‘Midnight in Paris’ to open Cannes Film Festival

Woody Allen's new romantic comedy Midnight in Paris is to open the Cannes Film Festival in May, organisers have announced. Shot in the French capital last year, it features a cameo from France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Festival director Thierry Fremaux called the movie "a wonderful love letter to Paris". US actor Robert De Niro will chair the jury at the event, which runs from 11 to 22 May in the south of France.

The international cast of Midnight in Paris includes Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates and France's Marion Cotillard.

According to Cannes organisers, it will open in French cinemas on the same day it is screened at the festival so "audiences can experience live the entire programme of the opening night".

"It's a film in which Woody Allen takes a deeper look at the issues raised in his last films - our relationship with history, art, pleasure and life," Mr Fremaux continued.

The director's previous work, the London-based You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, screened out of competition at last year's festival.

Source: BBC