Venice 2021: the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to Roberto Benigni

Actor, director, screenwriter, battutist, Dante expert, Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and winner of Oscar, David, Globi d’Oro, Bafta and so on and so forth. Roberto Benigni is the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 78th Venice International Film Festival, scheduled from 1 to 11 September 2021. «My heart is filled with joy and gratitude. It is an immense honor to receive such high recognition for my work from the Venice International Film Festival “are the hot words of Benigni, who welcomes the announcement of the award assigned by the Biennale Board of Directors on the proposal of the Director Alberto Barbera with great enthusiasm and emotion.

“Since its inception, which took place under the banner of a wave of innovation and disrespectful of rules and traditions, Roberto Benigni has established itself in the panorama of Italian entertainment as a reference figure, unprecedented and unmatched. Alternating his appearances on theatrical stages, film sets and television studios with surprising results from time to time, he imposed himself on everyone by virtue of his exuberance and impetuousness, the generosity with which he gives himself to the public and the passionate joyfulness that constitutes the figure. perhaps more original than his creations. With admirable eclecticism, without ever renouncing to be himself, he went from taking on the role of one of the most extraordinary comedians in the yet rich gallery of Italian performers, to those of a memorable director capable of making films of enormous popular impact, for ultimately become the most appreciated interpreter and popularizer of Divine Comedy Dante ”explains Barbera.

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“Few artists have been able to blend his explosive comedy like him, often accompanied by irreverent satire, with admirable skills as an interpreter – at the service of great directors such as Federico Fellini, Matteo Garrone and Jim Jarmusch – as well as a captivating and refined literary exegete »concludes the Director of the Festival. Born in Misericordia on October 27, 1952, Roberto Benigni began his artistic career in the early seventies, soon becoming one of the most loved and popular actors thanks to iconic films such as Daunbailò, We just have to cry, The voice of the moon, The little devil e Johnny Stecchino. In 1998 Life is Beautiful, his most famous film, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and three Oscars for the best foreign film, the best actor (the role of Guido will also be worth to Benigni the Screen Actor Guild and the Bafta) and the best music. After receiving the Honorary Caesar in 2008, the Golden Globe for Lifetime Achievement in 2016, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the David di Donatello in 2017 and Prix ​​Lumière to the career in 2020, in 2019 he agrees to appear as Geppetto in Pinocchio by Matteo Garrone, making peace with the Pinocchio he directed in 2002 which did not enthuse the American critics.

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