Much of the cinema world, including Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Quentin Tarantino, descended on the Cannes Film Festival as the French Riviera extravaganza got its 78th edition underway.
Expectations are running high for a potentially banner Cannes. All of the ingredients — loads of stars, top-tier filmmakers, political intrigue — seem to be lined up. Over the next 12 days, Cannes will play host to megawatt premieres including those of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest and Ari Aster’s Eddington.
DiCaprio skirted the red carpet on Tuesday but drew a standing ovation when he presented De Niro with an honorary Palme d’Or. The moment, which brought together two of Martin Scorsese’s most regular stars, came 49 years after Taxi Driver was crowned with the Palme d’Or.
DiCaprio praised De Niro as “the archetype” actor, while also praising the 81-year-old performer — a fierce critic of US President Donald Trump — for “fighting for our democracy”. When the crowd rose to its feet for a lengthy ovation for De Niro, DiCaprio handed him the Palme. “Thanks, kiddo,” said De Niro.
After thanking the festival, De Niro quickly turned to speaking about Trump, who recently said he wants to enact a tariff on films made outside the country.
“Art is the truth. Art embraces diversity. And that’s why art is a threat to the autocrats and the fascists of the world,” said De Niro.
“America’s philistine president has had himself appointed head of one of America’s premier cultural institutions. He has cut funding and support to the arts, humanities and education. And now he announced a 100 per cent tariff on films made outside the United States. You can’t put a price on connectivity.”
The opening ceremony, which preceded the premiere of Amélie Bonnin’s French romance Leave One Day, was attended by Tarantino, who emerged to grandly declare the festival open, and then promptly dropped the mic and walked off stage. On Wednesday, Tarantino will pay tribute to Western filmmaker George Sherman. Also in attendance: Sean Baker, the Anora director and last year’s Palme d’Or winner.
The ceremony capped a busy day at Cannes that included a three-film salute to Ukraine, the introduction of the jury that will decide the Palme d’Or, headed by Juliette Binoche, and the debut of a restoration of Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush for its 100th anniversary.
Cannes is coming off a 2024 festival that produced a number of eventual Oscar contenders, including Emilia Pérez, The Substance, Flow and the best picture winner, Anora.
Cannes launched the same day Gérard Depardieu, one of France’s most famous actors, was found guilty of having sexually assaulted two women on a 2021 film set. In one of France’s most prominent #MeToo cases, Depardieu was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. The 76-year-old has long been a regular presence at Cannes.
