Roberto Benigni Honoured With The Lifetime Achievement Award At The 78th Venice International Film Festival
‘Life is Beautiful’ actor Roberto Benigni received the lifetime achievement award at the 78th Venice International Film Festival. The legendary Italian comedian gave a mile-a-minute ‘thank you’ speech to cap an emotional start to the film festival.
Bong Joon-ho was emotional and Jane Campion was touching but the evening belonged to actor-director Benigni.
The 78th Venice International Film Festival got off to an emotional start on Wednesday night with host and Italian actor Serena Rossi dedicating the opening night to Afghan mothers forced to be away from their children in an attempt to save them from the Taliban. “We want to say to them: you are not alone,” said Rossi.
Initially, the scene at the Sala Grande, Venice’s gala theatre, seemed oddly sombre, a mood that wasn’t helped by images of a half-empty gallery — Covid-19 social distancing regulations meant the theatre had to operate at half capacity — and a sea of masked faces hiding the identities of the more famous members of the crowd, including Isabelle Huppert, Cynthia Erivo and Sarah Gadon.
With the face coverings, even the flamboyant Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and his muse Penelope Cruz — star of Almodovar’s ‘Parallel Mothers’, Venice’s opening night film — seemed more serious than sprightly, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
But it was clear everyone was very pleased to be back. Almodovar was here last year but few others were able to make the 2020 Venezia, which was held in-between coronavirus lockdowns in Italy. If the opening night crowd seemed quiet at first, it was likely because few really believed they were here in person at the Venice Film Festival.
