Sawt Falasteen - Hitchcock heroine Novak awarded Venice lifetime achievement award

Despite a short-lived career, Novak became "a living legend, earning her rightful place in history, with the respect and esteem of the film critics and industry alike", the festival said.

Novak said she was "deeply, deeply touched" to receive the award, which will be presented during the festival, which runs from August 27 to September 6.

"To be recognised for my body of work at this time in my life is a dream come true. I will treasure every moment I spend in Venice. It will fill my heart with joy," she said in a statement.

Novak played the chilling dual role of suicidal blonde Madeleine Elster and brunette shop girl Judy Barton in "Vertigo", which was released in 1958.

Other memorable roles included a prostitute with a big heart in "Kiss Me, Stupid" by Billy Wilder (1964), a witch in Richard Quine's "Bell, Book and Candle" (1958) and an adulteress in another Quine film, "Strangers When We Meet" (1960).

In 1965 she largely turned her back on Hollywood, refusing to accept the iron-fisted rule of studio executives, and turned to painting instead.

The festival's artistic director Alberto Barbera said that Novak had not planned on becoming an actress but "inadvertently" become a screen legend.

She was "one of the most beloved icons of an entire era of Hollywood films, from her auspicious debut during the mid-1950s until her premature and voluntary exile from the gilded cage of Los Angeles a short while later," he said.

"Independent and nonconformist, she created her own production company and went on strike to renegotiate a salary that was much lower than that of her male co-stars," he added.

The award "celebrates a star who was emancipated, a rebel at the heart of Hollywood who illuminated the dreams of movie lovers," Barbera said.

The documentary "Kim Novak's Vertigo" by Alexandre Philippe, made in collaboration with the actress, will be presented in its world premiere screening during the festival.

H.Nasr--SF-PST