25 years after the sensational success of The Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship of the Ring, which began its journey right at the Cannes Film Festival, New Zealand director Peter Jackson will return to the Croisette for this 79th edition of the Festival, which will celebrate him with the Honorary Palme d’Or on the opening night of the event, May 12.
“To be honored by the Cannes Film Festival is one of the greatest privileges of my career, as it has been such a significant part of my ‘journey in cinema’: I presented my first film, Bad Taste, at the Marché du Film in 1988, and in 2001, the preview sequence of The Fellowship of the Ring. I am incredibly grateful to the festival for this recognition, which it has bestowed in the past upon filmmakers who are a source of great inspiration to me.”
The President of the Festival, Iris Knobloch, is enthusiastic about “welcoming and thanking a director gifted with boundless creativity, who has brought prestige to the heroic-fantasy genre.”
And who, according to the festival’s General Delegate, Thierry Frémaux, “has permanently transformed Hollywood cinema and its conception of spectacle. Not only a great technician, but a formidable storyteller and an unpredictable artist: what will his next universe look like?”
The other Honorary Palme d’Or will go to actress, director, producer, screenwriter, singer, and singer-songwriter Barbra Streisand, a legend who has reached the heights of entertainment through 19 film roles, 3 directorial efforts, 2 Oscars (the first woman to win for Best Original Song in 1977), 11 Golden Globes (the first woman to win for Best Director in 1984); 37 studio albums, 13 soundtracks, and 10 Grammy Awards: the only artist to reach number one in album sales for six consecutive decades, and the female artist with the highest number of number-one albums of all time as of 2023.
“This year we wanted to pay tribute to an artist who has left her mark through her work and her search for uncompromising freedom,” states Iris Knobloch. “As a woman, I am proud to express our admiration for this incredible creator and courageous citizen, whose example stands the test of time and continues to inspire us.”
An example of Streisand’s tenacity and determination comes from the film Yentl. Struck by a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer that she discovered in 1963, it took her 20 years to transform it into that film, which she ultimately directed and starred in, as well as adapting the screenplay and producing. A film that made history: for the first time, Hollywood provided such a significant budget to a woman.
Streisand also says she is honored to share the award with artists she deeply admires:
“In these changing times, cinema has the ability to open our hearts and minds to stories that reflect our shared humanity, and to perspectives that remind us of both our fragility and our resilience. Cinema transcends borders and politics, and affirms the power of imagination to forge a more compassionate world.”
For Frémaux, Streisand is “the legendary synthesis of Broadway and Hollywood: hearing her sing and seeing her act are part of our best years.”
