Cannes Film Festival’s 79th edition opened Tuesday with a tribute to Peter Jackson, who received an honorary Palme d’Or at the start of the French Riviera gathering. The festival’s opening ceremony and early red-carpet scenes also made room for a prominent cast of international stars, including the filmmaker and acting figures connected to major Hollywood-facing franchises and current international releases.
The tribute to Jackson unfolded with actor Elijah Wood introducing the New Zealand director onstage, recalling Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” work. Jackson, who has directed and produced across fantasy and documentary filmmaking, said he had “never figured out why I’m getting a Palme d’Or” and added, “I’m not a Palme d’Or sorta guy.” The ceremony continued with Jackson being serenaded with “Get Back,” a performance that pointed to his 2021 Beatles documentary as the director sat stage right mouthing the lyrics.
The festival’s official opening was led by Jane Fonda and Gong Li. Fonda declared, “Cinema has always been an act of resistance,” framing the opening remarks as a reminder of how film festivals can serve as public forums as well as cultural events.
Against that backdrop, Cannes appeared to quickly move from glamour into debate. The introduction of the Palme d’Or jury, which will decide the festival’s top prize, included blunt comments from jurors about holding a film festival during a period of geopolitical conflict.
In one exchange, Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty, known for collaborations with director Ken Loach, pointed to this year’s Cannes poster—“Thelma and Louise”—while discussing attending Cannes amid what he described as “genocide in Gaza.” Quoting “King Lear,” Laverty said: “Madmen lead the blind.” He also criticized what he described as blacklisting connected to views on the war in Gaza, saying, “Shame on Hollywood people who do that,” and remarking on “Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo blacklisted” because of their opposition to the “murder of women and children in Gaza.”
Presiding over the jury, Park Chan-wook said politics and cinema go together and argued that films should not be rejected for their messaging. “Art and politics are not concepts that are in conflict with each other,” Park said. “One cannot disqualify a film on the pretext that it has a political message. Just as one cannot reject a film because it would not be political enough.”
The nine-member jury also includes Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård, Ruth Negga and Demi Moore. Moore, speaking on issues that have dominated conversation at this year’s festival, said: “AI is here, and so to fight it is to, in a sense, to fight something that we will lose.” She added that “to find ways in which we can work with it” is a “more valuable path,” and she said, “Are we doing enough to protect ourselves? I don’t know. My inclination would be to say probably not.”
While the festival has long drawn an international mix of filmmakers, Cannes’s early programming suggests a continued shift away from heavy studio-driven premieres. The closest thing in the slate that resembles a major mainstream franchise release is an anniversary celebration for “Fast & Furious,” and the article described Hollywood studio films as largely absent—either deterred by concerns about reception or by the cost of flying top stars to the Cote d’Azur.
Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux said Hollywood was “reshaping” amid Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, and he told reporters on Monday: “I hope the studio films will come back.” Still, the festival’s public-facing focus has stayed on its broader prestige pipeline, with Cannes increasingly framed as a breeding ground for Oscar contenders and awards-season momentum.
Over the coming two weeks, Cannes is expected to keep delivering high-profile premieres and appearances. The article listed filmmakers set to unveil new movies, including Pedro Almodovar, James Gray, Na Hong-jin, Pawel Pawlikowski and Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and it also cited a star-heavy presence ahead that includes Kristen Stewart, Barbra Streisand, Adam Driver, Javier Bardem, Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Rami Malek, Sebastian Stan and Sandra Hüller. The festival’s proximity to mainstream television storytelling was also referenced through “The White Lotus,” noting that the fourth season of Mike White’s HBO series is set around a trip to Cannes and began shooting on the French Riviera last month.