Laura Dern to Honor Clooney at Venice Opening Ceremony
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Laura Dern will deliver the Laudatio speech honoring George Clooney at the Venice Film Festival's opening ceremony on Wed., Sept. 2, when he receives the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement
- George Clooney is one of only three people ever nominated across six different Oscar categories: best picture, director, lead actor, supporting actor, original screenplay, and adapted screenplay
- Venice Biennale will honor Clooney in his 'triple guise as actor, director and producer' and for his 'commitment to social and humanitarian causes,' per a Biennale statement
- Dern previously delivered the same speech when Venice awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to David Lynch in 2006
- Dern appeared at last year's Venice for Noah Baumbach's 'Jay Kelly,' which competed at the festival alongside Clooney
- The 83rd edition of the Venice Film Festival will run Sept. 2-12
Why it matters: For Venice, pairing Dern with Clooney continues a tradition of linking lifetime honorees to collaborators who can speak to their full artistic range — Dern laudated David Lynch in 2006 and shares Clooney's 'Jay Kelly' connection. The Biennale's explicit citation of Clooney's 'commitment to social and humanitarian causes' makes this a lifetime prize framed as much around off-screen advocacy as career filmography.
Ask SkimNews
