Robert De Niro will be among the tributes at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The beloved actor/director/producer will receive the coveted honorary Palme d’Or for lifetime achievement during the opening ceremony on May 13.
De Niro formerly presided over the Cannes jury in 2011 and iconically starred in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 Palme d’Or winner “Taxi Driver” and “The King of Comedy,” which opened the festival in 1983. De Niro returned most recently to the Croisette for another Scorsese collaboration with “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
“There are faces that stand in for the 7th Art, and lines of dialogue that leave an indelible mark on cinephilia. With his interiorized style, which surfaces in a gentle smile or a harsh gaze, Robert De Niro has become a cinematic legend,” the official announcement for De Niro’s honor at the 78th annual festival reads.
De Niro said in a press statement, “I have such close feelings for Festival de Cannes…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 78th Festival de Cannes will take place from Tuesday, May 13, to Saturday, May 24. After receiving his Palme on May 13, De Niro will meet festival-goers for a masterclass on the stage of the Debussy Theatre on May 14.
Meryl Streep and George Lucas both received honorary Palmes in 2024.
De Niro began his career collaborating with auteurs Brian De Palma (“The Wedding Party,” “Greetings,” “Hi, Mom!”) and Martin Scorsese, famously starting with Scorsese’s “Mean Streets.” The duo has worked together for more than a half-century since, including “Raging Bull,” which won De Niro Best Actor (he also had landed an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather Part II”). De Niro’s career spans films with Quentin Tarantino, David O. Russell, Michael Mann, Harold Ramis, and Jay Roach. De Niro directed his first feature film “A Bronx Tale” in 1993
In addition to acting and directing, De Niro founded TriBeCa Productions in 1989 with fellow producer Jane Rosenthal. The duo later began the TriBeCa Film Festival in 2002 to help New Yorkers reclaim their battered neighborhood after 9/11. De Niro’s political commitment has extended to becoming a “fervent defender of an egalitarian, humanist society,” as also reflected in the roles he has selected and projects he has produced, ranging from features highlighting organized crime, the decline of the State, the trauma of the Vietnam War, and the “manipulation of souls by the entertainment industry.”
The official selection for the 2025 Cannes Film Festival will be announced on Thursday, April 10.
