French-Armenian actor Simon Abkarian at the Cannes Film Festival on May 22

Award-winning French Armenian actor Simon Abkarian received a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday, while the revered event honored Armenian filmmaker Artavazd Pelechian with a special retrospective.

Abkarian, who has appeared in numerous French and American films, was honored for his portrayal of Charles de Gaulle in the much-talked about epic “De Gaulle: Tilting Iron.”

In French cinema, the project is already being described as nearly unprecedented: the two-part saga about Charles de Gaulle runs close to five hours and has become one of the most ambitious and expensive national productions in recent years.

The premiere at Cannes was the kind of spectacle usually reserved for major Hollywood studio blockbusters. Abkarian walked the red carpet alongside director Antonin Baudry and the film’s cast.

At the conclusion of the screening Abkarian received a standing ovation for his performance in the movie, which has been hailed by critics.

Cineuropa called his portrayal one of the film’s greatest strengths, noting that the actor managed to “make audiences forget the myth and see the man.”

Reviewers stressed that Abkarian does not play de Gaulle as a bronze monument lifted from a history textbook. His version is stubborn, sometimes humorous, obsessive and occasionally almost reckless – qualities that ultimately make the character feel human. Critics also highlighted the actor’s precise use of the general’s distinctive voice and speech patterns without slipping into caricature.

In a press event, Abkarian emphasized the need for fighting injustice in the face of adversity.

“When you see injustice you must fight it. You must find the tools to fight it,” Abkarian told reporters at Cannes.

The Cannes Film Festival’s Cannes Classics section presented a special retrospective dedicated to the Pelechian’s creative legacy.

Within the program, five restored films by Pelechian were screened as part of the Pelechian Project, including Land of the People (1966), The Beginning (1967), We (1969), The Inhabitants (1970) and Seasons (1975).

Pelechian is know for developing an innovative film editing technique know as “distance montage.”

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