Van Morrison honoured at pre-Oscars party

Morrison, who has his music in over 50 films including Breakfast on Pluto, What A Girl Wants, The Royal Tenenbaums, Bridget Jones’s Diary and The Departed (which won four Oscars on Sunday including Best Picture) was presented the award by the legendary actor Al Pacino.
He then gave a special performance in which he was joined on stage by his daughter Shana, rhythm and blues legend Solomon Burke, Chieftains front man Paddy Moloney, and Grammy nominated singer Maura O’Connell.
Also honoured at the Oscar-Wilde: Honoring Irish Writing in Film pre-Academy Awards party at the Wilshire Ebell in Los Angeles was William Monahan, who went on to win the award for the Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars for The Departed, and writer/director Terry George.
This year’s host committee included Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook, HBO Films President Colin Callender, Anjelica Huston, Fionnula Flanagan and past honorees Jim Sheridan, Neil Jordan and David Holmes, who is currently composing the original music for Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s 13.
The night was hosted by the US/Irish Alliance.