Grace of Monaco opens Cannes

Nicole Kidman and actor Tim Roth are seen on the eve of the opening of the 67th Cannes Film Festival on May 13. Both star in Grace of Monaco which is set to open at Cannes which will run from through May 25. Yves Herman / Reuters

Nicole Kidman arrives in Cannes

Cannes set to open, with fans, stars and tight security

There are no Chinese films competing for prizes at Cannes this year, but two have been selected for screening - Zhang Yimou's emotional drama Coming Home and art-house director Wang Chao's Fantasia.

Director Jiang Wen will arrive at the city, too, to promote his new film Gone with the Bullets.

The 18 competing titles include two other biopics, Bertrand Bonello's film about designer Yves Saint Laurent and Mike Leigh's movie about painter JMW Turner. Other highlights include Foxcatcher, directed by Bennett Miller, and Jimmy's Hall, directed by Ken Loach.

"I think the selection has so many talents now that it's like (being) a kid in a candy store," Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn said on Tuesday.

Winding Refn is one of nine judges on a majority female jury headed by New Zealand director Jane Campion, the only woman ever to win the festival's top Palme d'Or prize.

This year's Palme d'Or will be handed out along with other prizes at the end of the festival on May 24.

The festival is a huge draw for the industry and public alike, with an estimated 127,000 visitors expected, plus 30,000 accredited professionals, 4,000 journalists and 700 technicians, according to a periodical distributed by the festival.