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Polish director Skolimowski awarded Venice Golden Lion for lifetime achievements

Xinhua, September 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

Polish renowned director Jerzy Skolimowski was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievements at the 73rd Venice Film Festival, which kicked off here on Wednesday.

The top prize was given by Festival director Alberto Barbera at the official launching ceremony of the 2016 edition in the evening, before the opening premiere of musical "La La Land" by American Damien Chazelle.

The 78-year-old veteran director, scriptwriter and actor, Skolimowski enjoyed a long carrier through a troubled life.

"All of his life has been marked by travels and transfers, from his native Poland to Belgium, from the UK to the Unites States," Barbera told a press conference earlier on Wednesday.

"Each and every time, he was able to make an unforgettable movie, after having given a crucial contribution to the nouvelle vague (of Polish cinema)," said Barbera.

"And after returning to his homeland some 10 years ago, he still directed three film of amazing originality and freshness," Barbera added.

Achievements in Skolimowski's long carrier include "Identification Marks: None", "Walkover", "The Barrier" and "Hands Up", all of them filmed in the 1960s; then, "The Departure", "Deep End", "The Shout", "Moonlighting", "Torrent of Spring", and "Four Nights with Anna".

He won a jury special price at Venice with "Essential Killing" in 2010, and was selected in the main competition with "11 Minutes" in 2015.

Asked about what issues would draw his attention as director, the Polish auteur answered: migrants.

"Generally speaking, most of my movies have dealt with outsides," Skolimowski explained.

"I care about people who live on the margins of society, those who cannot find their own place in life ... I was an immigrant myself, and I know how it feels to be forced to leave your country," he added.

As such, migrants and refugees should be a main subject for movies in the near future.

"I believe these people really deserve to be looked at in a sympathetic way," Skolimowski said.

At the press conference, Barbera also noted Venice festival from this year on would be awarding two Golden Lions for lifetime achievement each edition: one to a director, and another to an actor.

"We decided to select actors, because they are the very substance without which most of the movies could not be done ... they are 'mediators' between the director and the audience," Barbera said.

The second Golden Lion for career achievements this year will be awarded to French actor Jean Paul Belmondo later in the festival. Endit