Sophia Loren Archives - Chronicles 2008

"Time erases what is ephemerous, fame, success, divas' beauty, but it does not touch Sophia." – Natalia Aspesi

BikeAsia
Singapore
10/04/08

Carnival Photo Call / Depardieu
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Photo: Crístobal García
29/01/08

Turner Classic Movies Poster
05/08

MSC Fantasia Press Conference
Naples
18/12/08

A Life in Pictures
Original English version
05/08

Cipriani's
London
01/10/08

Damiani Store Opening
Tokyo
Photo: Shizuo Kambayashi
06/03/08

Shopping at Armani Junior shop
Milan
Photo: Sisto Catalano
17/03/08

Omaggio a Sofia Loren
Painting: Sabrina Albiati
05/08

Carnival Photo Call
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
29/01/08

Signing autographs
San Bernardino
Photo: Amanda Lucidon
17/05/08

Festa di Piedigrotta
Naples
13/09/2008

FILMS AND FILMING

Nine
Musical comedy currently being shot in London under the direction of Rob Marshall with co-stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Penélope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Fergie. Shooting has been delayed due to Writer's Guild strike in Hollywood.

FILM PROJECTS

L'onore e il rispetto - February
Sophia is offered a role in the sequel of the popular Italian miniseries L'onore e il rispetto which was broadcast on Canale 5 in 2006. Her paricipation is confirmed in Italian newspers on March 6.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

? ? ?

ENDORSEMENTS

Zyloware

Damiani

Nascar Foods

A. Ché
Los Angeles-based designer Amanda Ché launches her debut line with handbags and accessories called Sophia.

MSC Cruises
Poesia, Fantasia

PUBLIC APPEARANCES

Armani Privé Show - January 21
Sophia's first public appearance of the year is at the Armani Privé Spring-Summer 2008 Collection presented in Paris. She is once again flanked by other Armani's stalwart Claudia Cardinale. During her stay in the City of Lights Sophia stays at the George-V hotel, which is right across the street from where she lived during most of the 70's.
* * * Watch the video at the George-V Hotel * * *

Carnaval de Santa Cruz - January 29
Sophia and Gerard Depardieu attend a press conference at Hotel Mencey in Santa Cruz de Tenerife for the Santa Cruz Carnival. Both actors are part of the jury for the election of the Queen on the 30th on the grounds of Cesar Manrique Maritime Park. Sophia probably received around $140,000 for her participation at the Carnival.

Damiani Boutique in Tokyo - March 6
Sophia flies to Tokyo on March 5 - 32 years after her last visit - where she is greeted by Italian ambassador to Japan, Mario Bova, Umberto Vattani, president of the Italian Institute of External Commerce, as well as Giorgio and Silvia Damiani. Press conference at the Ritz Carlton followed by a visit to the new Damiani boutique, in Ginza shopping district, where her own line of jewels - launched in March 2006 - is showcased. On the 7th, Sophia is at the Kenninji for a jewelry exhibition featuring Damiani jewels.

MSC Poesia - April 5
Poesia cruise ship is officially launched by its godmother, Sophia Loren in Dover with nearly 2,000 guests, including Prince and Princess Michael of Kent with live performances by tenor Andrea Bocelli and other artists. Also on hand for the festivities is American arttist Brian Olsen, who paints a life-sized portrait of Sophia on stage in front of a live audience.

BikeAsia - April 10
Sophia is special guest to open Singapore's BikeAsia, the first international bicycle and motorcycle show of Southeast Asia. Looking resplenent in an all-white pantsuit Sophia poses for the cameras on a green Vespa Douglas 1956 scooter. The last time Sophia was associated with motorcyles was in 1977 when she did a publicity campaign for Honda.

Italian Festival - April 10
Clad in a V-neck red and black gown - the same one she wore at the MSC christening gala - Sophia dazzles guests at the Italian Festival gala hosted by the Italian Trade Commission at Singapore's Sheraton Towers.

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino - April 30
Sophia and her sister Maria attend the opening night of the famous Florence music festival featuring the opera Carmen conducted by her long-time friend Zubin Mehta.

Performance of the Masters - May 17
Sophia attends her son's performance as orchestra conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony at the California Theatre of Performing Arts in San Bernardino, CA. She is escorted by American designer Nolan Miller and they both attend the After Glow party following at the California Room following the concert.

Mille Bambini a Via Margutta - May 21
Sophia accepts to pose in a white T-shirt with the inscription Mille Bambini a Via Margutta, which is an event held in Rome with the aim of heightening public awareness of the problem of disabled children.

Festa di Piedigrotta - September 13
Sophia is godmother of the Festa di Piedigrotta in Naples. One of Sophia's first appearances as an extra featured the same song festival in the movie Il voto. Tribute to Pavarotti on September 7 with special guest star José Carreras.

MSC Fantasia - December 18
The long-awaited christening of MSC Fantasia cruise ship by Sophia takes place in Naples in glittering festivities. Featured artists who performed during the two and half hour show include Pino Daniele, Renzo Arbore and Aeros, a gymnastic troupe. The most moving moment of the evening occurs when Capt. Giuliano Bossi escorts Sophia across the stage while singer Lucio Dalla performs O Sole Mio. Fantasia is the largest ship ever built by an European at a cost of 550 million euros.

MAGAZINE COVERS

KRO Magazine, Now Playing, Vivir con júbilo

BOOK

Sophia Loren: A Life in Pictures
Release of new picture book compiled by Yann-Brice Dherbier.
First published in Great Britain, the book is translated into French, German and Italian with releases in many countries of the world.

TV SHOWS

Smap Smap - March 6
Appearance at a cooking show on Japanese TV network.

Volami in cuore - September 20
Guest appearance on Italian variety show, with Jacopo Menconi permorming "Tu che mi hai preso il cuor", RaiUno.
Watch the video

BOOKS

Sophia Loren: A Life in Pictures
Short segmented biography accompanied by over 160 photographs published in September 2008 in France and the UK then in several other countries, including America, in 2009.

EDITOR'S NOTES

Remembering Carlo - January 14
Dressed in black with sunglasses, Sophia, along with her sister Maria and a few close friends, gather at La Casa del Cinema in Rome for a very private commemoration of Sophia's late husband, Carlo Ponti.

Guess Publicity Campaign - January
Guess by Paul Marciano pays a tribute to Sophia in their spring collection publicity campaign with Swedish model Line Gost. Sophia's hairstylist in Los Angeles, Peter Savic, even did the hairdo for the pictures.

Tribute to Sophia - May 6
Exhibit called Omaggio a Sofia Loren with seven art works by Toscan artist Sabrina Albiati is presented at Caffè Pascucci in the town of Nola, Campania. Exhibit dates: May 6 through June 6.

TCM Honors Sophia Loren - June
Turner Classic Movies pays a tribune to Sophia by showing 23 of her movies in the same month.

DVD Boxset - June 10
Lionsgate Entertainment releases in North America a 3-DVD boxset containing the movies Carosello Napoletano, Attila, Madame Sans-Gêne and I Girasoli, plus a short documentary called Sophia Loren: La Diva Popolana, featuring interviews with her two sons, Carlo, Jr. and Edoardo. These DVD's were previously unavailable in their original language with English subtitles.

Cookbook by Maria Sciocolone - September
Sophia's sister, Maria, releases a cookbook, published by Mondatori, titled "La cucina delle mie certezze".

Carlo, Jr. Album Debut - December 2
PentaTone Classics releases debut album by Sophia's son, Carlo, with the internationally acclaimed Russian National Orchestra (RNO) featuring Mussorgsky's music.