Venice film fest to honor director Francesco Rosi

MILAN – The Venice Film Festival will honor Italian director and screenwriter Francesco Rosi with a Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement.

Film festival director Alberto Barbera said in a statement Thursday that Rosi "has left an indelible mark on the history of Italian filmmaking."

The festival called Rosi, 89, an innovator of socially committed Italian filmmaking.

It cited "Hands over the City," which won the Golden Lion at Venice in 1963; "The Mattei Affair," which took the Golden Palm at Cannes in 1972; and "Salvatore Giuliano," Silver Bear-winner in Berlin in 1961.

Rosi will receive the honor on Aug. 31 during the Venice festival, which runs from Aug. 29-Sept. 8.