The poster of John Rambo (MOP.COM)

U.S. actor and film director Sylvester Stallone will receive a top prize at next month's Venice Film Festival, organisers said Wednesday.

The Glory to the Filmmaker award will honour a "very original filmmaker" whose films are "capable of tenderness even when dripping with blood," the festival organisers said in a statement. His work "has explored the brightest and darkest areas of the American dream," they said.

"Being honoured at the Venice Film Festival is something I have always hoped would become a reality and now that it's actually happened it's been well worth the wait," said the legendary star of films such as Rocky and Rambo.

Extracts from Stallone's new film The Expendables will be shown during the award handover, which will be held during the closing ceremony of the festival.

The prize, which is given "to a person who has left a mark on contemporary cinema", has been won in the past by Japan's Takeshi Kitano, Iranian Abbas Kiarostami and France's Agnes Varda.

The jury at the 66th Venice Film Festival, which runs from 2 to 12 September, will be headed by Ang Lee.

(AFP/CRIENGLISH.com August 13, 2009)