Hollywood star John Travolta received a surprise lifetime achievement award at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday 15 May, and said it meant more to him than any Oscar ever could.

A moment nobody saw coming – least of all Travolta

Thierry Frémaux, Delegate General of the Cannes Film Festival, presented Travolta with an honorary Palme d’Or on stage at the Debussy Theatre ahead of the premiere of his directorial debut.

Travolta said he had no idea it was coming. “I can’t believe this. This is the last thing I expected. And you said this would be a special night, but I didn’t know it would mean this,” he said.

Frémaux smiled and replied: “We knew, we knew.”

“Oh my God, this is a humbling moment,” Travolta said.

‘This is beyond the Oscar, really.’

Accepting the award, Travolta said his love of film had always been shaped by the Palme d’Or’s greatest winners.

“My life has always been the winners of the Palme d’Or from Black Orpheus to A Man and a Woman,  and you’ll see them all demonstrated in this movie one way or another,” he said.

“It’s ironic that this symbol resembles and reflects my taste in film. And I just can’t believe it. This is beyond the Oscar, really.”

For his family

Travolta dedicated the moment to those who appeared in the film and sat watching from the audience.

“So this is the blueprint of my life, and everyone that was in the movie is sitting in the audience right there, my family,” he said.

“This is why this film exists, and actually why I exist as an artist, because of that group of people right there.”

The film marks the first time Travolta has directed a feature in a career spanning five decades.