Prince protégée in Ghent
This prize was awarded in honour of the 20th anniversary of the legendary film Purple Rain.
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Take a deeply human story about survival and triumph, a modern soundtrack by the best bands of that time and the impressive presence plus the musical talent of the super rock star Prince - music personified - and according to the music magazine Rolling Stone you get 'the smartest, most spiritually ambitious rock-'n'-roll movie ever made'.
Purple Rain, winner of 2 Oscars and Grammy Awards for its throbbing songs, is the dazzling film debut of Prince playing the role of The Kid, an unworldly and talented musician working in a club in Minneapolis. The Kid tries to bring his turbulent private life in harmony with his own seething anger and uses his music to vent his passion for sexy Apollonia Kotero. This year it is exactly twenty years ago that Prince took the world by storm and that is why Purple Rain simply had to be included in the Festival's programme!
Before drummer-percussionist-singer Sheila Escovedo went solo, she had already played with her father Pete Escovedo, Tito Puente, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Marvin Gaye and Lionel Ritchie. Prince persuaded her to go solo, gave her the name Sheila E. and managed to get a recording deal for her with Warner Bros. Six albums later, Sheila E. is still travelling all over the world together with Ringo Starr and Prince.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the release of Purple Rain, Warner Home Video will be releasing a double DVD with several documentaries and all the film music videos of Prince & The Revolution, The Time and Apollonia 6.