By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer
George Clooney is returning to the Venice Film Festival this year, where he’ll be honored with a lifetime achievement award. The festival’s organizers said Monday that Clooney has been selected to receive the Golden Lion at the 83rd edition of the festival in September.
“I’ve had so many extraordinary moments in Venice. This festival is without question my favorite and to be given the Golden Lion is a tremendous honor,” Clooney said in a statement. “It also probably means I’m old, but I’ll take it.”
The star has indeed had many memorable appearances in Venice, and at the festival, including with Steven Soderbergh’s Elmore Leonard adaptation “Out of Sight,” in 1998, and his sophomore feature as a director, “Good Night, and Good Luck,” in 2005. Last year, he came with Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” in which he plays a movie star experiencing an existential crisis in the lead-up to accepting a lifetime achievement award at an Italian film festival.
“In his triple capacity as actor, director, and producer, George Clooney is a complete and charismatic artist, impassioned and original, who has transformed a deep vocation into one of the most luminous parabolas of contemporary film,” festival director Alberto Barbera said in a statement. “A perfect combination of the star glamour of days gone by, remarkable professionalism, and modern sensitivity, the actor has crossed the genres with rare versatility.”
Venice is also where Clooney exchanged vows with then Amal Alamuddin, in 2014.
The 83rd Venice Film Festival kicks off on Sept. 2 and runs through Sept. 12.