William Friedkin, the US film director who scared up a fright with The Exorcist and set pulses racing with thriller The French Connection in the 1970s, will get a lifetime achievement award from the Venice Film Festival, organisers said.

Friedkin, 77, will also present a restored version of his initially poorly received but now acclaimed 1977 film Sorcerer at the August 28-September 7 festival in the Italian city.

Venice film festival director Alberto Barbera said that Friedkin had made major contributions to US cinema “the revolutionary impact of which has not always been recognised”.

“Friedkin exploded the rules of documentary film-making in several works for television that were seminal for their dry, harsh and unpredictable point of view, and later revolutionised the popular genres of the crime film and the horror film, basically inventing the modern blockbuster with The French Connection,” Barbera said in a statement.

The French Connection, a drug smuggling drama starring Gene Hackman, won five Oscars in 1972, including best picture and best director.

Friedkin has gone on to make more than 30 films, documentaries and TV series, moving between smaller independent films and big studio movies. His most recent movie Killer Joe screened in competition at the Venice festival in 2011.

“Venice, especially during the Film Festival, is a spiritual home to me,” Friedkin said in a statement. “The Golden Lion (for Lifetime Achievement) is something I never expected but am proud to accept with gratitude and love.”