On Sunday, as actors, presenters and guests arrive at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for the 71st Golden Globe Awards, their first stop on the red carpet will be in front of some 56 stills photographers, representing wire services, photo agencies and magazines from all over the world.
There are a limited number of spaces, competition is keen, and most of the photographers are veteran entertainment shooters. But in their middle there will be one very different photographer: Eight years old Anthony Molina, with his trusty Nikon. And he represents a very different organization: The Pablove Foundation, a non-profit that helps children with cancer who are working hard to lead as normal a life as possible.
One means of doing that is through teaching photography. (The HFPA, which has given more than $19 million so far to support art oriented charitable organizations, does not limit its giving to motion pictures preservation and education. It also supports other arts: Music, theater, and through the Pablove Foundation, still photography.)
Anthony Molina, a vivacious and smart kid who lives with his parents and younger sister in the San Fernando Valley, north of Hollywood, was diagnosed with leukemia, a blood cancer, when he was four. While working on his treatment, Rosa Maria Zavalos, his mother, learned about the Pablove photography program, and enrolled Anthony.
The Pablove program pairs children with cancer, the Pablove Shutterbugs, with volunteer instructors, who teach them one on one, in a mentorship program, at home or in the hospital if needed, and also at a week long photo workshop held in the summer.
“Visiting a child with a serious illness in a hospital was at first terrifying” said one volunteer .. “Their energy level is unpredictable. They might shoot three photos or 80. They may be sensitive to light and can only shoot indoors or in the dark. But they don’t give up. And that courage has rubbed off on me.”
The HFPA also invites a Shutterbug to photograph at events. This time, it will be Anthony who is now in remission and has been photographing through the Pablove program for two years now. He did not have a chance to meet or photograph any celebrity yet, he said. His favorite movie is Polar Express, so the first actor’s name that comes to his mind, at the top of his wish list, is its star, Tom Hanks. When told that his favorite actor was nominated for a Golden Globe this year (Best Actor in a Motion Picture -Drama, for Captain Phillips) and will passing in front of him on the red carpet, Anthony’s eyes lit up with delight.
So please, Mr. Hanks, when you walk the red carpet under the still photographers’ flashes, try and look out for Anthony. It is easy: An eight year old standing among the still photographers along the red carpet, he is half the size of his colleagues. Then do take a moment to pose for him. He is your fan and also an accomplished photographer.
Yoram Kahana