Venice Film Festival is set to honor Tilda Swinton and Ann Hui with Golden Lions for career achievement, Variety reports.
Scheduled to take place September 2-12, the the 75th edition of the Italian fest will mark the first major festival to occur in-person in the wake of COVID-19. Other fests have been cancelled or gone digital.
“This great festival has been dear to my heart for three decades: to be honored by her in this way is extremely humbling,” said Swinton. “To come to Venice, this year of all years, to celebrate immortal cinema and her defiant survival in the face of all the challenges that evolution might throw at her — as at us all — will be my sincere joy.”
In a statement, Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera celebrated Swinton’s “commanding and incomparable personality, uncommon versatility, and an ability to pass from the most radical art-house cinema to big Hollywood productions, without ever eschewing her inexhaustible need to bring to life unclassifiable and uncommon characters.”
Swinton claimed Venice’s prize for best actress for “Edward II” in 1991. In recent years she screened 2015’s “A Bigger Splash” and 2018’s “Suspiria” at the fest. She won an Oscar for her supporting role in “Michael Clayton.” Her upcoming slate includes “The Souvenir: Part II,” Joanna Hogg’s sequel to her acclaimed coming-of-age drama about a film student.
“I am so happy to receive this news and honored for the award!” said Hui. “So happy that I feel I cannot find the words. I just hope everything in the world will turn better soon and everybody can feel again as happy as I am in this moment.”
Barbera described Hui as “one of Asia’s most respected, prolific, and versatile directors of our times,” and emphasized that “her career spans four decades and touches every film genre.”
Hui’s 2011 drama “A Simple Life,” the story of a maid who suffers a stroke, made its world premiere at Venice, as did “The Golden Era,” her 2014 biopic of female novelist Xiao Hong. Her other credits include “The Secret,” “Song of the Exile,” and “Ordinary Heroes.” She’s in post-production on “Love After Love,” a portrait of a young woman who moves from Shanghai to Hong Kong.
Venice’s lineup is slated to be announced July 28.
