Max Mara is not known for its celebrity-packed front rows, but, hey — there’s a first time for everything. Zoe Saldana is expected at the Italian fashion powerhouse’s show on Saturday as the next recipient of the Max Mara Face of the Future Award, which will be presented to her in Los Angeles on June 1 at the Women in Film’s 2010 Crystal + Lucy Awards. Saldana will be hosted in Milan by Max Mara Group chief executive officer Luigi Maramotti. Past recipients of the prize include Ginnifer Goodwin and Emily Blunt.

From WWD

According to Indian Express, Zoe is going to directing a part of the upcoming documentary feature “Half the Sky”.

Now, Zoe Saldana, who shot to fame with Avatar, is also packing her bags for a two-week excursion to India to shoot another segment for the documentary.

According to a source close to the project, the location is yet to be finalised. “The segment Zoe will direct talks about education of the girl child. Her production team is scouting for locations in North India but are yet to zero in on a city,” he informs.

If all goes according to schedule and the government grants the production team the required permissions to shoot, Saldana will be in India in May this year. The project remains untitled as of now but will be a narrative-style documentary for the American tele-series Half the Sky. The series based on the book of the same name is written by Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.

I will be sure to post more information as it becomes available!

The 3D blockbuster received nods in the Best Film and Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy categories, while Cameron is in the running for the Best Director prize. The movie’s stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana are each tipped in the Best Actor/Actress category.

Fighting it out with Worthington are Sir Michael Caine (Harry Brown), Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds), Robert Pattinson (The Twilight Saga: New Moon) and Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes).

Saldana is up against Anne-Marie Duff (Nowhere Boy), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Emily Blunt (The Young Victoria) and Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds).

Cameron will go head-to-head with ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) in the Best Director list, as well as Neil Blomkamp (District 9), JJ Abrams (Star Trek) and Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds).

The former couple’s movies are also facing each other in the Best Film category; they’ll fight it out with Star Trek, District 9 and Inglourious Basterds.

The awards will take place in London on 28 March (10).

Avatar landed two Golden Globes last month (Jan10), two British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards last week (21Feb10) and has received nine nominations at the upcoming Oscars on 7 March (10).

From Hollywood.com

“Avatar” picked up another award Tuesday night, but Oscar prognosticators probably shouldn’t read anything into it — “The Hurt Locker,” “Up in the Air” and “Inglourious Basterds” weren’t eligible.

James Cameron’s blockbuster was named best live-action 3-D feature by the month-old International 3D Society, kicking off its inaugural Lumiere Awards at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

“Up,” also in the running for Academy Award best picture honors, was honored as best animated 3-D feature, and another Pixar work, “Partly Cloudy,” won in the category for best short 3-D motion picture/narrative.

The International 3D Society was formed Jan. 21 with a stated mission of advancing “the achievement of professionals working in the arts and technologies of Stereoscopic 3D.” Its board of governors includes a diverse group — studio executives, the heads of 3-D and post-production houses and even a PhD at UC Berkeley’s school of optometry. The awards were voted on by more than 100 film industry 3-D experts, a spokesman for the group said.

Among other winners Tuesday were the Imax film “Under the Sea 3D” as best 3-D documentary, “G-Force” as best 2-D-to-3-D converted feature, and “Avatar’s” Neytiri (played by Zoe Saldana) as best 3-D character of the year.

From the Los Angeles Times

“Avatar” leads the competition at the upcoming Saturn Awards, with 10 nominations including bids for best fantasy picture, leads Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana and supporting players Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver.

“Sherlock Holmes” has eight nominations while “Watchmen” and “Inglorious Basterds” earned seven apiece. “District 9″ and “Star Trek” both contend in six races, though Oscar nominee “District 9″ did not earn a best picture bid from these kudos.

This 36th annual edition of the awards honors films across four genres — sci-fi, fantasy, horror and action/adventure/thriller. Though there are four best film awards, the other categories cull nominees from all four genres.

The best director race includes “Avatar” helmer James Cameron — who has won this award four times — and two of his Oscar rivals Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) and Quentin Tarantino (“Inglorious Basterds”), with both their films contending in the catch-all action/adventure/thriller category. The other nominees: J.J. Abrams (“Star Trek”), Neil Blomkamp (“District 9″), Guy Ritchie (“Sherlock Holmes”) and Zack Snyder (“Watchmen”).

Members of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror decide on both nominees and the winners, which will be announced June 24, 2010.

From the Los Angeles Times