'Da Vinci Code' marks opening of Cannes film fest

Cannes, May 18 (UNI) The 59th Festival de Cannes was today inaugurated in this small but famous town in French Riviera with all pomp and show, though Indian presence remained inconsequential as no feature-film appeared in official selections.

In the hot evening many guests, in formals, walked up the red carpet leading to the Grand Theatre Lumiere, the main venue of the festival.

With no Indian feature-film in official selections and no-one from the country doing jury-duty this year, the Indian presence on the opening day was bound to be inconsequential.

The few who trod the red carpet included actress Preity Zinta and director Karan Johar.

So did Aishwarya Rai, who was there in the company of some other international models of the festival sponsor, L'Oreal.

The Festival opened with the much-awaited ''Da Vinci Code'', in the presence of its director Ron Howard and the main cast, including Tom Hanks, French actress Audrey Tautou, and Jean Reno.

As a publicity ploy, all of them had arrived in Cannes by a non-stop special train from London, which carried a big poster of the film on its side.

The PR folks for the film have also erected a giant pyramid on the beach to keep constant attention on the movie.

The Indian Pavillion in the Cannes Festival was opened by Preity Zinta.

It is expected to act as the catalyst in the marketing of Indian films, as also a point of contact for the visiting Indian filmpersons in meeting their counterparts from other parts of the world.

The Indian film delegation in Cannes is gradually expected to swell in numbers, as had happened in the recent years.

Popular stars, like Juliette Binoche, Monica Bellucci and Sandrine Bonnaire (the last two on this year's Cannes juries), were among a biggies from French and other European Cinema attending the opening day function.

Bellucci's husband, actor Vincent Cassel had incidentally been nominated to emcee this year's Cannes inaugural and closing ceremonies.

The Festival troika of Gilles Jacob, President, Thierry Fremaux, Artistic Delegate (Festival director), and Catherine Demier, General Manager, welcomed the guests at the entrance of the theatre.

As in the recent years, Hollywood's presence on Cannes' opening was thin. Notable among those who did attend were actors Tom Hanks and Samuel L Jackson.

Veteran actor Sydney Poitier was a special guest of the festival and launched the inaugural.

More stars like Bruce Willis and Halle Berry are expected in Cannes as the Festival progresses.

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