Paris, France – The closing ceremony of the 79th Cannes Film Festival will take place this evening, Saturday, May 23, amid great anticipation for the announcement of the festival’s award winners, most notably the Palme d’Or, following a festival that saw wide participation from some of the world’s most prominent filmmakers.
22 films are competing for the Palme d’Or
This year’s official competition features a strong field of 22 films, including some of the most prominent works of world cinema, such as “A Bitter Christmas” by Pedro Almodóvar, “A Woman’s Life” by Charlene Bourgeois-Taquit, and “Parallel Stories,” as well as works by renowned directors such as James Gray, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Lukas Dhont, and Andrey Zvyagintsev.
The jury, comprised of nine members and chaired by South Korean director Park Chan-wook, will select the winner of the Palme d’Or, amid expectations of strong competition among a group of prominent filmmakers participating this year, including Spain’s Pedro Almodóvar, Iran’s Asghar Farhadi, and Romania’s Cristian Mungiu.
Wide cinematic diversity
The list of films participating in this year’s festival reflects a great cinematic diversity, bringing together different cinematic schools from Europe, Asia, and Latin America. This has given the festival a diverse, international character this year, amidst praise from critics for the artistic level of the participating works.
Honoring Barbra Streisand
The closing ceremony will also honor the international star Barbra Streisand with an honorary Palme d’Or in recognition of her long artistic career and contributions to cinema and music over the decades. Despite her previous announcement that she would be unable to attend the festival, French star Isabelle Huppert will, at Streisand’s request, present the award and deliver a special speech in tribute to her artistic career.
