Kirk Douglas

Each year for 45 years, Deauville has writ­ten film his­to­ry in the present by reveal­ing the best of con­tem­po­rary cin­e­ma. Each year it also looks to the past to redis­cov­er some of the great­est his­to­ry in the cin­e­mat­ic arts, name­ly that of Hollywood.

This year we lost one of its giants, Kirk Dou­glas, at the age of 103. A fes­ti­val stal­wart, Kirk Dou­glas came on two occa­sions: in 1979 for a trib­ute, and in 1999 with his long­time friend Lau­ren Bacall to present John Asher’s Dia­monds and receive a lit­er­ary award for his book “Climb­ing the Moun­tain.” It would have been incon­ceiv­able to bypass his mem­o­ry for this 46^th edi­tion. A look back at the work of a pro­duc­er, direc­tor and major writer, but above all a prodi­gious Oscar-win­ning actor whose career spanned the entire lat­ter half of the 20^th cen­tu­ry, an actor whose tal­ent, courage, and taste for risk will always inspire respect.