George Clooney's career to be celebrated at Venice Film Festival

Hollywood star and filmmaker George Clooney will be honoured with this year's Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement award, organisers announced on Monday.

Clooney, 65, is a Venice stalwart and made his first appearance at the film festival nearly three decades ago with "Out of Sight" in 1998.

The two-time Oscar-winner's latest feature "Jay Kelly" premiered at Venice last year and he joined Brad Pitt on the festival's red carpet for the world premiere of their movie "Wolfs" in 2024.

Clooney directed "Suburbicon", "The Ides of March" and "Good Night, and Good Luck", all launched at Venice and his other appearances include 2013's festival opener "Gravity", "The Men Who Stare at Goats" in 2009, "Burn After Reading" in 2008, "Michael Clayton" in 2007 and "Intolerable Cruelty" in 2003.

"I've had so many extraordinary moments in Venice. This festival is without question my favorite and to be given the Golden Lion is a tremendous honor. It also probably means I'm old, but I'll take it," Clooney said in a statement shared by the festival.

Clooney, who shot to stardom with the hit 1990s medical drama series "ER", married his wife Amal in a star-studded party in Venice in 2014.

"In his triple capacity as actor, director, and producer, George Clooney is a complete and charismatic artist, impassioned and original, who has transformed a deep vocation into one of the most luminous parabolas of contemporary film," Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera said.

The 83rd edition of the Venice Film Festival will run from September 2 to 12, with the line-up announced later in July.

-Reporting by Hanna Rantala; Editing by Ros Russell/Reuters