Woody Allen, a high-profile honoris causa

UPF made Woody Allen doctor honoris causa at an academic ceremony held on 14 June in the auditorium of the Ciutadella campus. The investiture ceremony took place shrouded in great expectation, and members of the university community and guests mingled with a large following of the filmmaker who had come from all around to greet him. The ceremony was broadcast on a giant screen at the campus exhibition hall and could also be followed live on the Internet.

The presence of the New York filmmaker also aroused great media interest, with more than a hundred journalists flocking to the event. A video with excerpts from films by Woody Allen opened the event at which jazz music also played a major role provided by clarinettist Oriol Romaní and pianist and Ignasi Terraza. During the ceremony, Allen was at all times accompanied by his promoter, Domènec Font, dean of Audiovisual Communication.

After hearing the laudatio given by humanities lecturer Antonio Monegal, Allen, visibly pleased, gave thanks for his first honoris causa of his career: “So not only am I now a European filmmaker, but I am also a product of university”. “This is a dream come true. I am very, very honoured,” he added.

Photo: Woody Allen, wearing his honoris causa medal.