A moved Ellen Burstyn receives Venice’s honorary Golden Lion

Ellen Burstyn struggled to hold back tears as she accepted Venice’s honorary Golden Lion on Monday, joining the festival’s list of cinema legends.

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There are actresses who cross the history of cinema and who build it through their careers. Ellen Burstyn belongs to this category, giving face and body to women who are strong and fragile, ironic and determined, often facing the contradictions of their time.

At 93, wearing yellow and using a walker, Burstyn accepted the award to a public ovation. Venice festival director Alberto Barbera praised her “extraordinary” career and said she had given form to women who were strong and fragile, ironic and determined in the contradictions of their time.

Burstyn, known for films including The Exorcist, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and Requiem for a Dream, responded with humor. “You can’t imagine how important this is to me. I mean, one thing is winning an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy or something like that, and I’ve won all of them for the same work. But this...” she said, prompting laughter at the ceremony.

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You can’t imagine how important this is to me. I mean, one thing is winning an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy or something like that, and I’ve won all of them for the same work. But this...

She also used her speech to deliver a political message. Recalling a night shoot for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, when she followed the white line of the road while driving with director Martin Scorsese and other cast members on the car’s hood, Burstyn said: “I simply want to end by saying how deeply grateful I am for this beautiful Golden Lion and hope, no, no, and pray that my own country finds its own white line very soon.” Burstyn continues to work and appears in two films at this year’s festival, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s short Flesh Impact and Kornél Mundruczó’s feature Place to Be. George Clooney received the festival’s second honorary Golden Lion.

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I simply want to end by saying how deeply grateful I am for this beautiful Golden Lion and hope, no, no, and pray that my own country finds its own white line very soon.