US actress Ellen Burstyn, best known for her roles in The Exorcist and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, will receive a lifetime achievement award at this year’s Venice Film Festival, organisers have said.
The 93-year-old, who has starred in over 100 films, said she was “so honoured” by the decision to award her the Golden Lion.
“Wow! I not only get to travel to one of my top most favourite cities in the whole world, I get to return home carrying a Golden Lion in my arms!” she was quoted by the festival as saying.
(L-R) Diane Ladd as Flo and Ellen Burstyn as Alice in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
This year’s edition will run between 2 and 12 September, and the jury will be led by US actress Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Burstyn was elevated to global stardom by the success of William Friedkin’s 1973 film The Exorcist, in which she played the mother of a pre-teen girl possessed by demonic forces.
She went on to win the Oscar for Best Actress for Martin Scorsese’s 1974 film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and her 65-year acting career has since seen her win accolades for performances on film, stage, and television.
Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist
The Venice Film Festival’s Artistic Director, Alberto Barbera, said Burstyn was “an actress of rare intensity and truth”.
She has brought “depth and complexity to unforgettable female characters embodying the contradictions and transformations in the contemporary woman,” he said.
Source: AFP