Bernardo Bertolucci to visit Malta for European Film Awards

In recognition of a unique and dedicated contribution to the world of film the European Film Academy will be presenting Bernardo Bertolucci with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 25th edition of the European Film Awards, taking place at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta on December 1.

Bertolucci will be joined by British actress Helen Mirren in receiving the accolade, as he star of The Queen will also be in Malta on December 1 to accept a Lifetime Achievement award for her contribution to European cinema.

Bernardo Bertolucci began his career as an assistant director to Pier Paolo Pasolini on Accattone and directed his first feature film at the age of 21. His second film, Before The Revolution (1964), was released to great acclaim and he has never since then stopped to shape the way we look at cinema.

His 1970 film The Conformist with Jean-Louis Trintignant and Stefania Sandrelli premiered in Berlin, won the Italian David di Donatello for Best Film and received Bertolucci's first Oscar nomination and his 1972 film Last Tango In Paris with Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider and Jean-Pierre Léaud received another two Oscar nominations.

His fame increased with the epic 1900 (1976) with Robert de Niro, Gérard Depardieu and Burt Lancaster and The Last Emperor (1987) which won a total of nine Oscars, three BAFTA Awards, the French César, nine David di Donatello awards, and a special jury award at the inaugural European Film Awards in 1988.

Among his later films are The Sheltering Sky (1990) with Debra Winger and John Malkovich and The Dreamers (2003) which was nominated for the EFA Audience Award and the Spanish Goya.

Bernardo Bertolucci's latest film Me And You (2012) premiered in the official selection, out of competition, at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

Speaking to representatives of the European Film Awards on their website, Bertolucci said that winning the award made him "feel European" for the very first time.

"Maybe when I receive the award I will finally understand what it means to be European! I remember when (MFA President) Wim Wenders managed to get Ingmar Bergman out of his silence and made him come to the first European Film Awards. I remember sitting in front of him and for me, he was the most beautiful man in the world," Bertolucci said.

Asked whether he has already started to plan his acceptance speech for the December 1 ceremony, Bertolucci said: "No, but it will be short. I don't like long monologues."