Tom Cruise steals the spotlight at Cannes 2025

De Niro honoured with Lifetime Palme d’Or

On Tuesday, Cannes 2025, the world’s oldest and most popular film festival, got off to a flying start in the French Riviera with Hollywood stars stealing the show, once again. From Tom Cruise’s high-octane farewell to Ethan Hunt to life-time achievement Palme d’Or for fellow American actor, Robert de Niro, this year’s festival is a celebration of both legacy and bold new voices in cinema.

78^th edition of the world’s oldest and most popular film festival, Cannes 2025, officially opened on May 13 in Cannes, France.

One of the biggest names attending the film festival this year is Tom Cruise, a leading Hollywood actor, who will once hog the spotlight at the famous montées des marches, as the red carpet ceremony is called in French, on May 14, returning to the French Riviera as one of the most anticipated guests of 2025.

Cruise, who first attended Cannes back in 1992 with Far and Away, made a memorable comeback in 2022 with Top Gun: Maverick, where he received a special tribute and a five-minute standing ovation.

This year, his appearance marks another milestone in his career, and perhaps a farewell to one of his most iconic roles.

Cruise is at Cannes this year to present Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the European premiere of what is expected to be his last outing as his world-famous character, Ethan Hunt. Though the film is screening out of competition, it has drawn massive crowds and media attention. The Final Reckoning, which launched in Tokyo last week, opens in North American theatres on May 23.

Cruise’s presence at Cannes reminds festivalgoers of his lasting power in Hollywood, a star who, at 62, still commands blockbuster status and fan devotion.

But Cruise is hardly the only notable Hollywood star at the festival. Among the emotional highlights of the festival, American actor and director, Robert De Niro was honoured with the Honorary Palme d’Or for lifetime achievement at the Cannes Film Festival’s opening ceremony on Tuesday. Handing him the Palme d’Or was another big star from the United States, Leonardo DiCaprio.

“Tonight, I have the immense honour of standing before you to pay tribute to someone who is our model. Robert De Niro’s legacy lies in how he inspired actors to treat their craft not just as solo performance but as transformation. Robert De Niro is not just a great actor, he is The Actor. With Martin Scorsese, they told some of cinema’s most legendary stories, uncompromising stories. They did not just make movies, they redefined what cinema could be. They elevated the actor-director relationship into a crucible of risk-sharing,” DiCaprio said during the ceremony.

“My sincere thanks to the Festival de Cannes for creating this community, this universe, this ‘home’ for those who love telling stories on the big screen. The Festival is a platform for ideas, a celebration of our work. Cannes is fertile ground for new projects. In my country, we are fighting tooth and nail to defend democracy, something we once took for granted. This concerns everyone. Because the arts are, by nature, democratic. Art is inclusive; it brings people together. Art is a quest for freedom. It embraces diversity. That is why art is a threat today. That is why we are a threat to the autocrats and fascists of this world,” De Niro said during his address.

“We must act now. Without violence, but with passion and determination. The time has come. Everyone who believes in freedom must organise, protest, and vote in elections. Tonight, we reaffirm our commitment by honouring the arts and liberty, equality and fraternity,” he added.

Cannes 2025 has not only celebrated Hollywood legends like Cruise and De Niro but also elevated emerging voices from across the globe.

Cannes Classics section this year also featured restored masterpieces such as Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush on May 13. The Gold Rush which was originally released in June 1925 was screened in a new 4K restored version at the Debussy Theatre.

Another tribute followed, this time to the great American filmmaker David Lynch, who passed away this past January.

The ceremony also featured the screening of Partir un jour, Leave One Day, a film by Amélie Bonnin.

This year’s jury is led by the renowned French actor Juliette Binoche, serving as the President, and includes international talents like South Korean film director and screenwriter Hong Sang Soo, American actors Halle Berry and Jeremy Strong, Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher, Dieudo Hamadi, a documentary filmmaker from Democratic Republic of Congo, Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, French-Moroccan writer and journalist Leila Slimani and Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas.

India at Cannes

For Indian cinema, one of the most talked about entries at Cannes this year is Homebound. The movie, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, is his second feature film and is part of the festival’s Un Certain Regard section.

The festival will also feature a special screening of Satyajit Ray’s Aranyer Din Ratri, Days and nights in the forest.

The Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) production, A Doll Made Up of Clay is also set to be showcased at Cannes 2025 in the La Cinef section, which highlights the work of student filmmakers from across the globe.