Signourney Weaver is to receive a lifetime achievement award during this year's Chicago International film festival, at a gala evening hosted by Bill Kurtis of A & E television.

"We're thrilled to have Sigourney Weaver as our lifetime achievement award recipient," said festival director Michael Kutza. "She is truly a star with cinematic presence and dramatic versatility."

Weaver recently starred in director David Mirkin's romantic comedy caper Heartbreakers, alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt, and has also collected a handful of awards and nominations over the years for films such as Gorillas In The Mist, Working Girl and The Ice Storm.