Berlin film festival to honor Martin Scorsese for lifetime achievement

BERLIN (AP) — Martin Scorsese will be honored for his lifetime achievement at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, organizers said Thursday.

The 81-year-old director, whose extensive work ranges from decades-old classics such as “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull” to this year's “Killers of the Flower Moon,” will be given an honorary Golden Bear — the festival's top award — on Feb. 20.

“For anyone who considers cinema as the art of shaping a story in such a way that is both completely personal and universal, Martin Scorsese is an unmatched role model," festival directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian said in a statement. They described Scorsese as “a good friend of the festival.”

The festival noted that he “is also very committed to historical film heritage,” pointing to his support of extensive restoration work with the Film Foundation.

Scorsese won the best director Oscar in 2007 for “The Departed.”

The “Berlinale,” the first of the year's major European film festivals, will run from Feb. 15-25. Actor Lupita Nyong’o will head the festival jury.

It will be the last edition of the festival under the duo of Rissenbeek and Chatrian. Germany's culture minister announced last week that Tricia Tuttle, a former director of the London Film Festival, will take over as the new director in April.