Here are some figures to put the event into perspective:
9
The number of film stars and directors on the jury that will decide the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or. Led by Pedro Almodovar, the Spanish director of such classics as "All About My Mother", the panel includes US stars Will Smith, Jessica Chastain and the Chinese "X-Men" actress Fan Bingbing.
167
The number of diamonds on the special 70th anniversary golden palm frond that is the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or. Its makers Chopard declined to say how much the trophy is worth, but the usual 18-carat gold palm they make every year costs around 20,000 euros ($22,000).
24
The number of steps the stars have to climb to ascend the red carpet into the Palais des Festivals where the main competition films will be screened.
60
The length in metres of the famous red carpet (nearly 200 feet). A new carpet is laid before each official screening of a film in competition, meaning 180 meters of carpet are used each day.
45,000
The number of people with official accreditations to attend the festival, of which around 4,500 are journalists.
500
The number of security personnel who will be deployed at the Palais des Festivals -- not counting the hundreds of police, soldiers and paramilitary gendarmes patrolling the surrounding area.
20,000,000
The festival's budget, in euros (about $22 million). Half the funding comes from French taxpayers, the other half from corporate sponsors.
91
The number of features to be screened at this year's festival, including 61 in the official selection (of which 19 are competing for the Palme d'Or).
From 74,000 to over 200,000
That's how much Cannes's population swells to during the festival.
468
Smile, there are cameras everywhere (and not just movie and TV ones). This is the number of surveillance cameras filming the town 24 hours a day, with lenses especially trained on the Palais des Festivals building and all along the seafront, known as La Croisette.
13,000
The number of movers and shakers taking part in Cannes's parallel film market, happening in the bowels of the Palais des Festivals and along part of the beach.
This maze of stands is where producers, directors and distributors get together to work out what you'll be watching on the big screen and your devices in the months and years to come.
70th Cannes Film Festival - Cannes, France. 16/05/2017 - A Chopard representative displays the Palme d'Or, the highest prize awarded to competing films, during an interview before the start. Photo by Reuters/Regis Duvignau |