Saturday evening, just before Peter Jackson (Pukerua Bay, New Zealand, 1961) received the Grand Honorary Award at the Sitges Festival, the usual montage of scenes from the honoree's filmography was screened which, in this case, culminated in the iconic image of King Kong walking towards the town of Sitges that is never missing from any festival session. “For me this is truly incredible –said an emotional Jackson–, because two important things coincide: that the King Kong from 1933 is my favorite movie of all time and that Sitges is my favorite festival in the world”.

In an edition of the Cannes Film Festival marked by the scarce Hollywood muscle of its programming, New Zealand director Peter Jackson has been the big star of the festival's opening. The patriarch of the franchise of The Lord of the Rings received an honorary Palme d'Or during the opening ceremony this Tuesday. It was presented to him by one of the saga's actors, Elijah Wood, who recalled the moment Jackson "changed his life" by choosing him to play Frodo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). "And I know I am not, by a long shot, the only person whose life Peter Jackson has changed," he added.