Organisers have reportedly brought in up to 400 extra security personnel following last year's attacks in Paris.
In the coming days, Australian director George Miller will lead a jury to decide which films will claim the festival's major prizes - including the coveted Palme d'Or.
"We have seen 1,800 films, among them we picked up a selection of 50-60 movies and among them 21 for competition," said Cannes Film Festival Director Thierry Fremaux.
"From what we saw I think we got the best."
Director Woody Allen will once again raise the curtain at Cannes, this time with the romantic-comedy drama 'Cafe Society'.
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Set in the 1930s, it follows Bobby Dorfman, played by Jesse Eisenberg, as he travels to Hollywood and falls in love, then back to New York, where he becomes infatuated with high society nightclubs.
Despite not having any films in contention this year, Australia is still boasting a strong on-screen presence at the festival.
Joel Edgerton stars in 'Loving', which tells the true story of an interracial couple's fight for equality in the US during the 1950s and '60s.
Australian actresses Abby Lee and Bella Heathcote feature in the glossy thriller 'The Neon Demon' by Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn. It is one of three Cannes contenders by Amazon Studios, marking the debut of on-demand video streaming services at the festival.
"Every film festival is going to have to be more open to the idea that players like Amazon, Netflix are taking a large chunk of the market," explained Variety film critic Jay Weissberg.
"We have to open ourselves up to the idea that this is what is happening, this is the future.
"Let's talk about what they can give to us and what maybe we can give to them."
Cannes Film Festival Director Thierry Fremaux agreed.
"The presence of Amazon... is significant for the whole industry of cinema," he said.
"I think it's good news. I think it's money, new kind of money, new kind of interest. Having Amazon buying four or five films from the competition here is a very good sign to show how cinema is alive."
Meanwhile, Russell Crowe stars alongside Ryan Gosling in the crime comedy 'The Nice Guys', and Mel Gibson takes aim in the action thriller 'Blood Father'. Both will screen out of the official competition.
