Rami Malek tears up during eight-minute standing ovation at Cannes for 'The Man I Love'

Rami Malek became emotional as Ira Sachs’ gay drama, 'The Man I Love', received 8 minute standing ovation at Cannes

Rami Malek became emotional during an eight-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival for Ira Sachs’ new LGBT+ drama, The Man I Love, where the actor delivers a leading performance in one of the festival’s main competition titles.

The response came after the film’s screening in the Palais on Wednesday, where audiences reportedly remained on their feet for several minutes in recognition of the cast and filmmakers. Malek was seen shedding tears as he acknowledged the reaction.

 

 

 

 

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Director Ira Sachs addressed the audience following the screening, saying, “This is a film about what we can bring to each other through art, through love, through pain, through memory,” adding, “And I hope there are some memories we share from this evening for the festival and our love of cinema.”

The Man I Love, co-written by Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias, is set in New York City during the late 1980s and follows a theatre icon named Jimmy, played by Malek, as he confronts a terminal AIDS diagnosis.

The film’s synopsis describes his final period of life as being shaped by “his thirst to live and create, to desire and to love one last time,” and is also referred to as a “musical fantasia of a city under duress.”

The cast includes Tom Sturridge, Rebecca Hall and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. The film is one of two American productions competing for the Palme d’Or this year, alongside James Gray’s Paper Tiger.

Sachs returns to Cannes competition following his 2019 film Frankie, starring Isabelle Huppert.

For Malek, who previously won the Academy Award for his role as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, The Man I Love marks his first leading role in a Cannes competition entry.