The 63rd Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, was opened on 30 August 2006 with Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia and was closed on 9 September 2006. Host of the event was Italian actress Isabella Ferrari. During the festival, retrospectives were held on the one hundredth anniversary of the births of three major Italian directors: Roberto Rossellini, Mario Soldati and Luchino Visconti. The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to American director David Lynch. All the films running the contest were shown for the first time as world premiere in the festival history since the Second World War.