Kahlil Gibran: The Man Behind The Mystery

Translated into more than 40 languages and with estimated sales of 100 million, Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet is one of the most internationally renowned and adored books of all time. Despite first being published in 1923, this series of philosophical poems from one of Lebanon's most treasured sons is still prominent on many bestseller lists, and some estimates put international sales at a healthy 5,000 per week.

Next year, interest in the book is expected to spike when the Salma Hayek-produced and Doha Film Institute-funded animated adaptation of The Prophet is due to be released. But despite the book’s ongoing success establishing Gibran as the third best-selling poet of all time – behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu – little is known about the man behind the prose. Thankfully, this could change if the biopic set to go into production in 2014 ever hits movie screens.

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Press Release:

The Gibran National Committee announced its collaboration with Creative Projects Group on a number of productions relating to Lebanese-American author/artist Kahlil Gibran. These projects include a biographical feature film, telling the story of Gibran's life and work in several different cities and countries, a touring art exhibition and a definitive international art book of his collected works, which will be published in several languages.

View the full press release in  English |  French |  Arabic | Spanish

See also:

http://www.itsonthegrid.com/news/sold-film-rights-untitled-yazbekshalhoubkhalil-gibran-biopic-gets-picked-up-by-creative-projects-group/

http://www.facebook.com/KhalilGibranAuthor?filter=1

http://www.aaiusa.org/blog/entry/creative-projects-group-to-produce-kahlil-gibran-film/

http://www.iloubnan.info/en/detail/16/75942

http://www.ameinfo.com/kahlil-gibrans-life-story-portrayed-international-309815

http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/201206/little.syria.ny.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-fine/finding-the-american-kahl_b_2235649.html

http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/08/10/arab-civil-rights-group-leads-charge-commemorative-stamp-artist-kahlil-gibran

‘Equality and Justice in the work of Gibran Khalil Gibran’ constitutes the theme of Social Justice Day at ESCWA

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) is marking the 11th World Day of Social Justice. This year’s theme is: “Celebrating Equality and Justice in the work of Gibran Khalil Gibran.”

The event focuses on the principal concepts of social justice in the work of Gibran Khalil Gibran who tackled not only beauty, life and death, but also poverty, justice, peace, freedom and the need to safeguard the rights of all people. ESCWA aims to highlight the concepts of social justice by paying tribute to the work of one of the most accomplished writers and philosophers, with a special focus on how he perceived justice and equality.

Observance of World Day of Social Justice comes in line with the efforts of the international community in eradicating poverty, promoting full employment and decent work, and ensuring gender equality and access to social wellbeing and justice for all.

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Journeys in Film and Participant Media Release Educational Curriculum Guide for Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet

http://journeysinfilm.org/
http://journeysinfilm.org/films/the-prophet/

To download the Educational Curriculum Guide for Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, please go to http://journeysinfilm.org/download/the-prophet-curriculum-guide/ and enter your email address in the form provided. A new window or tab will open to confirm your subscription to our newsletter. Your download will begin immediately. Please look in your download folder. You will also receive an email with the direct link to your download. First-time subscribers will also receive an email with a link to complete their subscription.

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Pepperdine University's School of Communications and Business Center hosts Professor Jack Shaheen and "A is for Arab" Exhibit, and Screening/Panel Discussion of "Reel Bad Arabs" documentary feature film.

Pepperdine Graphic Media and the Center for Entertainment, Media and Culture will be hosting Media: Representation and Responsibility. The first-ever event of its kind on Pepperdine's campus, it will be a week filled with movie screenings and seminars led by industry leaders who care deeply about the role the media plays in our lives and its effect on society. Driven by the students of PGM, Media Week is hoping to ignite a conversation that will transform the ways in which we produce and consume media. Media: Representation and Responsibility events will run from March 23-27. The week will kick-off Monday, March 23rd with a screening of Jack Shaheen's documentary, "Reel Bad Arabs" and Creative Projects Group Chairman and Straus Institute Adjunct Professor and Entertainment Industry Advisor, William Nix, will moderate a panel entitled "Middle East Stereotyping and the Media." The Panelists will include: Jack Shaheen, Author/Professor; Lorraine Ali, Senior Writer, Los Angeles Times; Rob Shalhoub, Screenwriter / Producer/ Media Entrepreneur; Renee Tajima-Pena, Documentary Filmmaker, Professor; Director of UCLA's Center for EthnoCommunications and Ahmed Ahmed, Actor/Comedian/Producer/Director.

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2015 Kahlil Gibran “Spirit of Humanity” Awards Gala

Salma Hayek Pinault will receive the Award for Individual Achievement at the 2015 Kahlil Gibran "Spirit of Humanity" Awards Gala on April 29th in Washington, D.C. Along with Ms. Hayek-Pinault, the AAI will honor The Honorable Michael E. Barood with the Najeeb Halaby Award for Public Service, John Sexton with the Award for Individual Achievement and Lawrence Wright with the Anthony Shadid Award for Excellence in Journalism.

