Robert De Niro honoured at Marrakech Film Festival

Actor's long-time friend Martin Scorsese handed him the award

MOROCCO: On Saturday, Hollywood actor Robert De Niro received a tribute award at the Marrakech Film Festival from the hands of his old friend, director Martin Scorcese.

The secret life of Robert De Niro

Born in New York in 1943, De Niro's career began on Broadway, before he discovered cinema at the age of 20. He worked on numerous films with Scorsese, from Taxi Driver in 1976 to Casino in 1995. The double Oscar winner's ninth collaboration with Scorsese will be Netflix's The Irishman, which is set to release next year.

PHOTO: VARIETY

"We made our first film together, I think it was over 45 years ago and it is one of the great blessings of my life," said De Niro. Scorsese, while handing him the award joked, "What would this be? The mid-point of his career? It is probably more accurate to say the peak of his career but then this guy has more peaks than the Atlas mountains."

PHOTO: THE WRAP

De Niro used the occasion to lash out at US President Donald Trump and his "America First" mantra. He said, "Sadly, in my country we are going through a grotesque version of nationalism marked by greed, xenophobia and selfishness under the banner of 'America First'."

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The star has been a frequent critic of Trump and used an expletive to condemn the American president at the televised Tony Awards in June, receiving a standing ovation.

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