Taking the Honorary Golden Palm, Robert de Niro declared Donald Trump an enemy of the arts
« In my country, we are struggling very much about the democracy we have ever taken for granted. And this affects all of us here because the arts are democratic, » the actor said. « Art is inclusive. It unites people as tonight. Art seeks the truth, art accepts diversity and therefore art is a threat – so we are a threat – for autocrats and fascists. »
| The actor has repeatedly passed the red carpet in Cannes, and in 2011 he was chairman of the jury of the competition program. |
Awarding the award to De Niro Leonardo DiCaprio said it was a great honor for him to honor the man who had always been the « archetype » of the one whom everyone had admired. « He was not just another great actor, he was the actor, » DiCaprio added, quoting Hollywood Reporter.
He jokes that De Niro has taught almost every actor how to talk to himself, looking into a mirror, including him, and ended with the words that although De Niro usually avoids the spotlights, he deserves them tonight.
« If you know Bob and I think many of you in this hall know him, you know that he is not a person who is particularly glad to be in the lights of the floodlights outside the camera. If I am lucky, I will get a nod from him tonight, maybe even half-cowing. For the lasting influence he has had on so many lives, on my life, « DiCaprio said, before presenting the video with his best moments.
This year in the role of the chairman of the jury is the French actress Juliet Binos, whose introductory words were also not deprived of a political message, mentioning wars, poverty, climate change and misogynia.
« Today, the winds of pain are so strong that they refer to the weakest, hostages from October 7, and all the hostages, the prisoners, the drowned, who experience horror and die in a terrible sense of abandonment and indifference. Against the infinity of this storm, we have to turn, to transform our fragments, to redeem get rid of our fears, from our selfishness« She said, quoting Hollywood Reporter.
The ceremony also paid tribute to David Lynch, which in 2001 won the Direct Direct Award for the movie « Mulcholand Drive », and Quentin Tarantino surprisingly appeared on the stage.
