He received the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema at the annual event's closing ceremony. Malkovich also presented his directorial debut, a political thriller called The Dancer Upstairs starring Javier Bardem and a documentary he produced entitled Which Way Home.

The Burn After Reading actor said he had been "incredibly lucky" throughout his career "to work with a lot of fantastic directors and cinematographers and actors and actresses" from "all over the world". Malkovich was not the only Hollywood star to be honoured, Antonio Banderas was also the toast of the event as he received the Festival President's Award.

It was a meaningful accolade for the actor who has fond memories of his time spent filming a mini series about the life of Mussolini in the Czech Republic - before he broke into Hollywood. He recalled taking "long walks" on Sundays, "getting lost in Prague" and reading Kafka.

After working in the country he went back to Spain thinking he would end up in Europe, but then he "got the call" to co-star alongside Tom Hanks in Philadelphia. The Spanish actor presented his film El Camino De Los Ingleses (Summer Rain) at the festival. It is a coming-of-age story inspired by a Antonio Soler's novel and his own reflections on growing up in Malaga.