(CNN) — The nostalgic score to the “Indiana Jones” films, composed by John Williams, played as actor Harrison Ford took the stage at Cannes’ Grand Theater Lumière to accept his honorary Palme d’honneur on Thursday.
Raucous applause rang out in the theater as Ford was presented with his statuette.
“I am very moved,” said the Hollywood icon as he began his speech to the packed theater. “They say that when you are about to die, you see your life flash before your eyes. And I just watched my life flash before my eyes, a big part of my life.”
(From left) Harrison Ford and French Cannes film festival director Iris Knobloch on Thursday in Cannes, France. (Credit: Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images)
The “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” actor seemed emotional as he thanked his “lovely” wife, actress Calista Flockhart.
Ford said Flockhart, who was present in the audience as he accepted the honor, “has supported my passion and my dreams, and I’m grateful.”
Addressing the audience, he said, “You’ve given my life purpose and meaning and I’m grateful for that,” before thanking his “Dial of Destiny” co-stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen and director James Mangold.
“I am deeply moved by this honor and to be honored, but I have a movie that you have to see. It’s right behind me,” he said, pointing to the movie screen covered in red velvet curtains.
Ford received the honorary Palme d’Or (which is akin to a lifetime achievement award) at the Cannes Film Festival ahead of the highly anticipated first screening of “Dial of Destiny.”
This marks the 80-year-old’s fifth and final “Indiana Jones” film, a franchise in which he has starred as the titular character since 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” the big screen since 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
“Dial of Destiny” screened out of competition at the posh French Riviera festival and has so far enjoyed a mostly positive reception immediately following its Thursday performance.
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” will hit US theaters on June 30.
