An intimate portrait into Audrey Hepburn's life

An intimate portrait into Audrey Hepburn's life
By Euronews
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button
Copy/paste the article video embed link below:Copy to clipboardCopied

Euronews speaks with Sean Hepburn Ferrer, who opened a new exhibition in Brussels detailing his famous mother's life.

ADVERTISEMENT

The world knows Audrey Hepburn as the iconic Oscar-winner who symbolised old Holywood glamour — but a new exhibition in her hometown Brussels is tracing the private life of the famed actress. Euronews took a guided tour alongside her son Sean Hepburn Ferrer ahead of the 90th anniversary of her birthday.

"She was born in Brussels in 1929 on the 4th of May in a small part of Brussels called Ixelles, and so it felt like the right thing to do that."

The Intimate Audrey exhibition features hundreds of private and professional photos, as well as some movie memorabilia, such as the scooter used in the 1953 classic “Roman Holiday” for which Hepburn won an Oscar for best actress.

Beyond the glitz and glamour, it's Hepburn the woman the exhibition underscores.

"So it is the woman, the child, the wife, the friend, who is coming home to Brussels," said Hepburn Ferrer, who put the exhibition together. 

Hepburn, who was a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, dedicated the last five years of her life to helping children. Euronews asked Hepburn's son what she would do today with the rise of nationalism in Europe, as the actress herself had suffered the consequences of Nazism as a child.

"She felt very betrayed after World War II ... and then she found herself 30 years later in a camp in Somalia, Sudan, with 30,000 people waiting to die...(Today) she would stand up in rage."

For Hepburn Ferrer, this exhibition is more than a cultural event; it is personal.

"My mother died January 20th 1993 at 8 o' clock at night and I had a wonderful friendship with her. She was a wonderful parent, we got along great, we went to good times and bad times together and then I lost her. And I have to make peace with that," he said.

"At the same time, she continues in my life every day, so I am the orchestra conductor of this particular exhibition and of a certain aspect of her life."

"She is with me every day. To the point that sometimes I hear this music and this thing makes me a little crazy."

The exhibition will run until 25 August 2019.

Share this articleComments

You might also like

EU reaches 'political agreement' to sanction extremist Israeli settlers, says Josep Borrell

Biotech strategy launch, Newsletter

In the EU, continued rule of law backsliding keeps weakening our democracies