Tom Hanks, Anna Kendrick hail new LA film museum
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LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - American actors Tom Hanks and Anna Kendrick on Tuesday (Sept 21) hailed a new museum in Los Angeles dedicated to filmmaking, calling it a celebration of an art form that has made a global impact.
The museum was spearheaded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the organisation that hands out the Oscars, and opens to the public on Sept 30.
Hanks, a member of the board of trustees for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, said it was important that Los Angeles have a showcase for the movie business, as the home of Hollywood.
"We need to celebrate everything that this town has brought to the world, and everything the art form has brought to the world, in order to bring people together," Hanks, 65, said at a preview for the media.
"Movies continue to be the magical art that speaks to everybody everywhere," he added.
The museum sits on a 28,000-sqm campus and consists of two buildings connected by glass bridges.
<p>An aerial view shows the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, on September 21, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. - The museum, which is dedicated to the art and science of cinema, opens to the public on September 30, 2021. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)</p>
PHOTO: AFP
Two movie theatres are housed inside.
On display are movie memorabilia including a pair of red slippers from The Wizard of Oz (1939), the Rosebud sled from Citizen Kane (1941) and a R2-D2 model from Star Wars (1977 to 2019), along with costumes and video displays running film clips.
<p>The only surviving Rosebud sled from "Citizen Kane" is pictured during a media preview ahead of the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 21, 2021. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni</p>
PHOTO: X90045
The museum addresses controversies as well, including a historical lack of on-screen diversity and the #MeToo movement that exposed sexual harassment.
Plans for the museum were first announced in 2012 with a projected 2016 opening, but building was repeatedly delayed.
Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the museum is located in mid-town Los Angeles, offering sweeping views of the Hollywood Hills.
"It is shiny and new and enormous, and it's crammed with about 125 years' worth of ideas and dreams and life-changing cinematic experiences," said Kendrick, 36. "Everybody who works in the movies wants to see this place."
