CANNES: World Premiere of ‘Grace of Monaco’ (PHOTOS)

Cannes Film Festival official selection jury members Carole Bouquet, Nicolas Winding Refn, Leila Hatami, Sofia Coppola, Jane Campion, Gael Garcia Bernal, Zhangke Jia, Do-yeon Jeon and Willem Dafoe

French star Audrey Tautou on the red carpet for the "Grace of Monaco" premiere at the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival

The first event was inspired by the Venice Festival; Cannes' poster was created, but the festival was called off. Europe had other priorities. The illustration was by Jean-Gabriel Domergue, Bordeaux-born painter who specialized in portraits.

The first festival was held in the fall, direct competition for the newish Venice Fest, At Cannes, the Grand Prize was shared by 11 films, including “Brief Encounter,” “The Lost Weekend” and Roberto Rossellini's “Rome, Open City.” Georges Huisman served the first of his three consecutive years as jury president. This illustration is by Leblanc.

This was the first of several fest posters by A.M. Rodicq, and the first year when the fest moved to a spring date, to avoid conflict with Venice. (The Cannes fest was not held in 1948 and 1950, due to post-war budget issues.) The winners that year were Alf Sjoberg's “Miss Julie” and Vittorio De Sica's “Miracle in Milan.” Jury prez: Andre Maurois.

The poster combines celluloid, a building, a classical bust. Sad to say, the result IS a bust.

The 11th fest, in modern-art style. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time.

Illustration by Jean-Denis Maillart. The winner of the Palme d'Or (which had been renamed in 1955) was Fellini's “La Dolce Vita.” Fest had its first non-French president: Belgium's Georges Simenon

The second of three by A.M. Rodicq. Big winners; Henri Colpi's “Une aussi longue absence” and Luis Bunuel's “Viridiana.” Jury president: France's Jean Giono

Opportunity lost: The May 1968 fest ended early, in solidarity with national protests. So the 1969 poster could have reflected... something. Anything. But didn't.

This arrived two years after “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” was published. It was the great divider among Variety staffers; some loved it, some hated it.

There have been many dramatic, beautiful photos taken of ocean waves. This is not one of them.

French illustrator-animator Georges Lacroix did this one. The top prize was again called the Grand Prix, 1964-74. The winner: Francis Ford Coppola's “The Conversation”; jury president, Rene Clair.

Ludovic created three fest posters with this magical-mystical vibe that is ultra-'70s.

A graphic by Folon (Brussels-born artist, 1934-2005). The Palme d'Or (as it was renamed, as of 1975) was shared by Volker Schlondorff's “The Tin Drum” and Francis Coppola's “Apocalypse Now.” Jury president: France's Francoise Sagan

This is from a drawing by Fellini, illustrating a scene from his “Amarcord.” It was the first Fellini-based poster. The top prize was shared by Yilmaz Guney & Serif Goren's “Yol,” and Costa-Gavras' “Missing.” Jury prez: Italy's theater-opera director Giorgio Strehler

An interesting idea by Ludovic. But it's hard to avoid thinking about Lucy Ricardo stomping grapes.

The acronym “WTF” was not popular back in 1995, but this illustration by Ryszard Horowitz might have inspired it.

For its 50th anniversary the fest chose a simple, striking image by DDB les Arts agency (the French branch of Doyle Dane Bernbach). Winners: Abbas Kiorostami's “Taste of Cherry” and Shohei Imamura's “The Eel.” Jury president: Isabelle Adjani

Viva Il Cinema, illustration by Jenny Holzer. An example when an attempt at bold simplicity ends up looking like a hasty attempt to meet a deadline.

This illustration by Alerte Orange is cutesy. The fest is many things, but it's never cute.

Gabriel Guedj (Agence Magazine) designed this from a photo by Wing Shya for Wong Kar Wai's “In the Mood for Love.” Fittingly, Wong was the jury president. Winner: Ken Loach's “The Wind That Shakes the Barley”

Poster designed by Pierre Collier, using a photo by David Lynch of a lead performer at Paris's Le Crazy Horse (she goes by many variations of the name Marie-Marguerite Anouck). Palme d'Or: Laurent Cantet, “The Class”; jury prexy Sean Penn

Designed by Bronx agency of Paris, from a photo by Otto L. Bettmann. Winner: Michael Haneke's “Amour”; prexy, Italy's Nanni Moretti

The poster is a still from Federico Fellini's “8 1/2,” created by Herve Chigioni and his graphic designer Gilles Frapper. Jury president this year is New Zealand's Jane Campion. The event runs May 14-25.