Cannes rolls out the red carpet

The red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival is once again welcoming the most famous stars of the silver screen. Many Hollywood celebrities are present, including Robert De Niro, Quentin Tarantino, Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Lawrence.

The jury, which will select the winner of this year's Palme d'Or top prize, also posed on the red carpet at the opening ceremony. French actress Juliette Binoche (center) is this year's president. Other members include actors Halle Berry, Alba Rohrwacher, and Jeremy Strong, director-writers Payal Kapadia, Dieudo Hamadi, Hong Sang-soo and Carlos Reygadas, and writer Leila Slimani.

The central venue of the festival, which runs until May 24, is the Palais des Festivals et des Congres on the Croisette. Major premieres will be screening here over the next 12 days, including Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning", Spike Lee's "Highest 2 Lowest" and Ari Aster's "Eddington."

An amusing highlight on Tuesday evening was a surprising short appearance by star director Quentin Tarantino, who grandly declared the festival open before dramatically smashing his microphone on the floor. Some of his opening words were in French, and earned the director rapturous applause.

Acting legend Robert De Niro was awarded an honorary Palme d'Or for his life's work. The special award, which was announced weeks ago, was presented by none other than Leonardo DiCaprio, who said De Niro had changed his life. He called the 81-year-old an actor admired by generations.

In addition to jury president Binoche, other prominent women such as Halle Berry and Leila Slimani are also part of this year's jury, sending a strong signal in the context of the ongoing #MeToo debate. The conviction of French actor Gerard Depardieu, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in 2021, was announced on the same day as the opening ceremony.

Celebrities from outside the film world are also drawn to the yearly festival. German model Heidi Klum caused a stir with her ruffled pink dress — especially considering the festival recently banned "voluminous" outfits on the red carpet, saying they would "hinder the proper flow of traffic of guests and complicate seating in the theater."