Barbra Streisand Accepts Cannes Honor in Video Message

made a rare public appearance to accept an honour at the on Saturday, after being forced to miss the ceremony due to injury.

The actress, 84, was one of three stars given an honorary Palm d'Or at this year's festival and sent a video message to share her gratitude at receiving the award.

Ahead of the speech, actress Isabelle Huppert praised Barbra for her support of the LGBTQ+ community, along with highlighting her various roles including Funny Girl and The Way We Were.

Barbra had released a statement earlier this week explaining she would be unable to attend the ceremony on doctor's advice, after struggling with a knee injury.

In a lengthy speech, the Oscar winner shared how she fell in love with foreign films thanks to a cinema near her school, that showed black and white classics starring the likes of François Truffaut, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini and Akira Kurosawa.

She said: 'I was mesmerised by those images on the screen.

'They were so powerful that they're still in my head. I wanted to be an actress and live in those other more interesting worlds.' 

Barbra said these films continued to have an impact on her when she became an actress, and laid the groundwork for her pursue a passion for directing, beginning with her 1981 debut film Yentl.

But the star confessed the project was a challenging one to get made, and said her 'passion' was something she no doubt shared with other filmmakers at Cannes.

She said: 'I was a woman, which was an obstacle to people.

'Even worse, was an actress who wanted to direct. So every studio turned me down. And for 15 years the project was on the verge of collapsing. But I had to make this movie.'

'In this crazy volatile world that seems more fractured every day, it's reassuring to see the compelling movies at this festival, by artists from many countries.

'Film has that magical ability to unite us, opening our hearts and mind. I'm so proud to be part of this community, so merci beaucoup and vive le cinéma!'

Earlier this week, Barbra released a statement confirming she would be unable to attend the Cannes ceremony in person due to injury.

She said: 'On the advice of my doctors, as I continue recovering from a knee injury, I am sadly unable to attend the Festival de Cannes this year.

'But I am deeply honored to receive the honorary Palme d'Or and had so been looking forward to celebrating the remarkable films of the 79th edition.

'I was also very much looking forward to spending time with colleagues whom I so admire - and, of course, returning to , a place I have always loved.

'While I regret that I can't be there in person, I want to extend my warmest congratulations to all of the filmmakers from around the world whose extraordinary talent and creative vision are being celebrated this year.

'My heartfelt thanks to the Festival, and to everyone who continues to support and champion the art of cinema.'

Director Peter Jackson and John Travolta were also being presented with honorary Palme d'Or awards at this year's festival. 

Barbra had previously returned to the stage for a rare performance at the Oscars in March, as she paid tribute to her late co-star Robert Redford with a performance of her iconic track from their romance The Way We Were. 

Her honour was presented as this year's Cannes Film Festival came to a close, with Cristian Mungiu awarded the second Palme d'Or of his career.

The Romanian director - who triumphed at the Cannes Film Festival back in 2007 with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days - once again won the top prize with Fjord, the child abuse drama that marked his English-language debut.

Cristian has become just the tenth director to have received two Palme d'Or awards, following in the footsteps of Alf Sjoberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Bille August, Emir Kusturica, Shohei Imamura, the Dardenne brothers, Michael Haneke, Ken Loach and Ruben Ostlund.

Fjord featured Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan as Romanian religious parents who emigrate to Norway, where they are accused of child abuse.

Elsewhere, Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur, a satire movie about corruption in contemporary Russia, claimed the runner-up prize, the Grand Prix, while The Dreamed Adventure came in third, winning the Jury award.

The director award was split between Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for The Black Ball, and Pawel Pawlikowski for Fatherland.

Meanwhile, the actor and actress awards were divided between pairs of performers from two films.

Valentin Campagne and Emmanuel Macchia won the Best Actor gong for Coward, the queer First World War drama, while Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto both won actress accolades for their performances in All of a Sudden, the care drama.