Julianne Moore receives the Marc'Aurelio Acting Award at the 2010 International Rome Film Festival

Julianne Moore on the red carpet

Following in the footsteps of previous winners Sean Connery, Sophia Loren, Al Pacino and last year's recipient Meryl Streep, the 2010 Marc'Aurelio lifetime achievement acting award at the International Rome Film Festival was presented to one of my absolute favourite actresses, the always brilliant and dazzlingly beautiful Julianne Moore. Arriving for the Italian premiere of the film The Kids Are All Right in Santa Cecilia at the Auditorium Parco della Musica yesterday evening, where she would also collect the prize from the Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, she first stopped to chat, pose for photographs and sign dozens of autographs for the numerous fans who had started lining the red carpet route a good hour before her arrival.

The timing could not have been better for this particular event. Earlier in the day Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had managed, once again, to create worldwide outrage after his homophobic comments during a discussion about his latest scandal. Defending his own behaviour, he stated: It is better to like beautiful girls than be gay. In The Kids Are All Right, directed by Lisa Cholodenko, Moore and Annette Bening play a lesbian couple who are parents of two children, and whose relationship is challenged by the arrival of their kids' biological father, played by the excellent Mark Ruffalo. It was inevitable, therefore, that she would be asked to comment on Berlusconi's words at the film press conference earlier in the day. I think it's unfortunate, archaic and idiotic, she said, and underling the message that the movie illustrates so well: What children need is two loving parents. It doesn't matter if they are two moms, or two dads, or a mom and a dad.

It was immensely pleasing to hear the loud applause and cheers of appreciation as the titles rolled at the end of The Kids Are All Right in Santa Cecilia last night. The film is, dare I say it, perfect – brilliantly written, wonderfully paced and with finely nuanced performances by every single cast member. Here's hoping that this funny and at times deeply moving study of modern relationships will be a huge success in Italy too, where it may well have the power to seriously enlighten and educate the movie-going public.

Watch a video of Julianne Moore on the red carpet and her acceptance of the Marc'Aurelio award below or click here to watch on YouTube.