“This festival meant a lot to my dad, it’s a very emotional time,” the late director’s son, Riley Lynch, said at the film festival where the documentary Welcome to Lynchland premiered
David Lynch attending the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival in 2017 Ki Price/Getty Images
David Lynch had a storied history with the Cannes Film Festival. In 1990, the visionary director earned the prestigious honor of winning the Palme d’Or for Wild at Heart. Just over a decade later, he was presented with the award for Best Director for Mulholland Drive in 2001. The following year, he appeared at the film festival as jury president. Lynch’s presence was felt as thoroughly as his absence at Cannes 2025 as his son, Riley Lynch, spoke at the premiere of the documentary Welcome to Lynchland.
“This festival meant a lot to my dad,” Riley said. “It’s a very emotional time.” Directed by Stéphane Ghe, Welcome to Lynchland was completed prior to Lynch’s death in January from cardiac arrest due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The filmmaker appears in the documentary alongside featured guests Kyle MacLachlan, Laura Dern, Naomi Watts, and Isabella Rossellini. The feature release spans Lynch’s celebrated filmography, including Twin Peaks, Eraserhead, and Mulholland Drive.
“With an unwavering commitment to his creative vision and freedom, David Lynch, an artist fascinated by the most deviant depths of the human soul, has composed his oeuvre like a riddle to decipher, on the cusp between dreams and reality,” a synopsis of Welcome to Lynchland reads. “In revisiting both the filmmaker’s life and his work, this documentary will probe his creative process and plumb the hidden meaning of an implacably consistent filmography.”
Last year, Lynch shared an update about his health on X in which he revealed that he developed emphysema from years of smoking. Still, he punctuated the post with a hopeful promise: “I am filled with happiness, and I will never retire.” The director had more to give, but left behind an enduring legacy for both his fans and his family. At Cannes, Riley went back more than two decades in time to recall the time he tagged along with his father to spend his birthday at the film festival. “I had my 10th birthday here,” he said, “Sharon Stone brought out the cake.”
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