The Cannes Film Festival opened for the 78th time at the Palais des Festivals and Congresses. The opening ceremony also saw the presentation of the first "Palme d'Or", which this year went to American actor Robert De Niro.
He received an honorary award for lifetime achievement from Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred with him in the film Killers of the Flower Moon (2023). Before the opening of the festival, many guests at the ceremony, in a conversation with journalists, recalled one of the most iconic roles of the veteran in the film industry - the main character in the film "Taxi Driver" (1976) by Martin Scorsese. During his long career, which began in the 1960s, De Niro starred in 110 feature films, many of which have become classics.
19 films will compete for the title this year. Among them are three French films, including "Dossier 137" (2025) directed by Dominique Mol.
American cinema is represented by the films "The Phoenician Scheme" (2025) directed by Wes Anderson, starring Scarlett Johansson, and "Eddington" (2025) directed by Ari Aster, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone. The Italian biopic "Fuori" (2025) about the writer and actress Goliarda Sapienza, the Brazilian "Secret Agent" (2025) and the Japanese drama "Renoir" (2025).
The out-of-competition program will include Kirill Serebrennikov's new work "The Disappearance of Josef Mengele" (2025) and the film "The Final Reckoning", the eighth film in the "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, 2025). The film will be presented in the presence of the main actor Tom Cruise, who will be allowed to climb the steps of the palace in Cannes at the premiere. The opening film will be the debut work of director Amélie Bonin "Partir un jour" (2025), which is also presented in the out-of-competition program.
This year, the festival organizers tightened the dress code for guests at the ceremony to avoid the appearance of overly extravagant or overly transparent outfits on the red carpet.
As it turned out, not everyone was able to meet the new requirements: American actress Halle Berry, who joined the film festival jury, told journalists that she had to change clothes to enter, and German model Heidi Klum and Chinese actress Wang Qianhui appeared on the red carpet in unconventional dresses.