François Truffaut's fetish actor, who was in Cannes in 1959 to present Truffaut's debut feature, The 400 Blows, will be back on the Croisette this year to receive an Honorary Palme d'Or for lifetime achievement in the movie industry.
At the age of 14, Jean-Pierre Léaud was on the Croisette to accompany The 400 Blows, which won the Best Director's Award for François Truffaut. The presentation of this Honorary Palme d'Or to Jean-Pierre Léaud 57 years later is a symbol of the tremendous admiration that the movie industry worldwide still holds for the French New Wave, a movement marked by a desire for creative freedom and the casting of new faces, which changed the world of the Seventh Art in the early 1960s, of which The 400 Blows, along with Breathless, are seen as manifestos.
Now 72, the still rambunctious Jean-Pierre Léaud will not only be in Cannes to receive this award. He will also present The Death of Louis XIV by Albert Serra, which will be showcased in a special screening as part of the Official Selection.
