American director Steven Spielberg heads the jury at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival which has opened on the French Riviera. There are 20 films vying for the top prize of the Palme d'Or.
Image: V. Hache/AFP/Getty Images
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Spielberg is joined on the jury by recent Oscar winners Ang Lee and Christoph Waltz, in addition to actress Nicole Kidman and Bollywood star Vidya Balan. The festival is celebrating Indian cinema this year and Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan was alongside American Leonardo DiCaprio as he declared the festival open.
Festival president Gilles Jacob was proud of his achievement in getting Spielberg to preside over the jury. The American director first showed in Cannes 31 years ago. He said Cannes was like a "breath of fresh air" after the Oscars.
Cannes Film Festival opens
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"There's always campaigning for Oscar election, and there's no campaigning here," Steven Spielberg told a press conference with his fellow jurors, the Australian star of Moulin Rouge, Kidman and Taiwanese director of Life of Pi and Sense and Sensibility, Ang Lee.
Festival artistic director Thierry Frémaux said: “This year's competition is proof that American cinema is currently very strong."
There are six French films in the running for the Palme d'Or. “There are many fine French directors who make beautiful movies that, by nature, are the kind of films typically shown at Cannes,” Frémaux said.
Directors including Joel and Ethan Coen, Steven Soderbergh and Roman Polanski - all previous Palme d'Or winners - are also coming to the Festival.
Only God Forgives, featuring Canadian Ryan Gosling, will premiere at Cannes. Michael Douglas and Matt Damon are also due in town to promote the Coen brothers' Behind the Candelabra, a film about celebrity entertainer Liberace.
Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring, about a group of teens who rob celebrities' homes, is to be shown on Thursday.
Glitzy opening for Cannes Film Festival
The 66th Cannes Film Festival has opened in the French Riviera resort with a star-studded line-up of directors, actors and socialites braving driving rain and cold temperatures on the red carpet.
Image: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images
World's biggest film festival kicks off
The Cannes Film Festival got off to a blustery start on Wednesday, as Baz Luhmann's "The Great Gatsby" opened on a washed out French Riviera. Amid heavy rain, "Gatsby" star Leonardo DiCaprio (pictured) declared the 66th Cannes festival officially open. Over the coming 12 days, dozens of films will make their premiere on the silver screen.
Image: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images
Take cover
Because of the drizzle, stars like Freida Pinto, who stars in "The Great Gatsby," welcomed assistance from umbrella carriers while arriving for the opening ceremony in Cannes.
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Star-studded opening ceremony
Iconic US director Steven Spielberg (pictured right, next to French actress Audrey Tautou) is this year's jury president. The "Lincoln" director received a standing ovation at Wednesday night's opening ceremony and was serenaded with a performance of "Miss Celie's Blues" from his 1995 movie, "The Color Purple."
Image: V. Hache/AFP/Getty Images
Coming of age
Bollywood star and grand jury member Vidya Balan (pictured left) says Cannes is "an opportunity to reach [Indian] cinema to a wider world" and showcase its coming of age over the past decade. The festival will feature premiere screenings of five Bollywood films as Cannes joins in celebrating Indian cinema's 100th birthday.
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Men in black
"Gatsby" director Baz Luhrmann of Australia and US actor Tobey Maguire were special guests of honor at the showing of their film.
Image: A.-C. PoujoulatAFP/Getty Images
Vamp style
In a mysterious floor-length gown by Burberry, Cara Delevingne was one of numerous models to strike a pose at the opening ceremony in Cannes.
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Godmother in white
More seasoned model Cindy Crawford also made a red carpet appearance. Like her younger colleague, she also sported a plunging neckline, in an all-white, floor-length gown by Roberto Cavalli.
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Film legend
Head of this year's jury, US director Steven Spielberg told the press he was happy for the opportunity to take a break from Hollywood for a few days.
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The decision makers
The jury also dazzled not only with their prominence, but also with their style statements. While directors Ang Lee and Steven Spielberg appeared in classic tuxes, Nicole Kidman ignored this year's trend of one-color gowns, choosing instead a colorful floral look by Christian Dior.
Image: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images
Let the jury decide
The 10 member jury, headed by US film director Steven Spielberg, is responsible for selecting the Palme d'Or winner from the 20 films in the competition. Jury members include (L-R), directors Lynne Ramsay, Ang Lee, President Steven Spielberg, actress Nicole Kidman, actor and director Daniel Auteuil, actress Vidya Balan, actor Christoph Waltz, directors Naomi Kawase and Christian Mungiu.
Image: Reuters
'Breath of fresh air'
Many argue that winning a coverted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival is the only honor equivalent to the Oscar. Steven Spielberg praised the festival on opening night saying it is "a breath of fresh air" compared with the Oscars, which he likened to a political campaign. "There's always campaigning for the Oscar election, there's no campaigning here," the director added.
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Opening gala
The first film to be featured, although it is not in the competition, is Australian director Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby. It stars DiCaprio and is a salutory tale of the American dream in the New York of the 1920s. It premiered last week in the US.
DiCaprio said he was “fascinated” by Gatsby as a character. “I was moved by him. It no longer became a love story to me it became a tragedy” about a man trying to become “the new Rockefeller and along the way had lost the sense of who he was.”
The Marche du Film, the world's biggest film market, runs parallel to the festival, through May 24. The Festival itself finishes two days later.
