Oscar-winning Italian actress Sophia Loren will be honoured by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the long-awaited Los Angeles venue set to open this week. Loren is to receive the inaugural 'Visionary Award' from the Academy's new museum, alongside Ethiopian filmmaker Haile Gerima who will be presented with the 'Vantage Award.'

The Visionary Award acknowledges an “extensive body of work [that] has advanced the art of cinema,” stated the museum, which added that the new awards “reflected its mission to celebrate and advance the understanding of the diverse and varied stories of cinema and cinematic artists.” Loren is set to receive the award on 25 September during a gala event at the Los Angeles museum whose opening has been stalled several times due to the covid-19 pandemic.