"He is an uncontested master in his craft. He knows no bounds when it comes to preparing himself for a new role and consequently drives himself to exhaustion to justify his art", the jury elaborates, and adds "Robert De Niro has made himself a legend in his own time. The movie industry owes him for innumerable never-to-be-forgotten moments". Robert De Niro is the superlative actor, in a career that began 35 years ago. In his first collaboration with director Martin Scorsese, in 1973 in "Mean Streets", he emerged as an exceptional talent, whose achievements made it necessary to set new standards in the evaluation of acting performances. For this performance, he won the New York Film Critics’ Award, while two other collaborations with Scorsese, "Taxi Driver" (1976) and "Cape Fear" (1992), both brought him Academy Award nominations. De Niro received his first Oscar as early as 1974 for his role in "The Godfather, Part II". Considering the diversity of the numerous characters that he has played in over 70 films, it was here that the native New Yorker found the genre in which he really shined: the Mafia movie. These include "Once Upon A Time In America", "Goodfellas" and "Casino", which are not only hailed as milestones in his career, but have also gone down as gems in cinematic history. More recently, De Niro has had considerable achievements in the comedy genre with sophisticated comedies like "Analyze This" or "Meet the Parents". The 1980 drama "Raging Bull", which earned Robert De Niro his second Oscar for his performance as an overweight, has-been boxing champ, stands alongside "The Mission" (1986), where De Niro plays a reformed mercenary, as the symbol of his singularity as an actor. Robert de Niro has worked together with the greatest producers and directors in the movie business. Following his directing debut in 1993 with "A Bronx Tale", he has become a member of this very elite troupe. The thriller "The Good Shepherd", an exemplary work about the birth of the CIA which he directed in 2007, won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale. His support of filmmaking extends to his activities as the head of the Tribeca Film Center and as the co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, one of the most popular and highly respected forums for cinematic art.

Laudation: Mario Adorf
Presenter: Martin Scorsese