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GKIDS Acquires North American Rights for Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet 

Salma Hayek's Animated Passion Project Based on the 100 Million-Selling Masterpiece By Lebanese Poet Kahlil Gibran is Slated for Summer 2015 Theatrical Release

New York, NY – February 5, 2015 – GKIDS, a distributor of award-winning animation for both adult and family audiences, announced its acquisition of North American rights to KAHLIL GIBRAN'S THE PROPHET, the animated feature produced and spearheaded by Salma Hayek-Pinault, based on the classic, internationally acclaimed and best- selling book by celebrated Lebanese author, Kahlil Gibran. The film was an official selection at Cannes, made its North American premiere in Toronto, and is slated for a summer 2015 theatrical release by GKIDS.

Press Coverage

Participant Media

The Toronto International Film Festival. 

The Toronto International Film Festival (September 4-14, 2014) has announced over 40 titles — a mix of awards contenders, star-powered indies, and international art-house fare — screening in its Gala and Special Presentations program this September, including a Special Presentation of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, Canada/France/Lebanon/Qatar/USA World Premiere Roger Allers, Gaëtan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi, Joan C. Gratz, Mohammed Saeed Harib, Tomm Moore, Nina Paley, Bill Plympton, Joann Sfar and Michal Socha Inspired by the beloved classic, Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet is a richly-animated story and celebration of Gibran’s book, created by artists, animators and musicians from around the world. Starring Liam Neeson, Salma Hayek-Pinault, John Krasinski, Frank Langella, Alfred Molina, John Rhys-Davies and Quvenzhané Wallis.

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Special Presentations

CANNES: SALMA HAYEK PRESENTING ‘THE PROPHET’ AS WORK-IN-PROGRESS 

Dave McNary Film Reporter@Variety

Cannes Film Festival has set an Official Selection work-in-progress screening of the animated feature “Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet” on Saturday, May 17th. The screening will feature highlights from the film and be presented by producer Salma Hayek-Pinault and director Roger Allers (“The Lion King”).

The story portrays the unlikely friendship between a young mischievous girl and an imprisoned poet.The event will also include animation directors involved with the film: Tomm Moore (“The Secret of Kells”), Joan Gratz (“Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase”), Joann Sfar (“The Rabbi’s Cat”), Bill Plympton (“In Your Face”), and Paul and Gaetan Brizzi (“The Hunchback of Notre Dame”). Composer Gabriel Yared will also participate.

Wild Bunch International is handling international sales at Cannes, excluding North America, which will be sold by Participant Media.

The film includes the voices of Hayek-Pinault, Liam Neeson, John Krasinski, Frank Langella, Alfred Molina and Quvenzhane Wallis. Producers are Hayek-Pinault, Clark Peterson, Jose Tamez, William Nix and Ron Senkowski.

Participant Media is financing along with Doha Film Institute, FFA Private Bank, MyGroup Lebanon, Financiere Pinault, and Code Red Productions.

http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/theDailyArticle/60919.html

http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/100016282/year/2014.html

http://gibransprophetmovie.com/

Festival De Cannes Video

Gibran Kahlil Gibran Memorial Unveiled

A ceremony was held at the Lebanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. on October 9, 2014 for a newly installed memorial dedicated to the late poet Gibran Khalil Gibran. The memorial will join others around the country in celebrating Gibran, including Copley Square in Boston and in Washington on Massachusetts Avenue. In dedicating the new memorial, Lebanese Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Chedid stated "as we who enter this Embassy gaze on Gibran’s visage, let us dedicate ourselves to advancing this inspiring vision, which is a treasure not only for Lebanese and Americans, but for all humanity.">

National News Agency

Arab America

Love Made Visible

In Love Made Visible, Jean Gibran portrays her role as spouse of a gifted artist and their often stormy family life together in Boston’s diverse South End. In the process, she vividly recalls to life the prolific Boston Expressionist art scene to which the South End was home. Retracing the course of her fifty-year marriage to sculptor Kahlil Gibran, cousin of the noted poet Gibran Kahlil Gibran, she reflects on the trials and joys of defying conventions of the 1950s, embracing another culture, raising a child in the household of a driven artist, and enabling her husband’s passion for sculpture and craft.

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Tribute to Dr. Scott Field, Production Advisor (In Memoriam)

We note with great sadness, the loss of Dr. Scott Field, who passed in September 2014 as a result of a hiking accident in the French Alps. He was a steadfast advocate for the unity views of Kahlil Gibran and an active production advisor to the Gibran biographical feature film. He was an expert in international affairs and the Middle East. He worked and traveled widely in the region since the early 1990s. He has been a conference speaker and otherwise involved with the Skoll Foundation and the Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship. Dr. Field served as the Middle East Manager at the Skoll Global Threats Fund, where he led the development of philanthropic initiatives aimed at mitigating conflict in the region, particularly in Israel-Palestine and Syria. In this capacity he has also acted as an advisor to Participant Media on the films State 194 and The Square. At the time of his passing, he was serving as the Political Officer at the United Nations Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Syria.

