Legendary singer/actress/director Barbra Streisand will be feted by the Cannes Film Festival this year with a honorary Palme d’Or for her life’s work.
Cannes unveiled the award on Wednesday, calling Streisand “an iconic artist and embodiment of the American dream in all its original splendor.”
The EGOT winner has never had a film in Cannes before. She will make her Croisette debut on stage this year, receiving the honorary Palme at the Cannes awards ceremony on May 23.
“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. “In these challenging times, movies have the ability to open our hearts and minds to stories that reflect our shared humanity, and to perspectives that remind us of both our fragility and our resilience. Cinema transcends borders and politics, and affirms the power of imagination to shape a more compassionate world.”
Among her many achievements across music, cinema and stage, Streisand is a two-time Oscar winner [for best actress in Funny Girl (1968), and best original song for “Evergreen,” the love theme for A Star is Born (1976)]. Her best original song win was the first-ever for a woman. She’s won 11 Golden Globes, including a best director nod for Yentl (1983), the first female director to take the honor. Her music career, as arguably the world’s most distinctive mezzo-soprano, ranges across 37 studio albums and 13 movie soundtracks, with 10 Grammy awards and number one albums in six consecutive decades.
“This year, we were keen to pay tribute to an artist who made her mark through the power of her art and her uncompromising pursuit of freedom,” said Cannes festival president Iris Knobloch in a statement. “As a woman, I am delighted to be able to express our admiration for this consummate creator and courageous citizen, whose example stands the test of time and continues to inspire.”
Streisand has been a ground-breaking artist since her Broadway breakout at 19, playing Miss Marmelstein in the 1962 musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale, a role that earned her her first Tony Award nomination. Two years later, her turn as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (1964) would make her a global superstar. Reprising the role on screen in William Wyler’s 1968 adaptation won her the Oscar. Her decades-long film career has ranged from musicals — Hello, Dolly! (1969), A Star Is Born (1976) — to melodramas like The Prince of Tides (1991),and The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), both of which she directed, to straight-up comedies from The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), to Meet the Fockers (2003).
“A global star, Barbra Streisand is above all an artist, initiating projects that reflect who she is, that are her own and that she shares with the whole world,” said Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux in a statement. “She is the legendary synthesis between Broadway and Hollywood, between the music hall stage and the big screen. Hearing her sing and seeing her perform are part of our best years.”
The 79th Festival de Cannes runs May 12-May 23. The festival will unveil its official selection on April 9.
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