The 79th Cannes Film Festival opened on 12 May with the French-Belgian co-production *La Vénus électrique* (The Electric Kiss) by Pierre Salvadori. Set in Paris in 1928, the film tells the story of the relationship between a painter and a fairground performer who claims to be a medium and promises to put him in touch with his late wife. In the International Competition, the festival is screening 22 films, including new works by Pedro Almodóvar, Cristian Mungiu, Asghar Farhadi, Andrey Zvyagintsev and Hirokazu Kore-eda. The Cannes Classics section will feature, among others, newly restored versions of Bawang bieji (Farewell My Concubine, Hong Kong 1993) by Chen Kaige, Człowiek z żelaza (Man of Iron, Poland 1981) by Andrzej Wajda, L'Innocente (The Innocent, Italy, France 1976) and Sanshiro Sugata, Akira Kurosawa’s cinema debut (Japan 1943). At the opening ceremony, New Zealand director Peter Jackson was honoured with a Golden Palm; the same award will be presented to Barbara Streisand at the closing ceremony.
The Ecumenical Jury awards its prize to a film from the International Competition. It has been presenting its awards since 1974.