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Kooky comedy and buffoonery are on the agenda Wednesday as the 65th Cannes Film Festival, with its trademark mix of high cinematic art and Hollywood glitz, kicks off on a light note.
US director Wes Anderson brings his whimsical touch with the opening film Moonrise Kingdom, a pre-teen elopement fantasy whose star-packed cast includes Bruce Willis as a small-town cop and Bill Murray as a morose parent.
But as the celebrities march up the red carpet for the gala premiere, Sacha Baron Cohen's zany alter ego General Aladeen, star of The Dictator, will try to hijack media attention with a news conference in the nearby Carlton Hotel.
Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt and Robert Pattinson are among the Hollywood royalty who will join high-brow filmmakers at the Riviera resort for the next 12 days at the world's top film showcase.
This year's bash features druggy road trips, soul-searching drama and stylish gangland flicks, and sees the return of such Cannes grandees as David Cronenberg, Ken Loach and Michael Haneke.
The 2017 line-up promises to dazzle with stars such as Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Jessica Chastain, Kylie Minogue, Kristen Stewart, Pattinson and Pitt. More A-listers are expected in town as well.
The festival will feature its usual dose of champagne-fueled parties, high-stakes movie deal-making, and publicity stunts, such as British comic Baron Cohen's armed intervention at the Carlton Hotel.
The Ali G, Borat and Bruno star, who turned up in military regalia at the Oscars and pretended to pour the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's ashes onto an interviewer, has already premiered his movie and is in Cannes simply to cause a stir.
He turned up at the festival in a "mankini" in 2006 to promote Borat.
Twenty-two films - none of which was directed by a woman - are vying for the coveted Palme d'Or award at the festival's glitzy gala finale on May 27.
Palme d'Or-winner Nanni Moretti of Italy heads up a nine-strong jury, including actor Ewan McGregor and fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, which will decide the winner.
Moretti was due to hold a news conference later on Wednesday ahead of the evening’s opening ceremony.
Two US mavericks are running for Cannes gold: Lee Daniels's keenly awaited The Paperboy stars Kidman opposite John Cusack and Zac Efron in the tale of a reporter investigating a Death Row case.
The second is Jeff Nichols, whose Mud, about two teenage boys who form a pact with a fugitive, was a surprise entry.
Among the European giants, Austria's Haneke will show Amour (Love), starring Isabelle Huppert as the daughter of a woman hit by a stroke.
And Palme-winning Iranian Abbas Kiarostami returns at 71 with Like Someone in Love, a story set in Japan about a student who works as a prostitute.
Last year's jury, chaired by Robert De Niro, crowned Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, starring Pitt and Sean Penn.
About the broadcaster:
Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.