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Danny DeVito to get lifetime achievement award at San Sebasitián film festival

US comic actor Danny DeVito, the star of "Twins" and "Batman Returns", will receive a lifetime achievement award at the San Sebastián film festival in Spain next month, organisers said Monday.

Published: 20 August 2018 16:13 CEST
Danny DeVito to get lifetime achievement award at San Sebasitián film festival
Devito will be awarded the prize next month. File photo: AFP

The 73-year-old will also attend the festival to promote his latest film, “Smallfoot”, a 3D animated comedy adventure in which he provides the voice for a yeti.

In a statement, San Sebastián festival organisers said DeVito has “led a versatile career” in theatre, film and television spanning almost five decades, in which he was worked with top directors such as Tim Burton and 
Francis Ford Coppola.   

DeVito will receive the festival's Donostia Award on September 22nd.   

The Donostia Award has been given out each year at the festival since 1986 to “a great film personality in recognition for their work and career.”   

Past recipients include Gregory Peck, Robert De Niro, Bette Davis, Susan Sarandon and Meryl Streep.

The 66th edition of the San Sebastian festival, the oldest and most prestigious in the Spanish-speaking world, takes place from September 21st to 29th in the picturesque coastal city in northern Spain.

DeVito, who won an Emmy for his turn as the despotic dispatcher in “Taxi” in the late 1970s and early 1980s, currently stars in the hit television comedy “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia”.

His film credits include 1975's “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,” 1988's “Twins”, “Batman Returns” in 1992 and “LA Confidential” in 1997.

READ ALSO: Ten great reasons to visit San Sebastián

FILMS

Berlinale to host outdoor festival for film fans in June

Organisers of the Berlin film festival said Monday that pandemic conditions in the German capital had improved enough for them to hold a planned outdoor edition in June.

Published: 10 May 2021 15:23 CEST
Berlinale to host outdoor festival for film fans in June
An empty area outside the Berlinale Palast in March 2020. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Paul Zinken

The coronavirus outbreak forced the Berlinale, one of Europe’s top cinema showcases, to push back its usual February event and split it into two parts.

It held an all-online edition for critics and industry buyers in March and will now press on with an exclusively outdoor festival for the general public June 9th-20th.

“The Berlinale is pleased to be able to give audiences the enjoyment of an open-air cinema experience at 16 venues in total at the Summer Special,” it said in a statement.

It said Berlin’s falling infection rate “as well as positive signals by government offices” had led to the decision.

“Audiences will be getting a very special, collective festival experience – something we’ve all been missing for such a long time,” organisers said.

The June edition “is geared towards re-igniting the desire to go to the cinema, and to contributing to the revival of cultural activities with an audience”.

READ ALSO: Germany holds virtual Berlinale film fest

The programme will be made up primarily of movies shown online at the March edition, including the winners of its Golden and Silver Bear prizes, which will be awarded at a gala ceremony on June 13th.

Existing open-air cinemas throughout the city as well as a specially created site on Berlin’s historic Museum Island will serve as venues and comply with pandemic hygiene rules.

Ticket sales will begin on May 27th.

The global coronavirus outbreak has dealt a body blow to the cinema industry and created major complications for film distribution and production for over a year.

Cannes, the world’s top film festival, usually held in May, has been postponed to July 6-17 this year due to the pandemic and was cancelled outright last year.

The Berlinale, now in its 71st year, awarded its Golden Bear top prize in March to the biting social satire “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” by Romania’s Radu Jude.

The city of Berlin on Monday reported a seven-day coronavirus incidence just over the 100-mark, meaning cinemas, restaurants and other facilities remain closed.

However, officials are hopeful that an accelerating vaccination campaign and tightened lockdown measures will bring infections down soon, allowing for an at least partial reopening.

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