Jodie Foster is to be awarded an honorary Palme d’Or by the Cannes film festival.
Foster, who has won two Oscars for best actress (for The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs), will also be the festival’s guest of honour at its opening ceremony on 6 July. She first attended Cannes as a 13-year-old in 1976 as a cast member of Taxi Driver, which went on to win the Palme d’Or. Her third film as director, The Beaver, was screened out of competition at the festival in 2011, as was her 2016 thriller Money Monster.
Foster said: “Cannes is a festival to which I owe so much, it has completely changed my life. Although I had directed before, my first time on the Croisette was a defining moment for me. Showcasing one of my films here has always been a dream … Cannes is a festival by auteur film-makers who honour artists.”
Festival president Pierre Lescure said: “Jodie Foster has provided us with an amazing gift by coming to celebrate the return of the festival on the Croisette.”
Cannes general delegate Thierry Frémaux added: “Jodie never ceases to reinvent herself. She questions with her piercing gaze, learns from others, and is willing to step back from her beliefs in order to forge new morals.”
Lescure and Frémaux are due to announce the festival’s lineup on 3 June after a series of delays to the event caused by the Covid pandemic. It is scheduled to go ahead in July, but new travel regulations brought in by the French government may prevent delegates from the UK from attending.
