The Film Academy awards the International Goya to Richard Gere

The American actor and producer Richard Gere will receive the International Goya of the Film Academy next February 8 in Granada "for his extraordinary contribution to the art of cinema, starring in some of the most iconic films in the history of cinema, and the social commitment manifested personally and professionally"

Days of Heaven, An Officer and a Gentleman, American Gigolo, The Cotton Club, Pretty Woman, and the musical Chicago, for which he won the Golden Globe, are just some of the many titles inextricably linked to Richard Gere, in the memory and emotions of viewers around the world in recent decades.

World famous, the committed American actor and producer will be honored with the fourth International Goya in history. Created for recognize personalities who contribute to cinema as an art that unites cultures and spectators from all over the planet, has been awarded “for his extraordinary contribution to cinematographic art, starring in some of the most iconic films in the history of cinema, and social commitment, manifested personally and professionally, developed over decades.”

With an undoubted physical attractiveness that he has displayed in his numerous appearances on the big screen, Gere has been acting for five decades and will collect the International Goya in the year that marks the 50th anniversary of his debut on the big screen.

Terrence Malick (photographed by the legendary Spanish cinematographer Néstor Almendros), Francis Ford Coppola, John Schlesinger, Robert Altman, Paul Schrader, Richard Brooks, Lasse Hallström, Mike Figgis, Todd Haynes, Rob Marshall, Mira Nair and Jerry Zucker are some of the directors who make up the filmography of the also star of Days of heaven, Honorary Consul, Trapped with no way out, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Always by your side (Hachiko), Dirty matters, Mr. Jones, The first knight, Jackal, The great scam, I'm not there, The Wells case, Amelia y the masters of brooklyn. Gere was born in Philadelphia 75 years ago and grew up in a small town in Upstate New York.

Julia Roberts (with whom he filmed the now classic Pretty Woman y Runaway Bride), Kim Basinger (dirty affairs y Final analysis), Jodie Foster (Summer town), Winona Ryder (Autumn in New York), Susan Sarandon (Shall we dance? y The fraud), Diane Keaton (Looking for Mr. Goodba), Diane Lane (The Cotton Club, Infiel y stormy nights) y Uma Thurman (Final analysis and the recently released Oh, Canada) have been some of Gere's co-stars, who in 2007 received the Donostia Award at the San Sebastián Festival.

More than 30 years ago he founded the Gere Foundation to channel his intense activism in favor of the autonomy of Tibet and the preservation of Tibetan culture championed by the Dalai Lama (Gere has practiced Buddhism since he was twenty); as well as its support for the rights of indigenous peoples, refugees and the homeless. His deep commitment to these causes crosses borders and has led him to collaborate, among others, with the NGOs Survival International, Open Arms and Hogar Sí. The actor is also a strong defender of environmental protection and through his foundation he supports an ambitious natural conservation project, Sierra a Mar, in Mexico.

Richard Gere, who has found his place in Spain, has lived in our country since last autumn. He started out as a musician (he plays several instruments) before dedicating himself to acting. After Cate Blanchett, Juliette Binoche and Sigourney Weaver, the Film Academy honors one of the most charismatic and committed actors in the film industry.