Australian filmmaker Peter Weir will receive the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the 81st Venice Film Festival (August 28-September 7).
The director and screenwriter is a six-time Oscar nominee for films including Dead Poets Society and The Truman Show, both of which premiered at Venice in 1989 and 1998 respectively.
“The Venice Film Festival and its Golden Lion are part of the folklore of our craft. To be singled out as a recipient for a lifetimes work as a director is a considerable honour,” said Weir.
The filmmaker first rose to prominence in 1975 with Picnic At Hanging Rock, followed by The Last Wave in 1977. In 2023, Weir received an honorary Oscar for his work and previously won two Baftas in direction for The Truman Show and Master And Commander.
His other films include Witness, Green Card, Fearless and The Way Back.
“With a total of only 13 movies directed over the course of 40 years, Peter Weir has secured a place in the firmament of the great directors of modern cinema,” said Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera. “Celebrating a taste for storytelling and innate romanticism, Weir has reinforced his own role in the Hollywood establishment, all the while keeping his distance from the American movie industry.”
Isabelle Huppert has been named president of Venice’s international competition jury.
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