Cannes 2016: This Year’s Coming Attractions

Amid heightened security, the 69th Cannes Film Festival, which runs between the 11th and 22nd May, has begun in France’s Cote d’Azur.

The first screening which will open the red carpet on Wednesday evening, isWoody Allen’s“Cafe Society”which starsKristen Stewart,Steve Carell,Blake LivelyandJesse Eisenberg.

Other big American names expected at the festival includeGeorge Clooney,Julia Roberts,Ryan GoslingandCharlize Theron.

This year’s festival, which according to Associated Press attracts around 200,000 attendees, comes six months after the terror attacks in central Paris that killed 130, and the country remains on high alert.

Last month, police staged a security exercise in which gunmen stormed the festival’s Palais, in heart of Cannes, and according to reports, aless dramatic evacuation drill was done on Tuesday.

The Cannes Film Festival is known for its diverse and international line-ups, which Festival DirectorThierry Fremauxdescribed as “the DNA of Cannes.”

“Cannes is partly about great movie stars, but also auteur films coming from far away countries, or unknown countries, or small countries.” he said.

Contenders vying for the Festival’s most prestigious award, the Palme d’Or, includeAsghar Farhadi(“The Salesman”),Ken Loach(“I, Daniel Blake”),Olivier Assayas(“Personal Shopper”),Pedro Almodovar(“Julieta”),Park Chan-Wook(“The Handmaiden”) andJim Jarmusch(“Patterson”), who’ll also debut his documentary onIggy Pop and the Stooges, “Gimme Danger.”

(THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)