Antonio Banderas to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Munich Film Festival

Spanish actor Antonio Banderas will receive this year's CineMerit award for lifetime achievement at the Munich International Film Festival.

Banderas began his film career in the 1980s together with Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and films such as Labyrinth of Passion (1982), Matador (1986), and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989).

He went to Hollywood in the 1990s, starring in films like Philadelphia (1993), Interview With the Vampire (1994), and Roberto Rodriguez‘s Desperado (1995), which made him a bona fide action star.

The 58-year-old actor is arguably best known for his role as the hero in Martin Campbell's The Mask of Zorro (1998). Banderas poked fun at his own image as the suave swordsman in the Shrek films, for which he voiced the feline swashbuckler, Puss in Boots.

Throughout his career, Banderas has kept one foot in Hollywood — starring in the Spy Kids franchise and, in a Golden Globe-nominated performance, as Pablo Picasso in National Geographic's Genius mini-series — and one back home in Spain. He has continued to work with Almodovar on such features as The Skin I Live In (2011) and I'm So Excited! (2013).

His latest feature, Pain and Glory, which premiered in Cannes last month, sees Banderas come full circle, starring as a lightly fictionalised version of the Spanish director. The role won Banderas the best actor honour in Cannes.

Banderas will be at the Munich festival on June 29 to receive the award and present the German premiere of Pain and Glory.

“We're extremely pleased to be able to welcome Antonio Banderas to the Munich Film Festival at this high point in his career,” said Munich festival director Diana Iljine in a statement.

Munich will also screen Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Desperado, The Mask of Zorro, and Alan Parker's 1997 musical, Evita — which stars Banderas alongside Madonna — in honour of the Spanish star.

The Munich International Film Festival runs from June 27 to July 6.