Ellen Burstyn Talks Future Direction Of U.S. As She Receives Venice Career Award: “I Pray My Country Finds Its White Line”
Ellen Burstyn received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival on Monday, presented by jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal, who praised the 93-year-old actress's body of work across films including The Exorcist, The Last Picture Show and Requiem for a Dream. The ceremony preceded a screening of Flesh Impact, Gyllenhaal's short film in which Burstyn plays a version of Marilyn Monroe opposite Dakota Johnson, and the star received a lengthy standing ovation that moved her to tears before her acceptance speech.
In her speech, Burstyn reflected on her decades-long career spanning film, stage and television, recalling in 1975 becoming the third woman to win both a Tony and an Oscar in the same year, and later completing a "triple crown" with an Emmy for Law & Order: SVU. She also recounted a story about filming Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore with Martin Scorsese, in which following a white line on a mountain road helped her avoid driving off a cliff, using it as a metaphor to close her speech: "I pray that my own country will, very soon, find its own white line." Burstyn is at Venice with two films, Flesh Impact and Kornél Mundruczó's Place To Be, alongside Taika Waititi and Pamela Anderson.
In short
- Ellen Burstyn, 93, awarded Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Venice
- She used a Scorsese anecdote as a metaphor for America's uncertain direction
- Burstyn is at Venice with two new films, Flesh Impact and Place To Be
Explained simply
Ellen Burstyn is an American actor whose career spans film, theatre and television. She is known for acclaimed roles in films such as The Exorcist, The Last Picture Show and Requiem for a Dream, and has won major awards across the stage, film and television.
The Venice Film Festival is an international film event that gives awards for both individual achievements and films. Its Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement recognises a person’s career, while Burstyn’s reference to a “white line” came from a story about following a road marking to stay safe; she used it as an image for finding direction in the United States.
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