Darren Aronofsky's jury won't be convening for a few months and didn't have anything to do with the selection, but Al Pacino is the first participant at this year's Venice International Film Festival to know he'll be going home with an award.
Pacino, whose film "Wilde Salome" will debut at the festival, has been named recipient of the Jaeger-Le Coultre Glory to the Filmmaker 2011 Award. The honor has previously gone to filmmakers as diverse as Agnes Varda and Sylvester Stallone, and is designed to salute "an artist who has left an original mark on contemporary cinema."
"Wilde Salome," the third feature to be directed by Pacino, is a documentary exploring the Oscar Wilde play "Salome," and chronicling a production in which the title character is played by Jessica Chastain ("The Tree of Life"). Pacino plays Herod.
In a press release announcing the award, festival director Marco Mueller called Pacino “an amazing director, whose experience is precious and original, and enriches the world of contemporary film.”
Pacino will receive the honor on Sunday, September 4; the Venice jury, headed by Aronofsky, will announce its own selection of winners at the conclusion of the festival on September 11.
(Photo by Amy Graves/Wireimage)
