Julia Roberts to receive Lifetime Achievement Award

Eat, Pray Love star to take the prize in San Sebastian

by Jennie Kermode

Julia Roberts will receive the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award at next month's San Sebastian Film Festival, a festival spokesperson has announced. The award will celebrate a 20-year career which has seen her go from Pretty Woman to the Oscar-winning Erin Brokovich. Recent hits such as Valentine's Day have kept her very much in the public eye.

As well as acting, Roberts has worked as a producer and has narrated films for charity. She has also appeared on Broadway. She describes herself as having a lighthearted approach to life and trying to bring that to the work she does, especially romantic comedies. "I like to watch them and I like to be in them. It's something that's increasingly difficult to find that spark of originality that makes if different than the ones that come before."

Previous recipients of the Donostia prize include Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino and Woody Allen. The San Sebastian Film Festival will run from 17 to 25 September and we'll be bringing you exclusive coverage here at Eye For Film.

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