Coppola Presents Lifetime Golden Lion to Herzog at Venice

At the opening ceremony of the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday night, Francis Ford Coppola presented Werner Herzog with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, describing him as “a limitless force working in every corner of cinema.” The event also marked Coppola’s first public appearance since undergoing heart surgery in Rome earlier this month.

“I’m here to praise Werner Herzog, though praise alone isn’t enough,” Coppola said. “The real miracle is that someone like him exists at all.” Highlighting works such as Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo, he emphasized how each Herzog film is “unique, different, and magnificent.”

Coppola continued: “He could fill an encyclopedia—and in a way, he is one. If Herzog has limits, I’ve never seen them.” He closed his speech with a playful challenge: “Werner’s life sets the bar for all of us: beat him if you can. I doubt anyone ever will. Werner, I’ll eat my hat if someone does.”

Receiving the award to a standing ovation, Herzog called Coppola’s words “very, very kind” and recalled the director’s generosity early in his career. “Francis has always been supportive. Decades ago, when I couldn’t afford a hotel, he let me stay in his San Francisco home, where I wrote the screenplay for Fitzcarraldo.”

Herzog revealed that the two almost collaborated on a film about the Spanish conquest of Mexico told from the Aztec perspective, though the project never went forward. “Still, those were wonderful days of planning,” he added, noting that Coppola also introduced him to his wife, Lena.

Coppola is attending Venice this year for the presentation of Megadoc, Mike Figgis’s documentary about the making of his 2024 epic. Herzog, meanwhile, is premiering Ghost Elephants, which follows the search for a legendary herd in Angola’s highlands. He will also lead a masterclass at the festival.

Coppola received his own Lifetime Achievement Golden Lion in 1992, while Herzog has long ties with Venice, having screened Scream of Stone (1991), The Wild Blue Yonder (2005), and in 2009, competing with both Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?

The festival opened with Paolo Sorrentino’s drama La Grazia, starring Toni Servillo as an Italian president weighing a euthanasia bill. This year’s Venice Film Festival runs through September 6.