Bernardo Bertolucci to Receive Honorary Palme d'Or at Cannes

Beginning this year and onward, the organizers of the Festival de Cannes will award an annual Honorary Palme d'Or, which will be presented during the Opening Ceremony of the 64th International Festival de Cannes. This recognition will be given to an important filmmaker, whose work is authoritative but who never received a Palme d'Or.

In the recent past, Woody Allen, in 2002, or Clint Eastwood in 2009, were awarded this distinction by President Gilles Jacob, on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Festival de Cannes. Now, it will become an annual tradition that will take place during the opening ceremony of the 64th Annual Festival and for festivals to come.

This year, the Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci will receive this honor, and it is fitting that Robert De Niro, Chair of the Jury, will be there when it is presented. De Niro was one of the actors in Bertolucci's Novecento (1976). The opening ceremony will be held May 11th and the festival will run through May 22nd.