Cinematic legend Robert De Niro is to receive an Honorary Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The acting giant will be honoured for his lifetime achievement at the opening ceremony of the 78th Festival du Cannes on Tuesday 13 May 2025. (Fellow American Honorary Palme d’Or recipient Tom Cruise will also be at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of his latest and last Mission Impossible instalment.)
As an actor, director and producer, Robert de Niro is no stranger to Cannes. In 1976 he presented no less than TWO masterpieces in the Official Selection – Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900 and Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (which won the Palme d’Or); and several others over the years. In 2011 De Niro even served as Jury President, controversially selecting The Tree of Life (starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn) to win the coveted Palme d’Or.
On hearing of his honorary Palme d’Or, De Niro said:
“I have such close feelings for Festival de Cannes… especially now when there’s so much in the world pulling us apart, Cannes brings us together – storytellers, filmmakers, fans, and friends. It’s like coming home.”
The film festival pointed out in a press release that De Niro’s screen debut sealed the fate of the next generation of Hollywood filmmakers – from just-graduated Brian de Palma (The Wedding Party, Greetings and Hi, Mom!) to his teaming up with Martin Scorsese from 1973 with Mean Streets.
Early in his career, after making Italian-American mafia thugs his signature characters, De Niro won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in The Godfather Part II.
De Niro is as famous for his method acting, as his improvisation skills (the mirror scene in Taxi Driver is still spoken about).
Robert de Niro’s commitment to his roles is legendary:
- he learned to play the saxophone for New York, New York,
- took up boxing and gained 30 kilos for Raging Bull (which was his own idea and which won him the Oscar for Best Actor.
- to exorcise his conflicted relationship with fame, he brought the screenplay for The King of Comedy to his fellow lead, and went as far as to interview his own fans when he was to play this character obsessed with a talk show host. The film opened the Festival de Cannes in 1983.
The following year in Cannes, Robert De Niro presented Once Upon a Time in America, Sergio Leone’s last film, before returning to the Croisette with Roland Joffé’s The Mission. “A rare occurrence for an actor, only 10 years after Taxi Driver, Robert De Niro played the lead role in a second Palme d’or,” the festival said in a statement this week.
In the 1990s, the actor reinvented himself, playing his authoritarian persona in such comedies as Mad Dog and Glory, Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, Mafia Blues, and cult hit Meet the Parents.
While continuing to work with Martin Scorsese —Goodfellas, Cape Fear and Casino— he began producing and directing. With Jane Rosenthal, he founded TriBeCa Productions in 1989. In 1993, he successfully directed his first feature film, A Bronx Tale. His second feature, The Good Shepherd, was released 13 years later.
“In the years 2000, he oscillated between unexpected appearances —dubbing (Shark Tale, Arthur and the Minimoys), sitcoms (Extras, 30 Rock), moving supporting roles (Silver Linings Playbook, Joy)— and roles that confirmed his legend in top-notch collaborations such as Heat with Al Pacino,” said the statement.
After 9/11, Robert De Niro founded the TriBeCa Film Festival in 2002 to help New Yorkers reclaim their battered neighbourhood. His political commitment became apparent as he fervently defending an egalitarian society. He has continued to explore the “violenced of American society” in films like ‘Joker’ and ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ (which was his most recent trip to the Croisette – 2023 – and yet another collaboration with Scorsese).
A day after receiving the Honorary Palme d’Or, Robert de Niro will meet festival-goers for a masterclass on the stage of the Debussy Theatre on Wednesday 14 May.
This year’s Cannes Film Festival runs from May 13 to May 24, 2025. The Official Selection will be announced on Thursday, April 10, 2025.
