The Cannes International Film Festival is being held from the 8th to the 19th of May this year, drawing the eyes of film lovers from around the world. This year, the festival is presenting 21 films in its main competition, and plenty more are being screened and vying for prizes out of competition. Here's a look at some of the highlights from the French Riviera.

Opening the Cannes Film Festival is "Everybody Knows", a gripping "whodunnit" with barnstorming performances, or a "telenovela" melodrama. The Spanish-language movie features the real-life couple Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.

PENELOPE CRUZ ACTRESS "We don't take the characters home at the end of the day. We have very similar ways to work. Maybe I did that experiment when I was younger because I, we both started very young, but when I was in my twenties I thought the more I would torture myself and the more I would stay in character for months, the better the result would be, but I have realised it's not really related to that."

The film was written and directed by the double-Oscar winner, Iranian Asghar Farhadi. Its plot is about a Spanish village hit by a terrible crime.

ASGHAR FARHADI DIRECTOR "When it comes to the genre of the film, it is, of course, a thriller. That's one of its dimensions but for me, this is more of an "excuse" more than anything else. It is a means to deal with topics that I, as a person, believe are very important."

At the Critics' Week in Cannes, an event running parallel to the main film festival, actor Paul Dano premiered his directorial debut titled "Wildlife". Known for his roles in "Prisoners" and "Little Miss Sunshine", 33-year-old Dano adapted the family drama from a novel by Richard Ford. Present at the premiere was British actress Carey Mulligan.

This year, China is represented in the official competition with the film "Ash is Purest White" by Jia Zhangke. Known as a leading light of the "Sixth Generation" of Chinese cinema, Jia served on the Official Selection Jury at Cannes in 2014.

"Ash is Purest White" is set in an inland city in the early 2000s. It tells about the poignant romance between a young dancer and a local gangster.