The curtain opens with Johnny Depp as Louis XV at the Cannes Film Festival

76th Cannes Film Festival The curtain rises on Tuesday with controversial American actor Johnny Depp leading a star-studded competition on “Jeanne du Barry,” a lavish French film set in 17th-century Versailles. At 59, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star is expected to turn the page on his ex-wife’s allegations of spousal violence that ended in a high-profile defamation lawsuit, which he won.

“Johnny Depp likes me as an actor,” Thierry Frémaux, general delegate of the contest, said in response to questions from the press on Monday. “Johnny Depp likes me as an actor,” Thierry Frémaux, general delegate of the contest, said in response to questions from the press on Monday.

Depp plays King Louis XV in the film, shot on lavish sets by French director Maven, who in turn plays the leading lady, the king’s favourite, Jeanne du Barry.

After that premiere, Cannes sees this year as a bridge between a whole great generation of filmmakers and actors, some of them already in their eighties, and their replacements.

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The 76th Cannes Film Festival opened on Tuesday with “Jean du Barry”, a lavish French film set in 17th-century Versailles starring controversial American actor Johnny Depp.

– A generation of people over the age of eighty –

Harrison Ford (80 years old) walks the red carpet while presenting his fifth and possibly last installment as Indiana Jones (“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate”).

Martin Scorsese of this generation will do the same, who with Leonardo DiCaprio directed “Killer of the Flower Moon”, a long film (3h10) about a series of murders of indigenous peoples in the United States in the 1920s Was.

Pedro Almodovar, one of the great Spanish names associated with Cannes, will present a 25-minute short film with a western and gay air, alongside Ethan Hawke and Chilean Pedro Pascal (“The Last of Us”).

Michael Douglas (78), star of films such as “Basic Instinct”, will receive an honorary Palme d’Or for a career spanning decades.

This year, Cannes, also in official competition, is dominated by feature films, with 21 films, seven of them directed by women, a record.

Turkish movie “Nuri Bilge Ceylan” lasts 3h17; Chinese documentary “Youth Spring”, 3h40. Both condemn the environment of countries under repressive regimes.

British film legend Ken Loach (86 years old) is competing for his third Palme d’Or with “The Old Oak”, which is also of a social nature.

This year, Cannes may live its own protest, as it famously did in 1968: unions opposing Emmanuel Macron’s government over pension reform are set to disrupt the festival’s development, even With that power cut, as announced by CGT HQ.

“We have had good talks with the CGT. At the moment, nothing announced affects us,” Fremaux assured. “We have had good talks with the CGT. At the moment, nothing announced affects us,” Fremaux assured.

Another legend, the Spanish Victor Aris (82 years old), who presented his last feature film at Cannes exactly three decades ago, returns in a parallel segment with “Cerar los ojos” (Close Your Eyes) (almost three hours) Is.

Italian Marco Bellocchio (83 years old) will also participate to present “Rapito”, a work that describes the abduction of a Jewish boy to be educated as a Christian in mid-19th century Italy.

– … and the next generation –

But Cannes is also a showcase for the next generation, like Wes Anderson, who used an impressive cast for his “Asteroid City”: Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie…

or “Le Retour” by the French Catherine Corsini, surrounded by some controversy over its treatment of adolescent sexuality.

Also featured is the young Franco-Senegalese Ramata-Toule Si, with her major opera “Banelle à Adama”.

Cannes will host a Mongolian film for the first time, and another from Sudan.