The actor Julianne Moore yesterday labelled a homophobic comment by Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, "unfortunate, archaic and idiotic" during a visit to the Rome film festival.

Moore, in Italy to collect a lifetime achievement award, was speaking at a press conference following a screening of Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right, in which she and Annette Bening play lesbian parents. Earlier in the day, Berlusconi had dismissed calls for him to resign over a scandal involving his relationship with a 17-year-old girl, stating: "It is better to like beautiful girls than be gay."

Asked to voice her opinion, Moore said she found the comments repulsive. "I think it's unfortunate, archaic and idiotic," she said. "To hint or to say that there is something wrong with homosexuality ... It's embarrassing when people continue to perpetrate these untruths." She added: "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."

Moore later received the Marcus Aurelius award for lifetime achievement from the Italian film-maker Paolo Sorrentino. Previous winners of the prize include Sean Connery, Sophia Loren, Al Pacino and Meryl Streep.

The Rome festival has experienced something of a rough ride this year with a series of protests against Italian cuts taking place. On Friday, producers of Massy Tadjedin's Last Night, starring Keira Knightley and Eva Mendes, were forced to abandon plans for a red carpet approach to the film's premiere due to an invasion by protesting actors, directors, screenwriters and other industry workers. "We are pleased to renounce the red carpet and support you," Tadjedin told the ANSA news agency.

Since then, however, stars such as Bruce Springsteen – promoting a documentary, The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town – Aaron Eckhart (starring in Rabbit Hole) and Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) have all made appearances. The festival finishes on Friday.