“Thank you for my mother…”: Laura Smet thanks Eye Haïdara for the tribute paid to Nathalie Baye during the Cannes Film Festival

This Tuesday, May 12, 2026, the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival opened. For the occasion, celebrities from all over the world gathered at the Grand Théâtre Lumiere of the Palais des Festivals. Before welcoming the members of the jury, Eye Haïdara, the maitresse de cérémonie, spoke to salute the memory of Nathalie Bayedied on April 17 at the age of 77.

“Before welcoming the members of the jury of this 79th edition, allow me a thought for a remarkable actress, capable of saying so much, with so little, a woman of immense elegance and infinite delicacy towards others. I am thinking, of course, of Nathalie Baye, who left her mark on the history of cinema…”, a déclaré l’actrice révélée dans la comédie Le Sens de la fête. To accompany this tribute, a montage of several photographs illustrating Nathalie Baye’s greatest roles was projected on the big screen of the Palais des Festivals.

Laura Smet thanks Eye Haïdara for the tribute paid to Nathalie Baye

A tribute that went straight to the heart of Laura Smet, Nathalie Baye’s daughter. While Eye Haïdara published a message on Instagram this Wednesday, May 13, to thank everyone who participated in the opening ceremony, Laura Smet responded with a short, sober and elegant note: “Thank you for my mother… and well done, you were brilliant.” wrote the 42-year-old actress.

Nathalie Baye climbed the stairs for the first time in 1973 thanks to the film American Night by François Truffaut. She then walked the red carpet on multiple occasions. It was therefore completely normal that a tribute was paid to him by professionals of the Seventh Art. Taulier’s former wife had left the film sets because she suffered from Lewy body disease, a neurodegenerative pathology which caused him to lose his memory. She died at her home in Paris on Friday April 17, 2026.

Laura Smet sent a moving message during the funeral of Nathalie Baye

Many celebrities from the world of cinema, such as Catherine Deneuve, Fanny Ardantor even Francis Hustergathered in the St Sulpice church on April 24 to say a final farewell. At the very end of the ceremony, Laura Smet spoke: “I still wanted to tell you a few words about her. My mother was someone true, tender, fair, solid. She always took care of others more than herself. She was curious about everything, about everyone. She loved life, she loved people, nature, animals. She didn’t understand the injustice or the wickedness of being a dirty beast, she said.

“The intelligence of the heart was her. She loved talent and rigor too. Rigor reassured her and simple things were her luxury. Silence was his friend. She did not know boredom, even loneliness, she had made it an ally. She gave me so much love, so much strength. She picked me up when I was on the ground, me and many others. She was an incredible friend, a forever lover and a fabulous mother“, added David’s sister, Jade and Joy. A moment of great emotion, shared with all those who mattered in Nathalie Baye’s life.