60th Cannes Film Festival

Roman Polanski

Sharon Stone

Sophie Marceau

Victoria Silvstedt

Kerry Washington, Gong Li, Andie MacDowel

Leo Di Caprio

Maria Menounos

Michael Moore

Pamela Anderson

Jean Claude Van Damme

Jerry Seinfeld

Jessica Simpson

Jude Law

Kerry Washington

Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld

David Lynch

Devon Aok

Doutzen Kroes

Billy Zane, Kelly BrookFrank Miller, Kimberley Cox

Bai Ling

Billy Zane, Kelly Brook

Bipasha Basu

Jean Claude Van Damme

Chloe Sevigny, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Fincher

The 60th Cannes Film Festival, which opened on Wednesday. But for the rest of the world, the festival is all about glam, glitz and photo opps. Yes, it's supposed to be about film. Yet it's also the world's most glamorous film event and the paparazzi are out in droves, ready to snap any mildly celebrated woman, or even someone as unseemly as Sacha Baron Cohen, on the beach in a thong. (Who could forget his Borat promo last year?)

The red carpets of New York, Paris, London and even the Academy Awards pale into insignificance when compared with the regalia and glamour of Cannes on the French Riviera, where the Palais colossus (where all the main events are held) boasts a magnificent staircase complete with military guard.

In comparison, it's surprising how drab a Los Angeles premiere can be, so when Americans are invited to Europe to prove their cinematic worth, they are often determined to make their over-the-top mark.

© AP, Reuters
© Richard Lewis, John Shearer, Jean Baptiste Lacroix,
George Pimentel, Tony Barson, Jeff Vespa