70th Cannes Int'l Film Festival kicks off

The 70th Cannes International Film Festival raised its curtain on Wednesday, with the screening of French director Arnaud Desplechin premiere "Les Fantômes d'Ismaël" (Ghosts of Ismael).

Celebrities from all over the world gathered in French Riviera for Europe's biggest film festival that runs from May 17 to 28.

Along with seven art stars such as Mathieu Amalric, Marion Cotillard, and Uma Thurman, the nine-member jury that is headed by the Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, and includs American actress Jessica Chastain, Will Smith and Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, opened the mythical festival's red carpet.

This year's edition is overshadowed by a row between Netflix, which streams films and television shows to subscribers, and Cannes festival over screening right.

The American platform refused to screen its two films in the running for this year's Palme d'Or top prize in French cinemas in response to French rule which prevent it from streaming for subscription services in France until three years after their traditional box office release.

At the jury press conference earlier on Wednesday, jury president Almodovar said that "it would be a huge paradox that the Palme d'Or or another award-winning film could not be seen in theaters."

"All this does not mean that I am not open to the new technologies or to all what these technologies bring to us," he told reporters.

"In my opinion, what is decisive when one sees a film for the first time is the size of the screen: the size should not be smaller than the chair on which you are sitting. You really have to have the feeling of being humble and small compared to the big screen," he added.

For 70th festival session, the official selection includes 60 features out of 1,930 films with 19 competing for the Palme d'Or.