CANNES FESTIVAL MICHAEL DOUGLAS

RECEIVES THE PALME D'OR D'HONOR

The opportunity to celebrate his brilliant career, his commitment to cinema, but also to man, because Michael Douglas works for many causes. Remember that since 1998, he has been a messenger of peace for the UN. Very quickly, he committed himself against international nuclear armament and for the control of firearms in the United States.

Michael Douglas back on the Croisette

In 1979, Michael Douglas went to the Cannes Film Festival for the very first time. It presents The Chinese Syndrome alongside actors Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon, as well as director James Bridges. In 1992, Paul Verhoeven's sulfurous Basic Instinct was presented in Competition. Shaking up the genre of thriller, the film shakes up the Croisette: it propels Sharon Stone to the rank of international icon and confirms all the power of play of Michael Douglas. The following year, Chute libre by Joel Schumacher was also presented in Competition, marking the American actor's third appearance at the Cannes Film Festival. It will then be necessary to wait 20 years for Michael Douglas to return to show the Marches du Palais du Festival. We are in 2013 and it is the world premiere of the film My life with Liberace by Steven Soderbergh.

And finally the consecration, twenty years later, this Tuesday, May 16, 2023 with the Palme d'or d'honneur. It is the American actress Uma Thurman who gives the Palme d'or d'honneur to this “eternal star”, this “generous artist”, as she calls him so well: Michael Douglas. Acclaimed by the public for his capital career and his commitment to cinema, the actor declares: “There are hundreds of film festivals in the world, but there is only one Cannes. I have wonderful memories of this Festival. The pleasure is immense to be able to meet and talk with such different people around the cinema. While a pandemic and then a terrible war have divided the world, the Cannes Film Festival confirms that cinema can transcend limits and bring people together. It's a privilege to

"You know the basics of my training, which has lasted for more than 50 years. We work with as much relentlessness on our failures as our successes. I thank the hundreds of teams, my wife Catherine and my daughter. I send them all my love, and thank them for their patience," the actor continued.

He recalls that his last role, that of Benjamin Franklin and recalls the links between France and his country. He concludes in French: "I would like to kiss you with all my heart".

Passed in front of the camera of the greatest such as Robert Zemeckis for In pursuit of the green diamond (1984), Ridley Scott for Black Rain (1989) or Barry Levinson with Harassment (1994), he goes so far as to obtain the grail of industry: the Oscar. He thus became the best actor of 1987 for his interpretation of Gordon Gekko, a greedy New York broker on Wall Street. The sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, was screened Out of Competition at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

"There are hundreds of festivals but there is only one Cannes Film Festival"

“The Festival has always reminded me that the magic of cinema is not only in what you see on screen but also in its ability to move people around the world."