Matt picks up a French Gong

 Good news for New York based director and former Sydney actor Matthew Newton. Matt has won a prize at the prestige Champs-Élysées Film Festival. The festival was created in 2012 by film distributor & producer Sophie Dulac and is held each June in Paris in 5 cinemas along the Champs-Élysées Avenue. The Festival brings together the best from French and American Cinema. The French take their arts very seriously and this win now brings Newtown to the attention of some of the world's most powerful European film industry identities. His film From Nowhere won the popular public inspired Prix de Public award.

Matthew Newton answer his critics :"I have been in excellent health for the last three years"

Following our report last week that actor Matthew Newton had slammed the tabloid magazine Woman's Day over recent health claims, the actor has now given an exclusive interview to the Australian MailOnline and scotched rumours about his health and expressed how happy he is that sister Lauren is expecting her fourth child. The Newtons are a close knit show biz family and although the talented Matthew has been through some rocky times due to illness, it's pleasing news that his career appears to be thriving in the USA. You can read the Mail's report here.
# One of the oddest aspects of this mini controversy was a columnist on an Australian newspaper who had hoped that Newton would  "provide evidence to back up  his claims the Woman's Day article was "full of lies"". Call Whispers old fashioned (we are) but the usual expectation is that if a claim is made about a person, the claimant is the one expected to "provide evidence" etc. Still, we live in interesting times where many aspects of life have become topsy turvy.

Stalking A High Profile Lawyer

"Media Stalking"

One of Sydney’s best known criminal lawyers, Christopher Murphy says he has a stalker and has appealed for help in tracking down the man’s identity.

Murphy has posted two videos on YouTube of a man silently standing on the street corner very near Murphy’s home, holding what looks to be a professional TV camera but with no identifying markers.

It’s fairly clear watching the videos that the lawyer appears to be in some distress as he urges the man to leave him and his family alone He says his wife and young children are too frightened to leave home.

Chris Murphy

While TV and media crews can be alarming at the best of times, it’s the silence of the cameraman that makes his presence decidedly creepy. Standing silently and continually focus his camera upon Murphy does send a certain chill down the bones.

Chris Murphy has previously written columns for newspapers and handled cases for some pretty high profile celebrities including the hapless actor Matt Newton currently on a charge of allegedly striking taxi driver.

A prolific twitterer with over 2000 followers (he was introduced to twitter by Russell Crowe) Murphy has been correcting the more sensational reporting on Newton’s movements including the claim he was at a children’s party the night before the alleged taxi incident happened.

Newton, a talented and gifted actor has some serious problems with a psychiatric illness and despite the PM Julia Gillard recently appointing Mark Butler to the ministry portfolio of Mental Health and bringing him into Cabinet and state premier Barry O'Farrell appointing a mental health minister after revealing his own family problems, some journalists still don’t get it.

One tabloid writer outrageously suggested Newton should be ‘bashed' by members of the public after an incident with actress Rachael Taylor. More recently the Daily Terror has been musing on whether the actor has a future in the industry. Surely not a discussion that's very helpful for a person who is still recovering from health problems.

Below is one of Murphy’s posts on YouTube. Maybe a reader can illuminate us on why this stranger is lurking about street corners!

Playwright David Williamson Honoured at US film Festival

With less than three weeks to go to the Academy Awards, tributes continue to flow in for Australian film identities.

Jackie & Hailee at Santa Barbara AP

On Sunday at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival David Williamson (right) was part of the team that received the prestige Panavison Spirit Award for Independent Cinema for the film he wrote, Face to Face directed by Michael Rymer-the first time in the festival's history a non-mainstream Hollywood film has received the award .  

Face to Face stars Vince Colisimo, Matthew Newton , Sigrid Thornton and Luke Ford.

And at the same festival Jackie Weaver received a Virtuoso Tribute Award for her performance in Animal Kingdom.

Phil Noyce & Jackie Weaver AP

Also honoured with a Virtuoso Award was newcomer Hailee Steinfeld for her role in True Grit. Both Jackie and Hailee will be competing for the Best Supporting Actress award at the Oscars.

On Monday Jackie was the guest of honour at a lunch at a Santa Monica restaurant with a host of Hollywood types-director Phil Noyce and actors John Lithgow and Billy Baldwin with director Quentin Tarantino paying a flying visit.