Gia Coppola will be honored by Italy’s Filming Italy Sardegna festival where “The Last Showgirl” director  will receive the event’s Women Power Excellence Award. In a statement Tiziana Rocca – the marketing guru and current Taormina Film Festival chief who also heads the event in the Italian island of Sardinia – praised Coppola as a fresh voice in international auteur cinema who has been able to depict “with a unique and deep look the contradictions of the human soul and the transformations of contemporary society.”

“Her presence is a source of great pride for our festival and a tangible sign of the increasingly strong link between American cinema and our country,” Rocca added. “The Last Showgirl,” which stars Pamela Anderson as Shelley, a veteran showgirl who finds herself at a crossroads with her stage production on its last legs, was released in Italy in April by Be Water Film in collaboration with Medusa Film.