Spielberg & Scorsese mark Kurosawa's 99th birthday with special messages

Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese will toast what would have been late moviemaker Akira Kurosawa's 99th birthday at a gala in his honour on Monday (23Mar09).

The two directors have recorded emotional video messages which will be shown at the Cherry Blossom Gala in Los Angeles.

The event will serve as the official launch of the Akira Kurosawa Film School at California's Anaheim University and various members of Kurosawa's family are expected to be at the tribute.

The revered Japanese filmmaker's movies, like Red and Seven Samurai, inspired moviemakers like Spielberg, Scorsese and George Lucas - and films like Star Wars, The Magnificent Seven and A Fistful Of Dollars.

The director died in 1998.

Titles related to this article

Related/similar articles

• 30 Greatest Action Films (2 July 2007)
• Elizabeth, The Golden Age: Shekhar Kapur Interview (3 March 2008)
• Che: Part One (29 December 2008)
• Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (28 July 2009)
• Faison's Star Wars obsession (28 November 2009)
• Best of the Decade (1 December 2009)