Singer-actress Barbra Streisand is set to receive an honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival on May 23, according to entertainment news website Variety.

A statement issued by the organisers of the annual festival read: “Barbra Streisand has reached the pinnacle of the entertainment industry like no one before her. Yet even this extraordinary record pales in comparison to her influence on pop culture in the second half of the 20th century.”

The statement also highlighted Streisand’s philanthropic initiatives, including the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. It also noted the Streisand Foundation’s support for gender and minority equality, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental causes, medical research and arts education for disadvantaged children.

“It is with a sense of pride and deep humility that I’m honoured to join the company of past Honorary Palme d’Or recipients whose work has long inspired me,” Streisand said in a statement on Wednesday.

“In these challenging times, movies have the ability to open our hearts and minds to stories that reflect our shared humanity, and to perspectives that remind us of both our fragility and our resilience. Cinema transcends borders and politics, and affirms the power of imagination to shape a more compassionate world,” she added.

The honour will also mark Streisand’s first appearance at Cannes.

Previous recipients of the honorary Palme d’Or include Peter Jackson, Agnès Varda, Marco Bellocchio, Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro and Tom Cruise.

The 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 12 to May 23.

Streisand made her studio debut with The Barbra Streisand Album in 1963. The album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

Streisand won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for writing the love theme from A Star Is Born (1976), becoming the first woman to be honoured as a composer. With the release of Yentl (1983), Streisand became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major studio film. The film won an Oscar for Best Original Score and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical.

The 83-year-old actress is also known for her roles in films like The Way We Were (1973). The Mirror has Two Faces (1996), Meet the Fockers (2004) and Little Fockers (2010).