Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Peter Jackson is a famous director. He is from New Zealand. He made the movie 'The Lord of the Rings'.
He went to a big movie festival in France. The festival is called Cannes. It happens every year in May.
At Cannes, Peter got a big prize. The prize is called the Honorary Palme d'Or. It is a gold leaf.
Elijah Wood gave him the prize. Elijah played Frodo in the movie. Peter said he was very surprised.
- director
- the person who tells actors what to do in a movie
- movie
- a story you watch on a screen
- famous
- well known to many people
- festival
- a big event where people watch movies or music
- prize
- something you win when you do well
- gold
- a very valuable yellow metal
- surprised
- the feeling when something happens that you did not expect
- year
- 12 months
Level 2 — Elementary
The 79th Cannes Film Festival opened on Tuesday, May 12, 2026 in the south of France. Each year, Cannes invites famous directors, actors, and journalists for two weeks of new films, talks, and parties.
This year's opening ceremony gave New Zealand director Peter Jackson the Honorary Palme d'Or. The Honorary Palme is given for a whole career, not for one film. Jackson is best known for 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2026.
Actor Elijah Wood, who played the hobbit Frodo Baggins, walked on stage and presented the prize. Jackson said he was very surprised, joking, 'I just don't make Palme d'Or-type films.' He is in fact one of the first filmmakers to receive the Honorary Palme without ever having a movie in the festival's official competition.
The festival also announced that Hollywood legend Barbra Streisand will receive a second Honorary Palme at the closing ceremony on May 23. The Cannes Film Festival runs until that day, with 22 films competing for the main Palme d'Or.
- trilogy
- a set of three movies or books that go together
- anniversary
- the date you remember an event from earlier years
- ceremony
- a formal event where things like prizes are given
- honorary
- given as an honour, without a competition
- career
- the work a person does over many years
- actor
- a person whose job is to play characters in films or plays
- hobbit
- a small fictional creature from Tolkien's stories
- competition
- an event where people try to win against others
Level 3 — Intermediate
The 79th Cannes Film Festival began on the evening of May 12, 2026 with an opening ceremony in the Grand Théâtre Lumière. Among the films, jury members, and red-carpet arrivals, the night's most discussed moment was the presentation of an Honorary Palme d'Or to New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson, the director of 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'King Kong'.
The Honorary Palme is the festival's lifetime achievement award, separate from the main Palme d'Or given for a single film. Cannes' organisers said Jackson was chosen for 'an extraordinary body of work that reshaped the modern cinematic imagination', particularly through visual effects studios Weta Digital and Wētā FX. The award also marks the 25th anniversary of 'The Fellowship of the Ring' in 2001.
Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins, walked on stage to present the trophy. Visibly emotional, Jackson told the auditorium, 'I just don't make Palme d'Or-type films.' He becomes one of the first filmmakers ever to receive an Honorary Palme without having had a film in the festival's official selection — an unusual move that has prompted some commentary about how Cannes balances its art-house identity with global popular cinema.
Cannes also confirmed that American singer, actress, and director Barbra Streisand will accept a second Honorary Palme at the closing ceremony on May 23. The 79th edition, presided over by jury president Park Chan-wook, runs until that date with 22 films in competition for the main award.
- lifetime achievement
- an award given for everything a person has done in their career
- visual effects
- computer-generated images added to films to create things that cannot be filmed in real life
- art-house
- describing films that are made for artistic value rather than mass entertainment
- popular cinema
- films aimed at very wide audiences and commercial success
- auditorium
- a large room where audiences watch performances
- jury
- a group chosen to judge a competition
- commentary
- spoken or written opinions about an event
- selection
- the films chosen by a festival to show that year
Level 4 — Advanced
The 79th Cannes Film Festival opened on May 12, 2026 with an unusual ceremonial gesture: an Honorary Palme d'Or for Peter Jackson, the New Zealand auteur whose 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy redrew the commercial and technological map of post-millennial cinema. The award is, by long custom, a curatorial statement as much as a tribute — Cannes signalling who, in its view, belongs to the canon. That Jackson has never placed a film in the festival's official selection makes the gesture all the more striking.
Presenting the trophy on the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière, actor Elijah Wood — the festival's chosen avatar of Jackson's Middle-earth — delivered a brief tribute that doubled as a reminder of the trilogy's silver anniversary. 'The Fellowship of the Ring' opened in December 2001 and 'The Return of the King' subsequently swept the 76th Academy Awards. Jackson accepted the Palme with characteristic self-deprecation, telling the auditorium, 'I just don't make Palme d'Or-type films,' before paying tribute to his collaborators at Wētā FX and his longtime co-writer and partner Fran Walsh.
The honour highlights an ongoing recalibration at Cannes between its art-house identity — historically allergic to franchise filmmaking — and the realities of an industry in which large-canvas, effects-driven storytelling drives most of the audience economy. By embracing Jackson without obliging him to compete, festival president Iris Knobloch and artistic director Thierry Frémaux seem to be widening the tent without diluting the official competition.
Cannes also confirmed a second Honorary Palme for Barbra Streisand, to be presented at the closing ceremony on May 23. With Park Chan-wook chairing a jury that includes Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao and Stellan Skarsgård, this year's competition slate of 22 films — anchored by Lynne Ramsay's 'Die, My Love' and Wes Anderson's 'The Phoenician Scheme' — will be judged against an opening night that has already foregrounded questions of legacy, popular cinema, and the festival's evolving sense of itself.
- auteur
- a filmmaker whose personal vision and style dominate their work
- canon
- the body of works considered essential or authoritative in a field
- curatorial
- relating to the careful selection and arrangement of works for display
- self-deprecation
- the act of making yourself or your achievements seem less important than they are
- recalibration
- the act of carefully adjusting an approach or balance
- art-house
- describing films made primarily for artistic rather than commercial reasons
- franchise
- a media property that produces multiple related films, books, or series
- slate
- the full list of works selected for a festival, studio season, or release schedule
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