Italian actor, director and screenwriter Roberto Benigni will receive a Lifetime Achievement Golden Lion at the 78th Venice Film Festival (September 1-11).
"
Since its beginnings, placed under the sign of an innovative puff and disrespectful of the rules and traditions, Roberto Benigni has imposed itself in the panorama of the Italian spectacle as a figure of reference, without precedents and without equivalents
", declared in a press release Alberto Barbera, director of the Venice Film Festival.
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Roberto Benigni, 68, showed "
exuberance and impetuosity, the generosity with which he concedes himself to the public and this joy full of passion which is perhaps the most original characteristic of his creations
", he added.
"
With an admirable eclecticism, without ever giving up being himself, he knew how to pass from the role of one of the most extraordinary comic actors [...] to that of a director capable of making films with great popular impact. to end up as the interpreter and the most appreciated publicist of the Dantesque “Divine comedy”
, concluded Alberto Barbera.
“
My heart is full of joy and gratitude.
It is an immense honor to receive such an important reward for my work from the Venice Film Festival
”, reacted the future winner, quoted by the press release.
In the world of show business since 1975, Roberto Benigni had achieved worldwide success with
La Vie est belle
in 1997. In this tragicomedy on the Holocaust, he had staged himself in the role of a protective Jewish father. his child deported with him to a concentration camp.
His character made his offspring believe that the drama surrounding them was just a game allowing them, in case of victory, to win a tank.
The quality of Benigni's interpretation and the intense emotion emanating from the film earned him the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998, as well as three Oscars in 1999: best foreign film, best soundtrack and above all best actor.
