Legendary American actress and singer Barbra Streisand will receive an honorary Palme d'Or award at this year's Cannes Film Festival in May, joining New Zealand director Peter Jackson in taking the French festival's top accolade.
A Hollywood and Broadway icon, Streisand said she was proud and humbled to be joining the circle of Palme d'Or winners, "whose work has long inspired me".
Past American recipients of the honorary Palme d'Or include Meryl Streep, Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington and Robert De Niro.
New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson, best known for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, will also be awarded an honorary Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes festival, which kicks off on 12 May.
New Zealand director Peter Jackson to receive honorary Palme d'Or in Cannes
A star rises
Over more than 60 years in music, cinema and theatre and television, Streisand has clocked up an impressive collection of awards that includes two Oscars, 10 Grammys, five Emmys and a Tony.
Born on 24 April 1942 in Brooklyn, New York, Streisand began performing in the early 1960s in nightclubs and theatres, which led to guest appearances on television.
Later she moved into cinema and in 1969 won a Best Actress Oscar for her first film role in William Wyler's Funny Girl, at just 26 years old.
A second Oscar came in 1977 for Evergreen, the theme song she composed and performed for A Star Is Born, in which she also played the lead role. It made Streisand the first woman to win Best Original Song.
'Pursuit of freedom'
Streisand also stepped behind the camera to write, direct and produce. Her film Yentl – the story of a young Jewish woman who disguises herself as a man to study the Talmud – was nominated for four Oscars in 1984, winning one.
The project, based on a short story, took around 15 years and over $14 million to bring to the screen, one of the largest ever budgets granted to a female filmmaker at the time.
Iris Knobloch, president of the Cannes Film Festival, hailed Streisand's "uncompromising pursuit of freedom".
"As a woman, I am delighted to be able to express our admiration for this consummate creator and courageous citizen, whose example stands the test of time and continues to inspire," Knobloch said.
Festival director Thierry Fremaux paid tribute to Streisand's commitment to "projects that reflect who she is, that are her own and that she shares with the whole world".
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Charity work
With 37 studio albums to her name, Streisand is also the only female artist to have had an album top the charts in each of the last six decades.
Alongside her creative work, Streisand is actively involved in a number of charities, including a women's heart disease centre in Los Angeles that bears her name.
She established the Streisand Foundation in 1986 to support causes ranging from gender equality, environmental protection, medical research and arts education for disadvantaged children.
Streisand will receive her award at the Cannes festival's closing ceremony on 23 May.
"In these challenging times, movies have the ability to open our hearts and minds to stories that reflect our shared humanity, and to perspectives that remind us of both our fragility and our resilience," Streisand said in a press release.
"Cinema transcends borders and politics, and affirms the power of imagination to shape a more compassionate world."
(with AFP)
