The actress, already a three-time Oscar winner, will receive the recognition during the opening of the festival whose jury is chaired by Greta Gerwig
Meryl Streep will receive the honorary Palme d’Or Cannes Film Festival during the opening ceremony of the 77th edition, as confirmed via an official press release from the festival itself.
The three-time Oscar winner’s presence at the festival will mark her first trip to Cannes since presenting Fred Schepisi’s A Cry in the Night in 1989, for which she won the best actress award.
In his career, Meryl Streep appeared in two other films selected at Cannes: Manhattan by Woody Allen, presented out of competition in 1979, and The Homesman by Tommy Lee Jones, presented in competition in 2014.
Streep’s words
“I am immensely honored to receive the news of this prestigious award” Streep said in a statement.”Winning an award in Cannes, for the international community of artists, has always represented the highest achievement in cinematic art. Being in the shadow of those who have been honored before is scary and exciting in equal measure. I can’t wait to get to France to thank everyone in person this May” Streep continued.
Cannes Film Festival President Iris Knobloch and General Delegate Thierry Frémaux said: “We all have something of Meryl Streep inside us!“. “We all have something in us of ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’, ‘Sophie’s Choice’, ‘Out of Africa’, ‘The Bridges of Madison County’, ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ and ‘Mamma Mia!” the duo said in a joint statement.
“As he has spanned nearly 50 years of cinema and embodied countless masterpieces, Meryl Streep is part of our collective imaginationof our shared love for cinema“, continued Knobloch and Frémaux.
Cannes 2024: the poster of the 77th edition is inspired by the films of Akira Kurosawa
The Cannes Film Festival will take place from 14 to 25 May. George Lucas also received the honorary Palm during the closing ceremony.
