For the fourth consecutive year Empire Entertainment returned to Alice Tully Hall to produce the Film Society of Lincoln Center's annual Chaplin Award Tribute Gala. This year's star-studded Gala, the 39th annual, honored French film icon Catherine Deneuve.

The Film Society's Chaplin Award Gala began in 1972 and honored Charles Chaplin – who returned to the US from exile to accept the commendation. Since then, the award has honored many of film's visionary talents, including Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Laurence Olivier, Federico Fellini, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Michael Douglas, Tom Hanks, and Sidney Poitier.

This year's gala evening began with VIP cocktails in the Hauser Patron's Lounge in Alice Tully Hall before the 1000+ guests entered the Starr Theater for the all-star tribute program. The program began with a video retrospective of the Chaplin Awards through the years followed by remarks from the event committee chair Ann Tenenbaum and program director Richard Pena.

The evening included a series of heartfelt tributes interspersed by film clips of Catherine Deneuve's work and past interviews. The presenters included Susan Sarandon, James Gray, Chiara Mastroianni, Francois Ozon, and Martin Scorsese.

The clips included highlights from "Umbrellas of Cherbourg", "Repulsion", "Belle de Jour", "Hustle", "Donkey Skin", "The Last Metro", "The Hunger", "Indochine", "8 Women", and "A Christmas Tale” among others.

One of the many highlights of the evening were remarks delivered by Deneuve's daughter Chiara Mastroianni in which she presented a slideshow of her mother's serious films with a comedic commentary.

As the final presenter of the evening, Martin Scorsese at last presented Catherine Deneuve with the Chaplin Award. Deneuve then gave her heartfelt remarks and thanks while all of the evening's presenters stood by her side.

The program was followed by a seated dinner at the David H. Koch theater's spectacular second-floor promenade overlooking the fountain in the Plaza of Lincoln Center.

Empire served as the tribute producer for this high-stature event and was responsible for aspects ranging from creative and production design, to coordinating with presenters and talent, working with Lincoln center to provide production design and supervision, working with the Film Society to develop the run of show, script, and stage managing the event.

Empire is a leading producer of high-profile award and tribute programs and is frequently engaged to present programs with international stature talent & celebrities.

To learn more about the Film Society of Lincoln Center and to become a donor, visit www.filmlinc.com.