Monday, May 12, 2008
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STARS IN TRIBUTE TO ANTHONY MINGHELLA

By Elaine Squire - Friday, April 11, 2008
AFTER a private funeral, Anthony Minghella’s family were joined by a host of film stars and politicians for a memorial requiem mass in London.
Among the invited guests at the four-hour service, at St Thomas More Church, in Hampstead, on Saturday, were Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who read the beatitude, his predecessor Tony Blair, with his wife, Cherie, and film stars, Renee Zellweger, Matt Damon and Juliette Binoche, who paid tribute to the Oscar-winning Island writer and director.
Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson, stars of Mr Minghella’s first hit film in 1990, performed poignant scenes from Truly, Madly, Deeply, and the Bishop of Botswana, the Rev Trevor Mwamba, who met Mr Minghella during the filming of The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, spoke movingly about Mr Minghella’s humility and sense of compassion.
Mr Minghella’s mother, Gloria, said: “The atmosphere of love and grief showed us exactly what our son meant to the world — people were genuinely overcome.
“We’ve had thousands of letters of sympathy, including one from the Prime Minister which described Anthony as someone who never forgot his roots.
“Anthony rang us virtually daily, in one breath telling us about dinner with Nicole Kidman and in the next asking after one of our friends on the Island.
“His work, which mostly featured themes of compassion, forgiveness and love, will go on and we hope he will be remembered for it.
“Although we’re still struggling to take it in, we realise we were very blessed that he was our son.”
Mr Minghella died at Charing Cross Hospital, West London, on March 18, following an operation on a growth on his neck.
Plans are under way for a memorial service on the Island.