Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn addressed evolving industry perspectives on aging women and celebrated feminist milestones ahead of the world premiere of Kornél Mundruczó’s road-trip dramedy Place to Be at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Wednesday. Speaking at the festival press conference, the 93-year-old screen icon (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, The Exorcist, The Last Picture Show) admitted she once anticipated her career would end in early adulthood. Burstyn said,
I was sure I’d be finished by 40. I didn’t think it would go on much longer than that. The fact that I’m 93 and still working is a miracle of some kind that I’ve attracted into my life somehow, and I’m totally amazed. At the same time, I’m deeply grateful… to all the women who worked on changing the consciousness for the world in regard to women and all of the work that they did that made that possible for us to continue to have longer lives as artists.
During the discussion, Burstyn paid tribute to trailblazing feminist leader and Ms. magazine founder Gloria Steinem, reciting her signature dialogue from Martin Scorsese’s 1974 film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, “It’s my life. It’s not some man’s life that I’m helping him out with,” and noting how second-wave feminism reshaped autonomy for women onscreen and off. Directed by Mundruczó (Pieces of a Woman) from a screenplay by frequent collaborator Kata Wéber, Place to Be stars Burstyn as Brooke Graham, an elderly widow who embarks on a cross-country journey from Chicago to New York to return a stray racing pigeon named Intruder to its rightful owner. En route, she strikes up an unexpected, emotionally restorative rapport with Nelson (Taika Waititi), a middle-aged, recently divorced businessman grappling with his own life crossroads. The ensemble cast also features Pamela Anderson, Murray Bartlett, Édgar Ramírez, Lena Waithe, David Wenham, and Maika Monroe.
Mundruczó explained that he conceived the project specifically for Burstyn following their collaboration on his 2020 drama Pieces of a Woman, aiming to create an unconventional, tender late-in-life love story that blends lighthearted comedy with deeper reflections on mortality and purpose. The premiere coincides with Burstyn receiving the Venice Film Festival’s prestigious Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, celebrating her six-decade career across stage and screen.
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