French actress Catherine Deneuve is to get the career achievement prize at this year's Venice Film Festival running from August 31 to September 10 at the Venice Lido, organizers said Wednesday.
Deneuve, 78, an icon of French cinema, will receive her Golden
Lion on the opening night of the festival, the world's oldest
film fest.
Deneuve, in accepting, said, "It is a joy to receive this
prestigious award at the Venice Festival, which I love and have
known for a long time, since Belle de jour by Luis Buñuel
received the Golden Lion in its day. It is also an honor to be
chosen for this tribute at the Film Festival that has
accompanied me so often for so many movies. Thank you, best
regards".
Festival Director Alberto Barbera declared, "An impressive
number of movies, most of which are major international
successes. An equally remarkable number of awards she has
received at the world's most important festivals, plus an Oscar
nomination for best actress in a leading role, a rare privilege
for an artist who is not American. A succession of artistic
partnerships with some of Europe's top directors and actors:
Roger Vadim, Jacques Demy, Luis Buñuel, François Truffaut, Roman
Polanski, Marco Ferreri, Marcello Mastroianni, and Gérard
Depardieu. An indisputable talent at the service of a gift for
acting, plus a sophisticated and rare beauty, attributes which
have helped make her the very symbol of French cinema, a
timeless diva and a true icon of the silver screen. From one of
the key figures of the Nouvelle Vague and a privileged example
of a concept of style that is associated with French fashion,
Catherine Deneuve has come to embody the essence of the
universally recognized diva, taking her place as one of the
greatest actresses in film history. For these reasons, the
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award that the Venice
International Film Festival will present her on the occasion of
the 90th anniversary of the first edition of the Venetian
festival assumes particular importance, after the Golden Lion
she won for Belle de jour by Luis Buñuel in 1967 and the Volpi
Cup for best actress she received for her performance in Place
Vendôme by Nicole Garcia in 1998."
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