Cannes Film Festival to Honor Forest Whitaker With Lifetime Achievement Palme d’Or

Oscar winner Forest Whitaker will receive a lifetime achievement Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Whitaker will receive his honor at the opening ceremony for the 75th Cannes Film Festival on May 17. He will follow such filmmakers as Jodie Foster, Jeanne Moreau, Bernardo Bertolucci, Manoel de Oliveira, Jane Fonda and Agnès Varda, who were all similarly honored by the French festival.

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Cannes will also give For the Sake of Peace, directed by Christophe Castagne and Thomas Sametin and produced by Whitaker, a special screening on May 18. The Hollywood actor first appeared at Cannes in 1988 and received a best actor award for his star-turn in Clint Eastwood’s Bird, where he played jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker.

“Thirty-four years ago, attending Cannes for the first time changed my life, and assured me that I’d made the right decision to devote myself to finding connectivity in humanity through film. It’s always a privilege to return to this beautiful festival to both screen my own work, and to be inspired by many of the world’s greatest artists – and I feel incredibly honored to be celebrated as part of the festival’s momentous 75th anniversary,” Whitaker said in a statement on Thursday.

A Cannes regular, Whitaker and his movies appeared six times in the festival’s official selection and four times in competition, with Bird, Bill Duke’s A Rage in Harlem, Abel Ferrara’s Body Snatchers and Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.

The Cannes Film Festival is set to run this year from May 17 to 28.

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