Stars of the cinema graced the red carpet in the resort town of Cannes on Wednesday night, ahead of the opening ceremony of the 64th Cannes Film Festival.

Twenty big-screen productions from around the world will be screening during the 12-day festival, vying for the most coveted Palm D'Or.

49 films from 33 countries around the world made it to the final round. 20 films among them will join the main competition.

Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Chan's new action film "Wu Xia" will debut at Cannes in its "Midnight Screenings" segment.

Among the glitterati present at the opening ceremony were Hollywood heavyweights such as Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Salma Hayek, Antonio Banderas and this year's jury president Robert De Niro.

Hong Kong filmmakers Johnny To and Shi Nansun are also among the panel of judges.

Cannes opened with Woody Allen's "Midnight In Paris", starring Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard and Rachel McAdams.

In "Midnight in Paris," Allen, a Cannes favorite, explores the notion that bygone ages are better than the present, so Wilson's character Gil pines for 1920s Paris while painter Paul Gauguin wants to return to the Renaissance.

The 75-year-old Oscar-winning director played for laughs by transporting Wilson into a Paris populated by Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Salvador Dali and other artistic greats.

The Cannes also features a large scale event dedicated to Chinese movies, which is slated for May 17th.

The Palm D'Or will be awarded on May 22nd.