Martin Scorsese To Be Honored By Italy’s National Cinema Museum: “Italian Cinema Has Held A Very Special Place In My Heart”

Martin Scorsese is set to be honored with a life achievement award by Italy’s National Cinema Museum in the northern city of Turin.

The director will receive the museum’s Stella della Mole Award on October 7 in a gala ceremony in the 85-meter-high atrium of its home, the Mole Antonelliana, which was originally conceived as a synagogue.

The following day, Scorsese will give a masterclass and also attend an introduction to a retrospective devoted to his work, including early films such as What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? and Who’s That Knocking At My Door? as well as award winners Taxi Driver and Raging Bull.

“Few of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, if any, continue to dazzle audiences around the world as Martin Scorsese does more than 60 years after making his debut,” the museum said in a statement.

“The Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Torino (Italy) pays tribute to the legendary Maestro who crafted some of the most memorable, celebrated movies in film history and became himself the embodiment of cinematic classics by illustrating with masterly technique the imagery of American society.”

Previous recipients of the Stella di Mole include Monica Bellucci, Ruben Östlund, Pablo Larraín and Tim Burton.

It will be the first honorary awarded presented by Carlo Chatrian he takes up the baton as the museum’s new director, in his first role since stepping down as co-director at the Berlinale, where he also feted Scorsese with an honorary Golden Bear.

Scorsese said the Italian honor was particularly dear to him due to his love of Italian cinema.

“From the time I sat with my grandparents and my parents, over 70 years ago, and watched Rossellini’s Paisà on television, Italian cinema has held a very special place in my heart, a presence that has guided me, sustained me, urged me on in my work as a filmmaker,” he said Martin Scorsese.

“It’s so meaningful for me to be receiving this honor at this moment in my life, here in this beautiful museum in Torino dedicated to the history of one of the great loves of my life, Italian cinema.”