De Niro Accepts Honorary Palme d’Or in Cannes
During the opening ceremony, actor Leonardo DiCaprio presented Robert De Niro with the prestigious Palme d’Or award. The 81-year-old, two-time Academy Award winner was honoured for his legendary roles in films such as The Godfather Part II (1974), Raging Bull (1980), Taxi Driver (1976) and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).
During his speech, De Niro criticised President Trump, who he called an “enemy of the arts.”
“In my country, we’re fighting like hell for the democracy we once took for granted. And that affects all of us here because the arts are democratic,” De Niro said. “Art is inclusive. It brings people together, like tonight. Art looks for truth, art embraces diversity and that’s why art is a threat — that’s why we are a threat — to autocrats and fascists.”
De Niro then turned to Trump’s proposed 100% tariff on all films produced outside of the U.S., which was announced just over a week before the festival. “Let that sink in for a minute,” he said. “You can’t put a price on creativity, but apparently you can put a tariff on it.” And we, for once agree with the A-Lister/
In other news, for the second year in a row, a small group of the festival’s freelance workers briefly protested outside the opening ceremony. The action was organised by the French labor collective Sous les écrans la dèche (Broke Behind the Screens), which aims to improve working conditions and to regain “intermittent employee” status for thousands of French TV and film workers at Cannes, according to the group’s website.
Notably absent was a festival regular, French film star Gérard Depardieu, who was just found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a 2021 film set. He was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. Depardieu’s lawyer says his client will appeal.
Editor in Chief of Ikon London Magazine, journalist, film producer and founder of The DAFTA Film Awards (The DAFTAs).
