Francis Ford Coppola to honour Werner Herzog with Venice Film Festival laudatio

Francis Ford Coppola will honour Werner Herzog with the laudatio at Venice Film Festival, as well as awarding the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to the German director. 

The award and speech will be presented today (Wednesday 27 August) in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema (Lido di Venezia), during the opening ceremony of the 82nd Venice Film Festival, starting at 7pm. 

Werner Herzog will present his new documentary Ghost Elephants Out of Competition on Thursday 28 August at 2pm in the Sala Grande. 

The legendary director will also hold a Masterclass on the same day at 4pm at the Match Point Arena, at the Tennis Club Venezia in the Lido.

Meanwhile, the documentary Megadoc by Mike Figgis, part of the Venice Classics – Documentaries About Cinema section, will be presented on Thursday 28 August at 5pm in the Sala Corinto. 

The film is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Megalopolis, Coppola’s latest feature film. 

The Oscar-winning director himself received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 1992 at the 49th Venice Film Festival.

Elsewhere at VFF this year, artistic director Alberto Barbera has unveiled a rich mix of buzzy movies with big stars–as well as smaller titles with awards potential–that will be shown in Competition during the event’s upcoming 82nd edition.

This includes opening film La Grazia, directed by Paolo Sorrentino, and closing film Dog 51, from Cedric Jimenez, with other highlights including Jay Kelly (dir. Noah Baumbach) and A House of Dynamite (dir. Kathryn Bigelow).

You can discover the full line-up for yourself now.