Venice: Francis Ford Coppola Will Give Werner Herzog His Golden Lion

Francis Ford Coppola will give the laudatio honoring Werner Herzog at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday night, when Herzog will receive the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement.

The Godfather and Apocalypse Now director will honor the iconic German filmmaker, director of Fitzcarraldo, Grizzly Man and Aguirre, the Wrath of God on Aug. 27 at Venice’s Sala Grande during the Opening Ceremony of the 82nd Venice festival. Herzog will be honored for his life’s work. On Thursday, Herzog will present his latest documentary, Ghost Elephants, out of competition in Venice and will hold a master class.

Announcing the award for Herzog, Venice film festival director Alberto Barbera said the New German Cinema pioneer “has never ceased from testing the limits of film language, belying the traditional distinction between documentary and fiction. A brilliant narrator of unusual stories, Herzog is also the last heir of the great tradition of German romanticism, a visionary humanist, and a tireless explorer.”

Coppola will also be in focus in Venice this year, with the screening of Mike Figgis’ Megadoc, screening in the Venice Classics – Documentaries About Cinema section, on Thursday. The film is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Megalopolis, Coppola’s decades-in-the-making epic.

Coppola received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 49th Venice film festival in 1992.