Cannes
(France),
May
16
(AP)
The
Cannes
red
carpet
springs
to
life
again
on
Tuesday
as
the
76th
Cannes
Film
Festival
gets
underway
with
the
premiere
of
the
Louis
XV
period
drama
"Jeanne
du
Barry",
with
Johnny
Depp.
This
year's
festival
promises
a
Cote
d'Azur
buffet
of
spectacle,
scandal
and
cinema
set
to
be
served
over
the
next
12
days.
It's
unspooling
against
the
backdrop
of
labour
unrest.
Protests
that
have
roiled
France
in
recent
months
over
changes
to
its
pension
system
are
planned
to
run
during
the
festival,
albeit
at
a
distance
from
the
festival's
main
hub.
Meanwhile,
an
ongoing
strike
by
screenwriters
in
Hollywood
could
have
unpredictable
effects
on
the
French
Riviera
festival.
But
with
a
festival
lined
with
some
much-anticipated
big-budget
films,
including
James
Mangold's
"Indiana
Jones
and
the
Dial
of
the
Destiny" and
Martin
Scorsese's
"Killers
of
the
Flower
Moon",
the
party
is
sure
to
go
on,
regardless.
Stars
set
to
hit
Cannes'
red
carpet
in
the
next
week
and
a
half
include
Natalie
Portman,
Leonardo
DiCaprio,
Cate
Blanchett,
Sean
Penn,
Alicia
Vikander,
the
Weeknd
and
Scarlett
Johansson.
The
festivities
on
Tuesday
will
include
an
opening
ceremony
where
Michael
Douglas
is
to
receive
an
honorary
Palme
d'Or.
(Later,
one
will
also
be
dished
out
to
"Indiana
Jones" star
Harrison
Ford).
The
jury
that
will
decide
the
festival's
top
prize,
the
Palme
d'Or,
will
also
be
introduced.
This
year,
the
jury
is
led
by
Swedish
filmmaker
Ruben
Ostlund,
a
two-time
Palme
winner
who
last
year
won
for
the
social
satire
"The
Triangle
of
Sadness".
The
rest
of
the
jury
includes
Brie
Larson,
Paul
Dano,
French
director
Julia
Ducournau,
Argentine
filmmaker
Damián
Szifron,
Afghan
director
Atiq
Rahimi,
French
actor
Denis
Ménochet,
Moroccan
filmmaker
Maryam
Tourzani
and
a
Zambian-Welsh
director
Rungano
Nyoni.
The
opening
night
selection
has
attracted
some
controversy.
"Jeanne
du
Barry",
directed
by
and
co-starring
the
French
actor-director
Maïwenn,
co-stars
Depp
as
Louis
XV.
It's
Depp's
first
new
film
since
his
trial
last
year
with
Amber
Heard,
his
ex-wife.
After
both
Depp
and
Heard
accused
each
other
of
physical
and
verbal
abuse,
a
civil
jury
awarded
Depp
USD
10
million
in
damages
and
USD
2
million
to
Heard.
In
remarks
to
the
press
on
Monday,
Cannes
director
Thierry
Fremaux
defended
the
choice,
saying
Depp
is
extraordinary
in
the
film
and
he
paid
no
attention
to
the
trial.
"To
tell
you
the
truth,
in
my
life,
I
only
have
one
rule,
it's
the
freedom
of
thinking,
the
freedom
of
speech
and
the
freedom
to
act
within
a
legal
framework," said
Fremaux.
"If
Johnny
Depp
had
been
banned
from
acting
in
a
film,
or
the
film
was
banned
we
wouldn't
be
here
talking
about
it."