Previously, Scott had been a lecturer and briefer in International Relations and Middle East politics for the U.S. Department of Defense at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, and a World Peace Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley (www.apsanet.org/content_28065.cfm). He maintained an affiliation as a Visiting Scholar at U.C. Berkeley’s Institute of International Studies and has written numerous articles on current issues in Middle East politics for Al Jazeera, The Daily Beast and Al Monitor. He was also a champion footballer, who left the sport to pursue his academic and political studies.

Scott had a longstanding personal connection with Kahlil Gibran’s hometown of Becharré, and the nearby Cedars of God, where he celebrated his ceremony of marriage, and which he first visited in 1995.

The Arab American Institute Foundation (AAIF) 2014 Kahlil Gibran "Spirit of Humanity Awards Gala" in Washington, D.C. on April 25th.

Naya Salah began the evening event with her beautiful rendition of America the Beautiful in Arabic. http://www.aaiusa.org/blog/entry/naya-salah/ Honored at the event were Ambassador George Mitchell, who received the Najeeb Halaby Award for Public Service, Martin Luther King, III, who was given a Special Service Award, and Participant Media, which received the Award for Corporate Citizenship. Participant's CEO, Jim Berk, accepted the award on behalf of the company. Established in 2004 by eBay founder and philanthropist Jeff Skoll, Participant Media is responsible for more than 50 films, of which 36 received Academy Award nominations and 7 earned Academy Awards, including "Good Night and Good Luck," " North Country," "Syriana," "An Inconvenient Truth," "Lincoln," "State 194," and "The Square." Participant has pioneered the ground-breaking marriage of entertainment media and social activism, using film as the cornerstone of campaigns to facilitate social change. One campaign, in conjunction with the release of "Food, Inc.," prompted nearly 250,000 people to petition Congress to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act of 2010. This year, Participant Media and Ms. Salma Hayek will debut an animated film based on Kahlil Gibran's world-renowned book "The Prophet." William Nix, an Executive Producer of the film, attended the AAI event and, along with Dr. Scott Field, Middle East Manager for the Skoll Global Threats Fund, and author, Dr. Jack Shaheen, worked with Participant on the sizzle reel of Participant films, which included film clips from "Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet," in their first public exhibition at the event.

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Kahlil Gibran is quoted at Nelson Mandela’s Funeral:

In his sermon at Nelson Mandela's funeral, Bishop Ziphozihle Siwa quoted Kahlil Gibran, saying as follows:

“Yet I cannot tarry longer. The sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark.For to stay, though the hours burn in the night, is to freeze and crystallize and be bound in a mould. Fain would I take with me all that is here. But how shall I? A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that gave it wings. Alone it must seek the ether. And alone and without his nest shall the eagle fly across the sun.”

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Producer William Nix is a featured speaker at the 2013 ADC National Convention in Washington, D.C.

His presentation will provide attendees with both a cultural and a historical perspective on Kahlil Gibran. It will also cover forthcoming film, art exhibition, art book and graphic novel publications, including transmedia/educational initiatives, involving Gibran's life story, his artistic works and his message to the world. These productions and exhibitions will be displayed and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. See: http://thegibranprojects.com/

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2013 Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards Gala

On April 16, the Arab American Institute Foundation hosted members of Congress and the Administration, the Arab diplomatic corps, business leaders, media luminaries, academics and activists at its 15th annual Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards.

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Boston ties 'Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet' screenwriters to revered poet

As a movie about Lebanese poet and artist Kahlil Gibran gets under way, the Bay State has a starring role.

Gibran's "The Prophet" has been on college students' dorm bookshelves for generations, helping to make the 1923 collection of poetic essays a classic. Canton-raised siblings Rob Shalhoub and Grace Shalhoub Yazbek wrote the screenplay for "Gibran," a feature-length biopic scheduled to begin filming in 2014. 

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The World Lebanese Cultural Union issued a statement on Monday whereby it announced that "upon the initiative of the WLCU, Los Angeles City Council unanimously agreed to pay tribute to the philosopher and American-Lebanese writer Gibran Khalil Gibran, by building and installing a statue for him at the municipality's garden." The decree signed by the 2 members of the council Eric Garcetti and Dennis Zein of Lebanese descent stated that this statue will be provided by WLCU. Read More

 Inside the Middle East

A new play in Abu Dhabi explores the heroic, and sometimes dark, history of Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2013/01/02/inside-middle-east-khalil-gibran-abu-dhabi-play.cnn

Kahlil Gibran: The Reluctant Visionary

Kahlil Gibran: The Reluctant Visionary, a documentary exploration of the man and the poet. gibranfilm.com