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The Oscar-profitable legend urges international protest towards Trump’s 100% movie import tariff throughout his lifetime achievement award speech on the Cannes Film Pageant.
CANNES, France, Could 14 — Hollywood legend Robert De Niro didn’t maintain again in the course of the Cannes Film Pageant’s glittering opening ceremony on Tuesday, utilizing his lifetime achievement award speech to launch a scathing critique of former U.S. President Donald Trump and his proposed 100% tariff on international movies.
De Niro, 81, stood alongside cinematic heavyweights together with Halle Berry, Juliette Binoche, and Quentin Tarantino as he accepted the celebrated honor from longtime collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio on the Grand Theatre Lumière.
“Trump has reduce funding and assist to the humanities, humanities and training. And now he’s introduced a 100% tariff on movies produced outdoors the U.S.,” stated the Taxi Driver and Raging Bull star. “You may’t put a worth on creativity, however apparently, you may put a tariff on it.”
The 2-time Academy Award winner referred to as on “everybody who cares about liberty” to boost their voices in protest, criticizing what he known as Trump’s “philistine insurance policies” towards the inventive neighborhood.
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Whereas Cannes organisers historically try to maintain politics off the purple carpet, present international tensions have made it exhausting to separate artwork from actuality. This yr’s lineup consists of movies from battle zones like Gaza, Ukraine, and Iran, with political undertones echoing by means of many premieres.
Juliette Binoche, serving as the top of the competition jury, used her personal remarks to honor Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike and is featured in a documentary screening on the competition.
The opening ceremony additionally noticed Quentin Tarantino, who launched his profession at Cannes, formally declare the competition open with a signature mic drop, setting the stage for the premiere of Go away One Day, a French comedy.
Among the many stars gracing the purple carpet had been Eva Longoria, Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda, and final yr’s Palme d’Or winner Sean Baker (Anora). German supermodel Heidi Klum made a press release in a petal-impressed pink robe—simply wanting operating afoul of Cannes’ newly enforced costume code banning nudity and outsized trains.
Because the competition runs by means of Could 24, it guarantees a heady combine of worldwide storytelling and underlying sociopolitical dialogue—whether or not or not it’s formally on this system.
