Overview
- Streisand was presented the honorary Palme d’Or in absentia when her recorded acceptance played at the festival’s closing ceremony on Saturday, May 23, 2026.
- She withdrew from attending on doctors’ advice while recovering from a knee injury and issued a statement saying she regretted missing the festival.
- In the video she said foreign films first drew her to acting, described realizing she was “thinking like a director,” and detailed 15 years of studio resistance to her directing Yentl because she was a woman and an actress.
- Actress Isabelle Huppert introduced Streisand and took the stage with the statuette while the taped message was shown on the Palais’ big screen to a warm audience response.
- The tribute places Streisand alongside fellow honorary recipients Peter Jackson and John Travolta and reinforces Cannes’ wider effort this year to honor long careers and spotlight barriers facing women directors.