Celebrated New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson, known for his Oscar-winning work, is set to receive the prestigious honorary Palme d’Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, which will take place from May 12 to 23.
Jackson joins a distinguished list of previous recipients such as Agnès Varda, Marco Bellocchio, Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep, and Robert De Niro, who was honored last year.
“Receiving the Honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes ranks among the top honors of my career,” Jackson remarked. “The festival has significantly influenced my path in filmmaking.”
Jackson recalls, “In 1988, I brought my debut film, Bad Taste, to the festival’s market, and in 2001, we presented a preview from The Fellowship of the Ring. Both events were pivotal in my career.” He was referring to the early glimpses of New Line Cinema’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy that were shown in Cannes.
“Cannes has consistently celebrated innovative and bold cinema, and I am deeply thankful to the Festival de Cannes for recognizing me among the artists and filmmakers who inspire me,” he added.
The festival recalled the year when the preview of The Fellowship of the Ring coincided with Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! opening the festival and Nanni Moretti’s The Son’s Room winning the Palme d’Or.
The festival noted, “Peter Jackson’s career trajectory was transformed by 26 minutes on the Croisette, showing the first captivating scenes of The Fellowship of the Ring, which was still being edited. This preview occurred seven months before its global release.” Initial doubts gave way to widespread enthusiasm, marking the start of the Middle-earth saga’s massive success.
“The saga’s triumph was a daring feat for Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema, and in France, the Hadida brothers’ Metropolitan Filmexport. It led to widespread acclaim and recognition, clinching 17 Oscars, with 11 for the final installment alone, matching the record held by Ben-Hur and Titanic, and generating $3 billion in revenue, making it the 8th highest-grossing film series ever with a comparatively modest investment.”
This honorary award also marks the 25th anniversary of the launch of the trilogy, beginning with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001, followed by The Two Towers in 2002, and Return of the King in 2003.
Iris Knobloch, President of the Cannes Festival, expressed, “In its 79th year, the festival is privileged to honor a filmmaker whose immense creativity has greatly contributed to the prestige of the heroic fantasy genre.”
Thierry Frémaux, Director of the festival, observed, “There is a distinct ‘before and after Peter Jackson’ in the annals of cinema. Known for his larger-than-life films, Jackson’s approach to entertainment is exceptionally ambitious. He has fundamentally changed Hollywood’s approach to blockbuster cinema. More than just a technical genius, he is a masterful storyteller and a truly unpredictable artist. We are all eager to see what world he will transport us to next.”
Before his monumental success with J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Jackson gained critical recognition for his films Bad Taste (1987), Braindead (1992), and Heavenly Creatures (1994). Following the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he directed King Kong in 2005 and the Hobbit trilogy between 2012 and 2014. His recent projects include the World War One documentary They Shall Not Grow Old (2018), which features restored and colorized original footage, and the miniseries The Beatles: Get Back (2021).
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