The award ceremony is set for May 10 and will be broadcast live on public service broadcaster Rai Uno.
“Isabella has managed to challenge every commonplace with great freedom, confirming herself to be a multifaceted and nonconformist artist, a model of great fame, a great performer and an ironic author of provocative films and theatrical monologues, and finally an ethologist and environmental activist,” Detassis said.
“The Special David therefore wants to celebrate a cosmopolitan and at the same time very Italian protagonist, a precious ambassador of our culture, who makes a return to our cinema today in Alice Rohrwacher's film La Chimera, in competition at Cannes.”
Rossellini, 70, is the daughter of Swedish film star Ingrid Bergman and Italian director Roberto Rossellini.
She drew acclaim for her successful tenure as a Lancôme model until shortly before her 43rd birthday in 1995, when she was fired, and for her acting roles in films such as Blue Velvet (1986) and Death Becomes Her (1992).
Rossellini received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance in Crime of the Century (1996).
She is also highly regarded for her involvement in conservation efforts and training guide dogs for the blind.
Rossellini's love of animals has inspired many of her recent projects — including Green Porno, an offbeat TV series about the sexual behaviour of various insects, and her new solo project, Darwin’s Smile, which explores how animals express emotion.
In 2019, Rossellini earned a masters degree in animal behaviour and conservation at Hunter College in New York.
“When you’re old, you can do everything you’ve always wanted to do. That’s the great fun about being old,” Rossellini told website, Page Six Style in March.
“I think you acquire a lot of freedom.
“When you’re young, you have many obligations … you have children to raise, you have to make it at your career.
“When you’re older, all these things have been answered. So now, I just do what I like.”
