Streisand: 'Vive le cinema!', a message from California to Cannes

Barbra Streisand sent a video message to the closing ceremony of the 79th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, May 23, where she received an honorary Palme d’Or in absentia, Variety and Deadline report. The singer and filmmaker explained her absence by citing her doctors’ recommendation that she continue recovery from a knee injury, Variety reports.

The statuette was brought on stage by French actress Isabelle Huppert, who in a short speech highlighted Streisand’s contribution to film, music and theater, as well as her support for the LGBTQ community and religious and ethnic minorities, AOL and Yahoo Entertainment report. In the same speech, Huppert described the laureate as “an artist who has spent seven decades changing what a woman in the industry can be”.

In her video message, filmed from her home in California, Streisand addressed the audience with several personal memories of films that shaped her. “I was mesmerized by those images on the screen. They were so powerful they’re still inside my head. I wanted to be an actress and live in those other, more interesting worlds”, Variety quoted the singer as saying.

In her message, Streisand also reflected on her directing work, noting how long it took her to get “Yentl” off the ground. “I was a woman, which was an obstacle for some. Even worse, I was an actress who wanted to direct. So every studio turned me down. And for 15 years the project was on the edge of collapse”, she said in the same video segment, which was played in full on the big screen of the Grand Theatre.

Her speech earned a short audience ovation in the hall, lasting about two minutes. She closed with the message, “I’m proud to be part of this community, merci beaucoup and vive le cinema”, a phrase domestic outlets carried in translation that evening. In the same message, Streisand also thanked Huppert personally, as well as the festival administration that had publicly announced the award in March.

The honorary Palme d’Or is given out periodically in Cannes, with the goal of recognizing an author’s overall contribution to world cinema. The festival publicly announced the award to Streisand in March, with a statement the festival administration described as “a recognition of a lifetime of work”.

Streisand, who turned 84 in April, has not directed a new feature film for many years. Her last directing credit was “The Mirror Has Two Faces” from 1996, and her leading role in “Meet the Fockers” from 2004 remains her last major Hollywood film as a top-billed star. According to a statement from her team, her next public appearance is announced for the autumn of 2026, if her recovery from the injury allows her to travel.