Robert De Niro to receive Honorary Palme d'Or of the 78th Cannes Film Festival

Robert De Niro will receive the Cannes Film Festival’s Honorary Palme d’Or at the opening night ceremony of the 78th edition on 13 May. 

On the following day, the iconic American actor will take part in a masterclass on the stage of the Debussy Theater.

“I have such close feelings for Festival de Cannes,” De Niro said in a statement provided by the festival. “Especially now, when there’s so much in the world pulling us apart, Cannes brings us together — storytellers, filmmakers, fans, and friends. It’s like coming home.” 

The actor has had a long relationship with the Cannes Film Festival. He presided over the jury in 2011 and last walked the red carpet there for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

In 1976, De Niro starred in two competition films, Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900 and Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, which won the Palme d’Or. 

He opened the festival in 1982 with Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, and the next year presented Once Upon a Time in America, Sergio Leone’s last film, before returning to the Croisette with Roland Joffé’s The Mission, which also won the Palme. 

This year’s Cannes Film Festival runs from 13 – 24 May. As previously announced, French actress Juliette Binoche will succeed Greta Gerwig as jury president of this year’s festival. It will mark the second time in Cannes history that the jury will be headed by a woman for two consecutive years – following 1966 when Sophia Loren took over president of the jury duties from Olivia de Havilland. 

The Official Selection of the 78th Cannes Film Festival will be announced on Thursday 10 April – stay tuned to Euronews Culture for the full breakdown of this year’s line-up.