Charles Aznavour, the voice talent in the French version of the Pixar feature Up, and the young actress Hafsia Herzi had the honors of calling this 62nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival officially open in the Grand Théâtre Lumière. It was then Edouard Baer who came on stage as Master of Ceremonies for the second year in a row. One by one, the jury members came front and center: Asia Argento, Shu Qi, Sharmila Tagore, Robin Wright Penn, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, James Gray, Hanif Kureishi, and Lee Changdong, followed by President Isabelle Huppert. She paid homage to filmmakers: In showing life on the screen, filmmakers also define who we are and maybe even who we should be. They tell us their stories and convince us through their obstinacy, free-thinking, imagination, intelligence, and even madness. A flurry of trailers from the films to be presented in the Official Selection were screened, and Brian Ferry took the stage and sang an old favorite, She, in honor of Charles Aznavour.

Opening night was of course preceded by the appearance of the many stars walking up the red carpet, attending the screening of the 3D latest from Pixar, Up. Among those spotted were Claude Lelouch, Tilda Swinton, Jean Rochefort, Elsa Zylberstein, Agnès Varda, Saïd Taghmaoui, Aishwarya Rai...