The 66th annual Cannes Film Festival kicked off today with a special screening of The Great Gatsby.
The film was picked to open the festival, despite the fact that it was set to open in the U.S. before the festival. It has earned mixed reviews from around the web and you can check out ours right here. Gatsby brought star Leonardo DiCaprio and director Baz Luhrmann back to Cannes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher and Tobey Maguire also made the trip to promote the movie.
This year’s jury is filled with big names, including the most recent Best Director Oscar winner, Ang Lee, Nicole Kidman and Christoph Waltz. Steven Spielberg is leading the jury, which also includes Lynne Ramsay, Cristian Mungiu, Naomi Kawase, Vidya Balan and Daniel Auteuil.
The line-up features some anticipated films and movie buffs are waiting to hear how good some of these films will turn out. Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives with Ryan Gosling, the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis and Alexander Payne’s Nebraska are just a few films having their premiere at the prestigious festival. They are also a part of a very competitive field for the Palme D’Or, the festival’s top prize. Last year’s award went to Amour, which went on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign film.
Other new films premiering include James Franco’s As I Lay Dying and Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring. Both films are in the Un Certain Regard category and will not be competing for awards.
Festival organizers have also given fans a great Cannes Classics line-up, featuring new restorations of Joseph L. Maciewicz’ Cleopatra and Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour. A 3D version of Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor will also be screened.
The Cannes Film Festival runs ends on May 26.