CANNES, France, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival opened on Tuesday in the southern French resort town of Cannes. For the first time in its history, the festival's opening film is a debut feature directed by a female filmmaker.
The selected film, Partir un Jour (Leave One Day), is featured in the Out of Competition section and directed by French filmmaker Amelie Bonnin.
Speaking to organizers of the festival, Bonnin shared that her film explores the theme of father-daughter relationships. "I felt there was an opportunity to talk about this generation of men who have not been taught to communicate," she said.
This year, 20 films are competing in the Un Certain Regard section, which highlights bold and innovative work by emerging directors from around the world. At last year's 77th Cannes Film Festival, Chinese director Guan Hu's Black Dog took home the award in this category.
A total of 22 feature films are in contention for the festival's highest honor, the Palme d'Or. Among them is Resurrection (Kuang Ye Shi Dai), a science fiction detective film directed by Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan.
A nine-member jury, chaired by the renowned French actress Juliette Binoche, will determine the winners across all award categories. The results will be announced at the festival's closing ceremony on May 24.
