The Berlin film festival said it would award Oscar-winning US actress Meryl Streep an honorary Golden Bear next month in recognition of her decades-long career.
She is a brilliant, versatile performer
Ms Streep, 62, whose latest film sees her portraying Britain’s former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the biopic The Iron Lady, will receive the award during the February 9-19 festival, organisers said.
“Meryl Streep is a brilliant, versatile performer who moves with ease between dramatic and comedic roles,” the festival’s director Dieter Kosslick said in a written statement.
Ms Streep’s career has included diverse roles in movies such as Kramer vs Kramer in 1979, Sophie’s Choice in 1982, Out of Africa in 1985 and the 2006 movie The Devil Wears Prada. The award will be presented on February 14 at the screening of The Iron Lady, while audiences at the Berlinale, as the festival is known, will also be able to see five of Ms Streep’s other films under its Homage section.
In 2003, Ms Streep, who has appeared in more than 40 movies and has twice won an Oscar, shared the Berlinale’s Silver Bear award for best actresses with Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman for their performances in The Hours.
The line-up for the 62nd Berlin Film Festival, which ranks with Cannes and Venice among the top European film competitions, includes a 9/11 drama starring Tom Hanks and a new picture from China’s Zhang Yimou.
British director Mike Leigh is set to chair the jury, which will also include Hollywood actor Jake Gyllenhaal and Franco-British actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, among others.
The films that Meryl starred in
Then and now: Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice (1982) and Mamma Mia! (2008).2010: The Iron Lady
2009: It’s Complicated
2009: Julie & Julia
2009: Fantastic Mr Fox (voice)
2008: Doubt
2008: Mamma Mia!
2007: Lions for Lambs
2007: Rendition
2007: Evening
2007: Dark Matter
2006: The Ant Bully (voice)
2006: The Devil Wears Prada
2006: The Music of Regret
2006: A Prairie Home Companion
2005: Prime
2004: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
2004: The Manchurian Candidate
2003: Angels in America (TV mini-series)
2002: The Hours
2002: Adaptation
2001: A.I. Artificial Intelligence 1999: Music of the Heart
1998: One True Thing
1998: Dancing at Lughnasa
1997: First Do No Harm (TV movie)
1996: Marvin’s Room
1996: Before and After
1995: The Bridges of Madison County
1994: The River Wild
1993: The House of the Spirits
1992: Death Becomes Her
1991: Defending Your Life
1990: Postcards from the Edge
1989: She-Devil
1988: A Cry in the Dark
1987: Ironweed
1986: Heartburn
1985: Out of Africa
1985: Plenty
1984: Falling in Love
1983: Silkwood
1982: Sophie’s Choice
1982: Still of the Night
1981: The French Lieutenant’s Woman
1979: Kramer vs Kramer
1979: The Seduction of Joe Tynan
1979: Manhattan
1978: The Deer Hunter
1977: Julia