Actress Virginie Efira served as master of ceremony and host of the 75th edition. She welcomed to the stage of the Palais des Festivals’ Grand Théâtre Lumière, the jury, including Vincent Lindon as jury president alongside Asghar Farhadi, Rebecca Hall, Ladj Ly, Jeff Nichols, Deepika Padukone, Noomi Rapace, Joachim Trier and Jasmine Trinca.

The opening ceremony was broadcast live at 7:00 pm on France 2. One of the highlights of the ceremony was the presence of the 75th Festival’s guest of honor, American actor, director and producer Forest Whitaker, who received an honorary Palme d’or at that time.

Another highlight was a surprise appearance by video of former actor and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who made an emotional appeal to the power of cinema.

Vincent Delerm, who celebrates 20 years of career in the Paris-based L’Européen, performed that evening – it’s worth noting that the artist directed the feature Je ne sais pas si c’est tout le monde in 2019 and that he was invited by the Festival in 2021 for a photo coverage that will be released as a portfolio, L’année où le Festival de Cannes avait lieu en juillet (Polka).

The screening of the opening film, Michel Hazanavicius’ Coupez (Final Cut) followed on this special night. The film was theatrically released in France on that same day.

As in previous years, audience members were able to experience this special night in nearly 400 theaters across France – opening ceremony and opening film. This initiative was handled by the Festival de Cannes, along with France Télévisions, the Fédération Nationale des Cinémas Français and the CNC.