Yes, we cannes: Film fest begins with fall from Grace

The Cannes Film Festival started on Wednesday, opening with Grace of Monaco, starring Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly and Tim Roth as Prince Rainier.

Widely slated, it was called a ''farce" by Kelly's daughter Princess Stephanie, who said the film, ''should never have existed".

Eighteen films have been selected for competition in this year's Palme d'Or. Tipped to win is Kis Uykusu (Winter Sleep), a four-hour Turkish film directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan and set in Anatolia. It focuses on relationships and animosities that arise when winter snowfall turns a small hotel into a shelter.

Foxcatcher is another Palme d'Or selection. Directed by Bennett Miller, it stars comedian Steve Carell as John DuPont, the real-life multimillionaire who became a murderer.

The biopic about fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, Saint Laurent, directed by Bertrand Bonello, has also made it into the selection. The film stars Gaspard Ulliel as the late French fashion designer. Following the screening at Cannes, the film is scheduled for general release on October 1.

Among the more controversial films is Welcome to New York, which stars Gerard Depardieu as disgraced former politician and economist Dominique Strauss-Kahn. It tells the story of Strauss-Kahn's alleged attempted rape of a hotel maid in 2011 and will be screened outside the official programme.