Hear The Word -Awareness Initiative

Tilda Swinton is the latest famous face to give her support to Hear the World, the global initiative launched by hearing aid manufacturer Phonak to raise awareness about the importance of hearing and the consequences of hearing loss. Each supporter has been photographed by musician and photographer Bryan Adams holding the Hear the World pose – with one hand cupped behind their ear to convey conscious hearing. For more information about Hear the World, the celebrity ambassadors and advice about protecting your hearing visit www.hear-the-world.com.

Hundreds joined Tilda in Edinburgh for flash mob dance

Tilda and film writer Mark Cousins lead the flash mob in the Laurel and Hardy dance at Festival Square, Edinburgh. Tilda is a patron of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, launched her new charity, the 8 Foundation, with what can only be described as a flourish. Gathering several hundred willing participants under the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, she led them in a soft-shoe shuffle known as At The Ball, by the Avalon Boys, originally performed by Laurel and Hardy, in an effort to create a “flash mob dance”, where a group suddenly and spontaneously start dancing in a public place. The instructions, disseminated online, were simple: watch the Laurel and Hardy clip, turn up at 11am and give it a whirl. The reason, declared Swinton, was “in pure unabashed celebration of doing something as a group and looking like dafties”. It’s certainly not the sort of thing you see in Lothian Road every day, as the confused people in the bus queue, not to mention the befuddled passers-by, would testify.
Afterwards, Swinton declared herself delighted by the whole event. “It was astounding,” she said, still catching her breath. “So much better than I could even have imagined. It’s so liberating to do something that feels like it could be completely impossible.” Using language only movie stars can get away with, she described the event as “the flower on the seed” of the 8 Foundation, and the flash mob event as “reliably random”. (Source: Scotsman News)

Latest additions to the gallery

Links worth checking out

• Trailer: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• Video: Tilda Swinton On Rumors Of Her Love Life (CBS News)
• Video: Tilda Swinton: I’m Not An Actor (CBS News)
• Video: Humble Oscar Winner (CBS News)
• Video: Tilda Swinton on “I Am Love” (CBS News)