Rami Malek became emotional at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday after his latest film ‘The Man I Love’ received an eight-minute standing ovation during its premiere in the main competition section.
Directed by filmmaker Ira Sachs, the film screened at the Palais des Festivals as one of only two American productions competing for the Palme d’Or this year. The drama stars Malek in the lead role alongside Tom Sturridge, Rebecca Hall and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.
Following the screening, Malek was seen shedding tears as audiences applauded the film and his performance. Addressing the audience, Sachs said, “This is a film about what we can bring to each other through art, through love, through pain, through memory. And I hope there are some memories we share from this evening for the festival and our love of cinema.”
Co-written by Sachs and his longtime collaborator Mauricio Zacharias, The Man I Love is set in New York during the late 1980s. Malek plays Jimmy, a prominent figure in the theatre world who confronts his mortality after being diagnosed with AIDS. The film has been described as a “musical fantasia of a city under duress”.
The project marks Sachs’ return to the Cannes competition after his 2019 feature ‘Frankie’. The director is also known for films including ‘Passages’ and Peter Hujar’s ‘Day’.
For Malek, the Cannes premiere represents his first leading role in a competition title at the festival.
The Oscar-winning actor, recognised for portraying Freddie Mercury in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, most recently appeared in ‘Nuremberg’ and ‘The Amateur’, after a supporting role in ‘Oppenheimer’ in 2023.
