Barbra Streisand is set to receive an honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May, according to a Variety report published Wednesday and a subsequent announcement from festival organizers.
The honor will be presented May 23 during the festival’s closing awards ceremony, in what Cannes says will be Streisand’s first appearance at the festival.
“It is with a sense of pride and deep humility, that I’m honored to join the company of past Honorary Palme d’Or recipients whose work has long inspired me,” Streisand said in a statement released Wednesday. She added that, “in these challenging times,” movies can open “our hearts and minds” to stories that reflect shared humanity and resilience, and said cinema “transcends borders and politics.”
Festival director Thierry Frémaux described Streisand as “a global star” and “above all an artist,” saying she represents a rare bridge between Broadway and Hollywood, and between the music hall stage and the big screen. In its announcement, Cannes said Streisand had reached the summit of the entertainment industry and argued that her influence on popular culture in the second half of the 20th century was even greater than her already formidable record of achievement.
Streisand, an EGOT winner, has built a career spanning more than six decades as a singer, actress, director and filmmaker. Her film credits include Funny Girl, The Way We Were and Yentl, which she also directed and produced, and that she has won two Academy Awards and 10 Grammys, among other honors.
The press release also highlighted Streisand’s philanthropic work, including the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai and the Streisand Foundation’s support for gender and minority equality, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental causes, medical research and arts education for disadvantaged children.
Previous recipients of the honorary Palme d’Or have included filmmakers and actors such as Agnès Varda, Marco Bellocchio, Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro and Peter Jackson, who is also being honored this year. The 79th Festival de Cannes is scheduled for May 12-23.
Variety had also previously reported that Streisand was expected to perform at Sunday’s Oscars during the in memoriam segment in tribute to her late The Way We Were co-star Robert Redford, although that plan was still described as under discussion.