Michael Douglas to receive honorary Palme at Cannes

CANNES

Film star Michael Douglas will receive an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival later this month, the organizers announced on May 3.

The award recognizes the 78-year-old's "brilliant career and engagement with cinema" and there will be a homage to the actor during the opening ceremony on May 16.

Douglas was one of the biggest stars of the 1980s and 1990s, appearing in a string of steamy thrillers such as "Basic Instinct" and "Fatal Attraction".

He won an Academy Award for his iconic role as banker Gordon Gekko in 1987's "Wall Street", and continues to be a major screen presence in Marvel's recent "Antman" films and his award-winning comedy turn in TV show "The Kominsky Method."

The son of legendary Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas, his first foray into filmmaking was as a producer of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest" in 1975, which also won him an Oscar.

He was last at Cannes for "Behind the Candelabra," featuring his much-loved turn as flamboyant pianist Liberace.

Recent winners of the honorary Palme include Forest Whitaker, Agnes Varda and Jodie Foster.

The jury for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival includes Oscar winner Brie Larson, American actor Paul Dano and French director Julia Ducournau to the nine-member lineup.

Organizers of the prestigious French festival had previously said that last year's Palme d'Or winner, "Triangle of Sadness" director Ruben Ostlund, would preside over the main competition jury.

The group will select which of the 21 competing films is awarded the top prize at this year's May 16-27 festival.

The four-woman and five-man panel also includes Moroccan director Maryam Touzani, French actor Denis Menochet, British-Zambian director Rungano Nyoni, Argentinian filmmaker Damian Szifron and French Afghan writer-director Atiq Rahimi.

Among the contenders of the festival are Wes Anderson's "Asteroid City", Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Monster", Ken Loach's "The Old Oak" and Justine Triet's "Anatomie d'une Chute."

The jury will announce the winner at the close of the festival on May 27.