Oscar-winning American actor Forest Whitaker will receive an honorary palme d'or at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, which is to be held from May 17 to 28, organizers announced on Thursday.
The actor, who had received the interpretation prize at Cannes in 1988 for his interpretation of jazzman Charlie Parker in
Bird
by Clint Eastwood, succeeds his compatriot Jodie Foster, who had been distinguished last year.
"
By welcoming Forest Whitaker to Cannes, I was able to meet and admire an artist with immense charisma and a luminous presence
", praised in a press release the general delegate of the festival, Thierry Frémaux.
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On this occasion, the film
For the Sake of Peace
, directed by Christophe Castagne and Thomas Sametin, and produced by Forest Whitaker, will be released on May 18.
"
34 years ago, coming to Cannes for the first time changed my life (...) it's a privilege to come back for this beautiful festival, to exhibit my work there but also to be inspired by the greatest artists of this world
, ”he reacted, quoted in the press release.
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Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone and Barry Levinson... This 60-year-old black American actor toured with the greatest American directors, before winning the Oscar for best actor in 2006 for his portrayal of the Ugandan dictator. Idi Amin Dada in
The Last King of Scotland,
by Kevin McDonald.
UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation since 2014, Forest Whitaker is also the founder and president of the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI), an NGO created in 2012 which is involved in educational projects for young people. living in regions affected by violence or conflict (South Sudan, Uganda, Mexico, United States, South Africa) and now in France.
At the end of November, his NGO announced that it was investing to help young people in a department in the Paris region, the poorest in France.
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