Ellen Burstyn will receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, taking place on the Venice Lido from September 2 to 12, 2026.
La Biennale di Venezia’s Board of Directors approved the award following a recommendation from festival artistic director Alberto Barbera, who described Burstyn as an actress of
“rare intensity and truth.”
The Golden Lion will be presented in connection with the screening of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s short film Flesh Impact, dedicated to Marilyn Monroe during the centenary of her birth. Dakota Johnson plays Monroe at the height of her fame, while Burstyn portrays a version of the Hollywood icon that audiences never had the opportunity to see.
Six Decades of Film, Television and Theatre
Ellen Burstyn’s career spans approximately six decades and includes some of the most influential performances in modern American cinema.
She received her first Academy Award nomination for The Last Picture Show and gained international recognition through The Exorcist. She later won the Oscar for Best Actress for Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, in which she played a widowed mother rebuilding her life.
Further acclaimed performances followed in Resurrection and Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream, while later roles introduced her to new audiences through films including Interstellar and The Exorcist: Believer.
Burstyn has also won a Tony Award and two Emmy Awards, completing acting’s “triple crown.” She currently serves as co-president of the Actors Studio alongside Al Pacino and Alec Baldwin.
George Clooney Is the Other Lifetime Honouree
George Clooney will receive the other Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2026 Venice International Film Festival.
La Biennale is recognising his work as an actor, director and producer, from performances in Syriana, Michael Clayton and The Descendants to directing credits including Good Night, and Good Luck and The Ides of March.
Clooney has won two Academy Awards, for his supporting performance in Syriana and as a producer of Best Picture winner Argo.
By honouring Ellen Burstyn and George Clooney, the Venice International Film Festival is celebrating two distinct careers that have shaped American cinema. Burstyn’s Golden Lion also looks beyond her past achievements, connecting the tribute with a new performance in Flesh Impact and a career that remains active more than six decades after it began.
