Francesco Rosi to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Venice Film Festival

(CBS/AP) 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.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rosi said he was glad to be honored by the world's oldest film festival, explaining, "I am honored and very happy to receive this extremely prestigious award."

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