Overview
- Jackson accepted the lifetime honor Tuesday at the festival’s opening ceremony, with Elijah Wood presenting the award at the Palais’ Grand Lumière Theatre.
- Speaking the next day at a Debussy Theatre talk, he said he was surprised by the recognition and joked, “I just don’t make Palme d’Or‑type films.”
- The Honorary Palme d’Or recognizes a body of work rather than a single competition title.
- He credited Cannes with launching his career when his debut Bad Taste sold at the market, which kept him from returning to his photo engraver job in New Zealand.
- He recalled screening 20 minutes of The Lord of the Rings footage at Cannes in 2001, saying the move changed industry perception of the trilogy during concerns about the risk of filming all three at once.