Oscar-winning American actor Sean Penn is set to make a special appearance to close the the seventh Rome International Film Festival on 17 November.

Penn will receive the Variety Humanitarian of the Year Award award for his charity work in Haiti, after he founded the Haitian Relief Organization in 2010. Penn's charitable efforts were in response to the devastation caused by the earthquake in early 2010 which killed over 300,000 people and left about a million homeless.

The outspoken actor and director is the latest Hollywood A-list actor to become involved with this year's Rome film festival. He joins Sylvester Stallone, Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, James Franco and Jude Law, among others.

For full details see festival website.