Martin Scorsese Feted With Berlinale’s Honorary Golden Bear For Lifetime Achievement

Martin Scorsese was presented with the Berlin Film Festival’s Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement on Tuesday evening, with old friend German director Wim Wenders paying a warm personal tribute to the director.

Wenders said that over half a century of directing Scorsese had become a trademark, almost brand.

“You can safely go into a movie theatre, sit down and know that you’re going to see a masterful film,” said Wenders.

He recalled how he and Scorsese had first hooked up while attending the Telluride Film Festival in 1978. Wenders rescued Scorsese and then girlfriend Isabella Rossellini after he came across them with a flat tire as they both were travelling back to L.A. via a scenic route back through Monument Valley suggested by late Telluride founder Tom Luddy.

The 81-year-old director had earlier hit the red carpet the red carpet with his youngest daughter Francesca Scorsese to clamorous scenes as the mainly German TV and press corp, chanted “Martin, Martin, Martin” to capture his attention.

Other friends and collaborators in the room included long-time editor Thelma Schoonmaker and Sharon Stone, who was Oscar nominated for her performance in the director’s 1995 film Casino, opposite Robert De Niro.

Scorsese has been a regular guest at the Berlinale throughout his career, kicking off with Oscar-winning Raging Bull, which played Out of Competition in 1981, followed by Cape Fear, which screened in Competition in 1992; Gangs of New York, which played out of Out of competition in 2003 and returned for a retrospective screening in 2010.

His Rolling Stones concert film Shine a Light opened the Berlinale in 2008 while Shutter Island, played Out of Competition in 2010.