Isabella Rossellini to be honoured at this year’s European Film Awards

Italian-American actress and model Isabella Rossellini will be honoured during the upcoming European Film Awards with a lifetime achievement award celebrating her body of work.

Rossellini, 72, who is the daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian director Roberto Rossellini, made her acting debut in 1979 in the Taviani brothers’ film Il Prato before breaking out internationally in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet in 1986.

She has starred in countless productions, including Cousins (1989), Wild At Heart (1990), Death Becomes Her (1992), Fearless (1993) and Two Lovers (2008). More recently, she starred in Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera, Spaceman with Adam Sandler and Carey Mulligan, and Edward Berger’s Conclave – the awards-tipped psychological thriller based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, starring Ralph Fiennes. It comes out in November in European cinemas.

Rossellini also has guest starred in the TV series Friends, Alias, 30 Rock, The Blacklist and Julia. She is also a successful filmmaker, with a keen interest in wildlife conservation.

Her award-winning series of shorts, Green Porno, Seduce Me and Mammas offer comical and insightful studies of the sex lives of animals. She also toured in over 50 cities on three different continents with her theatrical monologues.

Announcing the award, the European Film Academy said the honour “serves as a reminder of the depth and breadth of talent that continues to shape the landscape of world cinema.”

The 37th European Film Awards will take place in Lucerne, Switzerland, on 7 December.