Cannes Film Festival: The Opening Ceremony of the 78th Edition

This edition opens with the out-of-competition screening of the feature film « Partir un jour. » It’s a pop reference to the boy band’s hit that marked an entire generation.

This year, the organizers of the 78th edition of the festival updated the dress code for guests ascending the red carpet, reiterating that nudity is prohibited under French law.

Halle Berry, a member of the jury at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, was forced to « change » her dress for the opening ceremony on Tuesday, May 13, due to new dress restrictions. « I had an incredible dress (…) to wear tonight, but I can’t because the train is too long. Of course, I’m going to follow the rules, so I had to change course, » she said at a press conference.

Another change endorsed by this charter is that high heels are no longer mandatory for women on the red carpet. The regulations allow for « elegant shoes and sandals with or without heels. » « I think it’s a very good rule, » said the French president of the jury, actress Juliette Binoche.

Laurent Lafitte, the master of ceremonies for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, is now seeking to be heard, as evidenced by his introductory speech at the Cannes Film Festival’s opening ceremony.
Wishing to showcase a different image of the actor than that of the « self-centered » artist, the master of ceremonies emphasized that « the actor is also a citizen of the world. »

“He looks at his contemporaries and his history,” he affirmed during his speech. “He can even demonstrate commitment and courage. Despite the fascination, the fantasies he can trigger, and even the power he can achieve, the great tragedy of the actor is that he is replaceable. And no matter how much he is made to believe otherwise, time and time again, with checks and dressing rooms, the actor knows it: when you are replaceable, every public speaking engagement is a risk.

This was followed by a series of tributes by Laurent Lafitte to actors who have risked their careers to take a stand on highly divisive political issues: Jean Gabin “who goes from being a movie hero to a hero pure and simple,” Josephine Baker “who hides the coded messages of the French Resistance in her scores,” Marlene Dietrich “who turns her back on her own nation the better to rediscover it,” Richard Gere “who defends the Tibet and can say goodbye to her career in China,” Isabelle Adjani “who literally reads her life in danger by reading passages from The Satanic Verses,” Adèle Haenel “who leaves the room in the broadest sense, her fist raised,” and Volodymyr Zelensky, “an actor turned warlord.”

Mylène Farmer offered an emotional moment to the audience at the Cannes Film Festival opening ceremony on Tuesday, May 13. The French singer took to the stage at the Palais des Festivals to perform a new song in tribute to filmmaker David Lynch, who died on January 16 at the age of 78, with whom she was a friend.

“Art is inclusive, it brings people together, art is in search of freedom, art includes diversity, and that is why art is threatened! That is why we are a threat to the autocrats and fascists of this world,” declared Robert De Niro, receiving, on Tuesday, May 13, at the opening ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival. Cannes, while receiving an honorary Palme d’Or from Leonardo DiCaprio for his career achievement.

When circumstances require it; to jury president Juliette Binoche, who paid a heartfelt tribute to Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, killed by an Israeli bombing in Gaza in mid-April along with ten of her relatives.

The actress then offered a vibrant tribute to Fatma Hassouna, a Palestinian photojournalist murdered on April 16 in Gaza and the heroine of a documentary entitled « Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, » which will be screened in the ACID section of the Cannes Film Festival. « Fatma should have been with us tonight. Art remains. It is the powerful testimony of our lives, our dreams, and we, the spectators, embrace it. May the Cannes Film Festival, where everything can change, contribute to this. » A powerful and committed opening ceremony that already sets the tone for this 78th edition.

©2025 – IMPACT EUROPEAN

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