Melanie Goodfellow
Kate Winslet will be feted with the Zurich Film Festival’s Golden Icon Award at its upcoming 20th edition running from October 3 to 13.
Winslet will receive the award – paying tribute to her stellar career and filmography spanning films such Titanic to Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, The Reader, Sense and Sensibility and Avatar: The Way of Water – on October 7.
The ceremony will be followed by a screening of Ellen Kuras’s bio-pic Lee, in which Winslet stars as the war photographer Lee Miller, and acts as a co-producer.
Lee Miller’s son, Antony Penrose, and Lee co-producer Kate Solomon will also be in attendance.
“Kate Winslet is a true icon of cinema and shines through her versatility in big studio blockbusters as well as small indie productions. Her multifaceted choice of roles and her long Hollywood career make her a favourite with audiences of multiple generations,” said ZFF Artistic Director Christian Jungen.
“We are therefore delighted to welcome her in the year of our 20th anniversary and to honour her with the Golden Icon Award for her achievements. We have attempted several times to welcome her as a guest at the ZFF, and now it has finally worked out – a great gift for our anniversary edition.”
Previous winners of the Golden Icon Award include Jessica Chastain, Hugh Jackman, Cate Blanchett and Hugh Grant.
“Thank you to the Zurich Film Festival for this wonderful honor and for recognizing Lee, a film that has truly been a labour of love for me, and of which I am immensely proud,” said Winslet.
“I am so grateful to the Zurich Film Festival for creating this moment to celebrate our film and to everyone who has been a part of this epic journey. LEE has been and remains, a pride and joy for me, I am looking forward immensely to visiting Zurich in October, alongside my producing partner, Kate Solomon, as well as Lee Miller’s only son, the endlessly supportive Antony Penrose, and to share our film with you all in person.“
Lee tells the story of photographer Lee Miller (1907–1977), who made a name for herself as a correspondent for British Vogue during the Second World War. Winslet plays the fearless Lee–one of the most important female war photographers of the 20th century–on her mission to reveal the hidden truths of the Third Reich.
The film reunites Winslet with Oscar-nominated director Ellen Kuras for the first time since Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.
The cast also features Andy Samberg, Andrea Riseborough, Alexander Skarsgård, Josh O’Connor, and Marion Cotillard.