Cannes Festival Opens With Peter Jackson Honor, Politics and Star Power

Peter Jackson’s honorary Palme d’Or gave Cannes a burst of movie-biz glamour, but the festival’s opening day quickly became something bigger: a stage for politics, cultural symbolism and public argument. The 79th Festival de Cannes opened May 12 at the Palais des Festivals on the French Riviera, beginning 12 days of screenings, premieres and deal-making that will run through May 23, when the Palme d’Or is awarded.

The ceremony was hosted by French actress Eye Haïdara and moved from tribute to tribute. Elijah Wood introduced Jackson, who accepted the honor with a joke that he had never figured out why he was getting it. The tribute turned musical, too, with Theodora and Oklou performing a cover of The Beatles’ “Get Back,” a nod to Jackson’s documentary series about the band. The evening ended with Gong Li and Jane Fonda formally declaring the festival open.

Fonda’s message cut through the pageantry. She told the crowd that cinema has always been “an act of resistance,” a line that fit a ceremony where world events were never far from the surface. Cannes has long been a showcase for prestige filmmaking, but the opening day underscored how quickly the festival now becomes a referendum on larger cultural and geopolitical tensions.

That tension was visible in the jury room as well. The 2026 competition jury is led by Park Chan-wook, whose presidency Cannes described as a first for Korean cinema. He is joined by Demi Moore, Ruth Negga, Laura Wandel, Diego Céspedes, Isaach De Bankolé, Paul Laverty, Chloé Zhao and Stellan Skarsgård. Cannes said Park and his jury will choose the 2026 Palme d’Or on Saturday, May 23.

Politics pressed in immediately. At the jury’s opening press conference, Paul Laverty criticized Hollywood for blacklisting actors who oppose the war in Gaza, naming Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo. That intervention, alongside comments from jury members about geopolitical conflict, made clear that the festival’s most visible conversations were not staying inside the cinema auditorium.

Cannes had already set the tone before opening night by unveiling its 2026 official selection on April 9. The opening film was Pierre Salvadori’s La Vénus électrique, also known as The Electric Kiss or The Electric Venus, which premiered after the ceremony at the Grand Théâtre Lumière and was scheduled for a simultaneous release in theaters across France. The first night showed Cannes doing what it increasingly does best: turning a film festival into a global cultural barometer, where celebrity, activism, awards and geopolitics compete for attention alongside the movies themselves.