Actress Tilda Swinton gave a rousing speech while accepting the award for career achievement while holding the coveted Golden Lion trophy on Wednesday’s opening of the Venice Film Festival.
The actress who played the White Witch in the Chronicles of Narnia and the Ancient One in the Marvel film Doctor Strange delivered an inspiring speech that ended with ‘Wakanda Forever’ as a salute to the late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman.
Tilda Swinton, 59, accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award from this year’s festival jury head Cate Blanchett presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Swinton looked elated as she was handed the famous Golden Lion prize, as the 77th annual festival kicked off in socially distanced style amid the pandemic.
When it was announced over the summer that Tilda would be receiving the award, she said in a statement: ‘This great festival has been dear to my heart for three decades: to be honoured by her in this way is extremely humbling.
‘To come to Venice, this year of all years, to celebrate immortal cinema and her defiant survival in the face of all the challenges that evolution might throw at her – as at us all – will be my sincere joy.’
As she arrived at the ceremony, Tilda stepped out in eye-catching style as she opted for a novel way of covering her face, by using a gold butterfly mask.
Tilda posed for pictures with the gold face covering, which brought some glamour to her white and black ensemble, consisting of a white blouse and frilly black maxi skirt.
The Uncut Gems star Tilda wore her rose gold locks in a voluminous up do, while enhancing her striking features with a rosy pallet of make-up.
The Golden Lion is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The award was introduced in 1949 by the committee and is now regarded as one of the industry’s most distinguished prizes.
The Venice Film Festival is one of the world’s oldest award ceremonies and is listed as one of the ‘Big Five’ film events. It starts on 2 September and ends on the 12 September.
Though the event is still taking place, it is a markedly toned down affair to previous years amid the novel coronavirus crisis, with temperature checks and mask wearing becoming mandatory.
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