To the strains of an accordion played by Aurélien Noël, the Ceremony opened to the empty chair  of Agnès Varda, who passed away several weeks ago. "The nightmare of a filmmaker is to have nobody in the audience," we hear her say looking out at the sea, just as the hall, filled with the who's who of the world of cinema welcomed Edouard Baer on stage.

Playing on the nightmare theme of an empty cinema, the Master of Ceremonies philosophised in his inimitable style... "When no one comes, it is almost like a victory in reverse." And reminding us all of the importance of the shared experience of being part of an audience: "Cinema is the movie theatre, it is being together, going out. The collective, the group, human warmth. At the Festival de Cannes, sometimes the screening room is so  spectacular that the film itself stops to look around."

Next it was the Belgian artist, Angèle, who assumed the legacy of Agnès Varda with her performance at the piano of the song "Sans toi" by Michel Legrand, the main sound track of Cléo de 5 à 7.

"The members of this year's Jury have agreed to appear with their faces revealed," joked Edouard Baer before welcoming the jurors for this 72^nd edition: Enki Bilal, Kelly Reichardt, Yorgos Lanthimos, Alice Rohrwacher, Robin Campillo, Maimouna N'Diaye, Pawel Pawlikowski, Elle Fanning. 

After a recap of his filmography, Alejandro González Iñárritu evoked the essential role that the Festival has played in his career and his ambitions as President of the Feature Film Jury to make this a federating experience: "We will do our best to find the gem that will resonate with us all."

Charlotte Gainsbourg and Javier Bardem, both actors for the Mexican filmmaker, shared in the opening of this edition, in Spanish and in French: "Good luck to all!"