Venice To Fete Ellen Burstyn & Screen New Maggie Gyllenhaal-Directed Short About Marilyn Monroe Starring The Actress

The Venice Film Festival is to celebrate Ellen Burstyn with a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. 

The award will be presented to Burstyn at the screening of Flesh Impact, a short film directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, in which Burstyn also stars. 

The synopsis for the short provided by Venice reads: “Dedicated to Marilyn Monroe on the centenary of her birth, the film features yet another extraordinary performance by the actress, showcasing her uncommon talent as a performer. The film’s cast also includes Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, and Sepideh Moafi. Johnson portrays Monroe at the height of her fame, while Burstyn stars as a version of Marilyn the world never got the chance to see. Flesh Impact takes its title from a phrase once used to describe Marilyn Monroe’s aura – that she looked so real and luminous on camera that viewers felt they could touch her through the screen.”

Burstyn’s decades-long career spans film, stage and television. In 1975, she became the third woman in history to win both a Tony Award and an Academy Award in the same year for her work in Same Time, Next Year on Broadway and in the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, for which she also received a Golden Globe nomination and a BAFTA for Best Actress. She became a so-called “triple crown winner” when she received her first Emmy for a guest appearance on Law & Order: SVU (2009). 

She won her second Emmy for her role in the miniseries Political Animals (2013). Additionally, she has received six Emmy nominations and five Academy Award nominations, including her nomination for Best Actress in The Exorcist (1973). Burstyn recently reprised her role as Chris MacNeil in the film’s sequel The Exorcist: Believer (2023) and co-stars with Ewan McGregor in the independent feature Mother Couch directed by Niclas Larsson. Burstyn will next star alongside Taika Waititi in Kornél Mundruczó’s Place To Be, which is currently in post.

Some of her other film credits include The Last Picture Show (1971, Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations), Resurrection (1981), and Requiem for a Dream (2000).

“Wow! I not only get to travel to one of my top-most favorite cities in the whole world. I get to return home carrying a Golden Lion in my arms!” Burstyn said in a statement. “The Lifetime Achievement Award from the Venice Film Festival! I feel so honored— so happy — so filled with gratitude! Wow indeed!”

George Clooney will also receive an honorary award this year at Venice.

The festival will run from September 2 – 12.