Cannes screens Rami Malek's 'Man I Love': What to expect

Cannes screens Rami Malek's 'Man I Love': What to expect

The 79th Cannes Film Festival is currently underway in France, with several global films being screened.

Among them is the LGBTQ+ drama The Man I Love, one of only two American entries at this year's festival.

The film, directed by Ira Sachs and co-written with Mauricio Zacharias, recently premiered in competition for the prestigious Palme d'Or award.

Know about the plot

Set in late 1980s New York City, The Man I Love follows Jimmu (Rami Malek), a theater world icon who learns he has been diagnosed with AIDS.

The film's synopsis reads: "Faced with the death that awaits him, his thirst to live and create, to desire and to love one last time, is stronger than anything else."

It also stars Tom Sturridge, Rebecca Hall, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.

Malek was overwhelmed by the audience's reaction

Meanwhile, after the screening of The Man I Love, the audience gave an eight-minute standing ovation. This emotional moment left Malek visibly moved.

In a viral clip from the event, he can be seen teary-eyed as he expresses gratitude and hugs his team members.

Sachs said at the screening, "This is a film about what we can bring to each other through art, through love, through pain, through memory."

The other American entry at Cannes this year

For Malek, this is his first time headlining the Cannes Film Festival.

He previously won a Best Actor Oscar for his role as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.

The only other American film competing for the Palme d'Or this year is James Grey's Paper Tiger, starring Adam Driver, Miles Teller, and Scarlett Johansson.