Cinema's biggest showcase: What to expect at the Cannes Film Festival 2023

The Cannes Film Festival will roll out its red carpet next week, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Natalie Portman and Harrison Ford among the Hollywood stars expected at the glitzy industry event on the French Riviera.

This year's festival is the 76th edition of cinema's biggest showcase, made up of screenings, press conferences and glamorous parties. Here is what you need to know:

History of Cannes

Cannes is the world's biggest film festival, first conceived in 1939 as an alternative to the then-fascist-influenced Venice Film Festival.

The festival is known for its carefully selected programme of films that have gone on to Oscar glory or launched the careers of directors like Quentin Tarantino.

Running alongside it is the world's biggest film market, drawing more than 12,500 film industry professionals annually.

This year's festival begins on May 16, with French-language film "Jeanne du Barry" starring director Maiwenn and Johnny Depp. It runs until May 27, closing with Pixar's animation "Elemental".

Vying for the top prize

Cannes' top prize is the Palme d'Or, whose past winners include "Taxi Driver", "Apocalypse Now", "Pulp Fiction", "The Pianist" and "Parasite".

Only two female directors have won the prize: Jane Campion and Julia Ducournau for “The Piano” and “Titane” respectively.

Director Ruben Ostlund's film “Triangle of Sadness,” co-produced by the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) won the Palme d'Or last year.

Other awards include the Grand Prix, jury prize, best director, best actor, best actress, best screenplay and best short film.

21 contenders

Several categories make up the official selection of films shown, the top being the "in competition" movies vying for the Palme d'Or prize this year.

Famous Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan is also among this year’s 21 contenders with his movie "Kuru Otlar Ustune" ("About Dry Grasses").

Alongside Ceylan’s film, here are the others contenders:

"Club Zero" by Jessica Hausner

"The Zone of Interest" by Jonathan Glazer

"Kuolleet Lehdet" ("Fallen Leaves" ) by Aki Kaurismaki

"Les Filles d’Olfa" ("Four Daughters") by Kaouther Ben Hania

"Asteroid City" by Wes Anderson

"Anatomie d'une chute" ("Anatomy of a Fall") by Justine Triet

"Kaibutsu" ("Monster") by Kore-eda Hirokazu

"Il Sol dell' Avvenire" ("A Brighter Tomorrow") by Nanni Moretti

"L’ete dernier" ("Last Summer") by Catherine Breillat

"La Chimera" by Alice Rohrwacher

"La Passion de Dodin Bouffant" ("The Pot-au-Feu" by Tran Anh Hung

"Rapito" ("Kidnapped") by Marco Bellocchio

"May December" by Todd Haynes

"Qing Chun" ("Youth") by Wang Bing

"The Old Oak" by Ken Loach

"Banel e Adama" by Ramata-Toulaye Sy

"Perfect Days" by Wim Wenders

"Firebrand" by Karim Aïnouz

"Black Flies" by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire

"Le Retour" ("Homecoming") by Catherine Corsini

Films screening out of competition include Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" and Harrison Ford's return as the famed adventurer in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny".

There are also categories for short films and the art-house film-focused “Un Certain Regard” sidebar section.

Scorsese is back

Scorsese premiered his masterpiece of urban alienation, “Taxi Driver,” in Cannes in 1976. Its debut was one of the most fevered in Cannes history, drawing boos and some walkouts for the violence in Scorsese's tale of the disillusioned New York cab driver Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro).

The playwright Tennessee Williams, then the jury president, even condemned the film.

Yet “Taxi Driver” nevertheless won Cannes' top honor, the Palme d'Or. Having heard of Williams' disapproval, Scorsese and company had already flown home, with dashed hopes of any big award.

“Killers of the Flower Moon,” his much-awaited adaptation of the David Grann bestseller, is his first new film to premiere in the Cannes official selection since “After Hours” in 1986. That film, a darkly comic nocturnal New York escapade, won Scorsese best director.

With a 206-minute runtime, it is about a series of murders of Native Americans in 1920s Oklahoma and the FBI investigation that followed.

READ MORE: Film star Michael Douglas to receive honorary Palme d'Or at Cannes