The 75th Cannes Film Festival opened on Tuesday with a star-studded premiere, which brought some of film's biggest stars to the red carpet.
Among those at the premiere of Final Cut (Coupez!), which doubled as the festival’s opening ceremony, were Eva Longoria, Julianne Moore, Rebecca Hall, Noomi Rapace, Urvashi Rautela, Ladj Ly and Lashana Lynch.
Deepika Padukone was also among the stars in attendance, wearing a black and gold sequin-striped sari, which is part of Sabyasachi’s Aakash-tara collection.
On Instagram, the designer said the piece "celebrates heritage Indian crafts and techniques through a modern lens".
Scroll through the gallery above to see photos from the opening ceremony red carpet.
On the first day of the ceremony, actor Forest Whitaker won the honorary Palme d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to film. The actor received a standing ovation when accepting the award.
The opening ceremony also featured a surprise live satellite video address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called on a new generation of filmmakers to confront dictators in the way Charlie Chaplin satirised Adolf Hitler.
After tributes and musical numbers, Zelenskyy was streamed live for the formally attired audience, who had gathered for the premiere of Michel Hazanavicius’s zombie comedy Final Cut.
Zelenskyy, dressed in his signature olive-green shirt, drew a thunderous standing ovation and spoke at length about the connection between cinema and reality. He referenced films such as Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and Chaplin’s The Great Dictator as not unlike Ukraine’s present circumstances.
“We need a new Chaplin who will demonstrate that the cinema of our time is not silent,” implored Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian President pushed filmmakers not to “stay silent” while hundreds continue to die in the country, in the largest war in Europe since the Second World War, and show that cinema “is always on the side of freedom".
Cannes Film Festival runs until May 28
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