Ellen Burstyn received a six-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday for her role in Kornél Mundruczó's drama "Place to Be," embracing co-stars Taika Waititi, Pamela Anderson and Murray Bartlett as she wept during the reception. The 93-year-old actress arrived using a walker after a recent fall but did not let it dampen the emotional premiere, which came amid a landmark year for her at the festival, where she is also being honoured with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.

In the out-of-competition film, Burstyn plays Brooke, an elderly woman who forms an unlikely bond with a divorced man played by Waititi while travelling across the country to return a lost racing pigeon, with Anderson and Bartlett cast as her children and cameos from Edgar Ramirez and Lena Waithe. Burstyn is also appearing in jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal's short film "Flesh Impact" at the festival, portraying an elder Marilyn Monroe, while "Place to Be" marks Hungarian director Mundruczó's second release of 2026 following "At the Sea," which premiered in Berlin in February.