Vivendi will be seating front row at the 68th Cannes Film Festival starting this Wednesday and closing on May 24.

A partner of French cinema for 30 years, Canal+ Group will be once again at the heart of the Festival. As is the case every year, the opening and closing ceremonies will be broadcast free-to-air on the premium channel, as will the famous montée des marches. The show Le Grand Journal will air live from the Croisette and will host all the stars attending the Festival.

Furthermore, and for the first time this year, a film from the 2014 selection will be available each night on Canal+ Cinema as part of the 10 days, 10 nights initiative, with the channel’s May Pick of the Month film being the Dardenne brother’s Deux jours, une nuit. These films will be introduced by Thierrry Frémaux, General Delegate of the Festival.

StudioCanal, European leader in cinema and subsidiary of Canal+ Group, will present two films in competition: MacBeth by Justin Kurzel (starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cottilard) and Mon Roi by Maiwenn (starring Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Bercot, Louis Garrel and Isild Le Besco).

StudioCanal produces or coproduces films, but also distributes them: four of these are also in this year’s official selection. Dheepan (provisional title) by Jacques Audiard and Carol by Todd Haynes (starring Cate Blanchett, Kyle Chandler and Rooney Mara) will be distributed in the United Kingdom by StudioCanal. Youth by Paolo Sorrentino (starring Rachel Wiesz, Michael Caine and Paul dano) will be distributed in the United Kingdom and Australia, while Sicario by Denis Villeneuve (starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin) will be distributed by the European major in Germany.

Universal Music Group will also be present in Cannes: a special documentary on Amy Winehouse (Universal, Island, Republic records) who passed away in July 2011 will be unveiled. British film-maker Asif Kapadia, who directed the picture, was a huge fan of the singer. Amy looks back on the life of the soul singer, from her first steps on stage to her massive success with songs such as Rehab and finally her tragic death.

Additionally, as women will be celebrated this year at Cannes (opening film directed by a woman, a number of female jury members, Palme d’Or d’honneur to Agnès Varda and many more initiatives such as Women in Motion and the conference Women Make Great Movies), the website Culture(s) with Vivendi has published an infographics on the role of women in cinematographic creation.