The Board of Governors of Pompeu Fabra University today approved the proposal of the rector, Josep Joan Moreso , to bestow the UPF honorary doctoral degree on Woody Allen for "having contributed an original and personal view of the world, which has benefited us all, and in recognition of his film-making as a whole which represents a bridge between two cultures and two cinematographic traditions: the American and the European".

The agreement of the Board of Governors to confer the honoris causa degree on the well-known American film director also points out that Allen "is a leading figure not only where cinema is concerned but also in contemporary culture in general".

Since it was established in 1990, the UPF has only awarded two honoris causa doctorates: one to the South African archbishop Desmond Tutu (2000) and the other to the historian and humanist Miquel Batllori (2002); in the latter case it was awarded jointly by eleven Catalan universities.

Woody Allen's investiture will be held on Thursday, 14 June , in the afternoon, in the auditorium of the UPF Ciutadella campus (see picture). Mr. Allen's promotor will be Domènec Font , dean of Audiovisual Communication Studies, and the laudatio address will be given by Antonio Monegal , a lecturer in the Department of Humanities.  

After receiving his honoris causa doctorate, Woody Allen will give his acceptance speech. The event will be transmitted live over the Internet via the UPF website.

Woody Allen, a classic of contemporary cinema

Born Allen Stewart Konigsberg on 1 December 1935 in Brooklyn, New York (United States of America), Woody Allen is internationally considered, by critics and public alike, to be one of the most important contemporary film directors and screenwriters. His prolific work, imbued with his own exceptional, personal style, is the fruit of his creativeness as a screenwriter and his talent as a director, and finds its expression in the nigh on forty films that he has made so far - some already revered as screen classics -, and which have confirmed him as a respected icon of the past three decades of cinema history.

Winner of two Oscars - best director for Annie Hall (1977) and best original screenplay for Hannah and her sisters (1986) -, Woody Allen has been nominated for the academy awards on numerous occasions, as director and screenwriter, and on one occasion as an actor. He has also received the Golden Globe for best screenplay, for The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), the Donostia 2005 Award of the International Film Festival of San Sebastian and the Goya Award for best European film 2005, for Match Point . It should also be noted that in 2002 he received the Prince of Asturias Arts Award.

All his works possess the characteristic style and exemplary independence that have made him one of the world's great creative film-makers. His acute satirical wit and fine irony enabled him to develop an artistic language that has helped to popularise cinema and been acclaimed by the public, particularly in Europe. Woody Allen has chosen Barcelona as one of the settings for his new film, which he plans to start shooting in July.