spoilers if you haven’t seen the film yet, and enjoy!
“Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission” Part 1 Screen Captures
I have just added 699 screen captures from part 1 of his UNICEF documentary Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission, which aired on BBC 2 last Sunday. Remember to catch part 2 this Sunday (April 29) at 9pm on BBC 2. Enjoy!
Shortly after declaring the lineup for its official selection, the Cannes film festival has announced the jury for its 2012 edition, whose job it will be to pick the winner of the Palme d’Or.
Joining Nanni Moretti, whose presidency of the jury was announced in January, will be four men and four women, with the usual mix of star glamour and serious-minded cinephilia.
Two of the jurors are British: actor Ewan McGregor and writer-director Andrea Arnold. The latter, particularly, owes much to Cannes’ influence, as her first two films, Red Road and Fish Tank, both won the third place jury prize (in 2006 and 2009) after competing for the Palme d’Or.
France has supplied veteran actor Emmanuelle Devos, probably best known internationally for the 2001 thriller Read My Lips, and eccentric designer Jean-Paul Gaultier.
Oscar-winning writer-director Alexander Payne is the sole US representative on the jury; his only film in competition to date has been About Schmidt in 2002.
The panel is rounded out by: German actor Diane Kruger, whose most high profile film is (arguably) Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds; Palestinian actor Hiam Abbass, whose Lemon Tree was an international hit in 2008; and Haiti-born director Raoul Peck, best known for the documentary Lumumba, about the Congolese president.
Perfect Sense (2011)
Haywire (2011)
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011)
The Impossible (2011)
Jack the Giant Killer (2013)
