Jeanne du Barry by Maïwenn will open the 76th Festival de Cannes

Jeanne du Barry, directed by Maïwenn, starring Johnny Depp, will open the 76th Festival de Cannes and will be screened in world premiere. The directors’ sixth feature will be presented on Tuesday, May 16 on the big screen of the Grand Théâtre Lumière.

 Jeanne du Barry will be released the same day in French theaters.

In her new film, Jeanne du Barry, Maïwenn herself plays the eponymous main character alongside with Johnny Depp, Benjamin Lavernhe, Melvil Poupaud, Pierre Richard, Pascal Greggory and India Hair. Recounting the life, rise and fall of the king Louis XV‘s favourite, the film will be released in French cinemas simultaneously.

Jeanne Vaubernier, a young working-class woman hungry for culture and pleasure, uses her intelligence and allure to climb the rungs of the social ladder one by one. She becomes the favourite of King Louis XV who, unaware of her status as courtesan, regains through her his appetite for life. They fall madly in love. Against all propriety and etiquette, Jeanne moves to Versailles, where her arrival scandalizes the court...

Director, screenwriter, actress and producer, Maïwenn directed her first feature film, Pardonnez-moi in 2006. Her cinema is already imbued with a certain reality, freely inspired by her own life to shape her characters and intrigues. Identity quest, self building and family at large: all these aspects are at the center of her work.

In 2011, the director wins the Jury Prize at the Festival de Cannes for her first selection in Competition for Polisse. Four years later, she return in Official Selection with My King, which earn Emmanuelle Bercot, the Best actress award.

The opening ceremony of the 76th Festival de Cannes will be broadcasted live on Tuesday, May 16 on France Télévisions and Brut. The traditional "Opening Operation" in French cinemas (ceremony and film) will be renewed the same evening with the support of La Fédération Nationale des Cinémas Français and in partnership with France Télévisions and Brut.