Michael Douglas joins the likes of past winners Tom Cruise, Jodie Foster and Agnès Varda as the Honorary Palme d’Or recipient.
ADVERTISEMENTMichael Douglas will receive the Honorary Palme d’Or tonight at the Cannes Film Festival to celebrate his career.
The festival will pay tribute to the American actor and hand him the award during the Opening Ceremony. As part of the tribute, the festival will screen a previously unreleased documentary by Amine Mesta on Douglas titled Michael Douglas, The Prodigal Son.
The doc’s synopsis reads: “This special documentary shows us how Michael, an actor, and producer like his father Kirk, had to embrace their resemblance throughout his remarkable career in order to assert his difference. The time to learn how to become Michael when your name is Douglas.”
“It is always a breath of fresh air to be at Cannes, which has long provided a wonderful platform for bold creators, artistic audacities, and excellence in storytelling,” Douglas said.
“From my first time here in 1979 for The China Syndrome to my most recent premiere for Behind the Candelabra in 2013, the Festival has always reminded me that the magic of cinema is not just in what we see onscreen but in its ability to impact people all around the world. After more than 50 years in the business, it’s an honour to return to the Croisette to open the Festival and embrace our shared global language of film.”
The Fatal Attraction actor’s last appearance in Cannes was in 2013 for the debut of Steven Soderbergh’s Behind the Candelabra, which also starred Matt Damon.
Last year’s recipient of the honorary Palme d’Or was Tom Cruise, who was on the Croisette with the much-publicised premiere of Top Gun: Maverick. Past winners also include Forest Whitaker, Jodie Foster, Alain Delon, Agnès Varda, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jane Fonda. The gong was first awarded to Ingmar Bergman in 1997.
Euronews Culture is present at the French seaside resort throughout the Cannes Film Festival which ends on 27 May.
