Director Constantin Costa-Gavras

Italian director Francesco Rosi will get the festival's top Golden Bear award for lifetime achievement at the Feb. 7-17 event, organizers also said Tuesday.

Costa-Gavras, who lives in France and is president of the French Cinematheque, made his international breakthrough with the political thriller "Z" in 1969, which won Oscars for best foreign language film and best film editing.

In 1982, his film "Missing," starring Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek, won a best screenplay Oscar. He also directed 1988's "Betrayed," starring Debra Winger and Tom Berenger, which focused on the militaristic right in the U.S.

Berlin festival director Dieter Kosslick said in a statement that "his work is both social critique and high art."

There was no immediate word on other members of the jury.

The festival plans to present a selection of 13 movies by Rosi, 85, whose films include "La Sfida (The Challenge)," "The Mattei Affair," "Lucky Luciano" and "Christ Stopped at Eboli."

In 2007, the top Golden Bear award in Berlin the first of the year's major European film festivals went to Chinese director Wang Quan'an's "Tuya's Marriage." The winner was chosen by a jury under leadership by "Taxi Driver" screenwriter Paul Schrader.

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