Primary Colors opens Cannes

The Cannes Film Festival opens tomorrow with 22 films competing for the Palme d'Or prize. Kicking off the show will be with Mike Nichols' Primary Colors. Director Martin Scorsese will head a 10-member jury which includes actresses Winona Ryder, Sigourney Weaver and Lena Olin; directors Chen Kaige, Alain Corneau and Michael Winterbottom; and cool French rap singer MC Solaar. Joining French Culture Minister Catherine Trautmann at tomorrow's opening will be United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Annan's presence as a special guest will be to underline the festival's support for the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was signed in Paris in December 1948. "Under the sign of universality and human rights, this evening will bear witness to the Cannes festival's consistent support for freedom of expression and the defense of the principles contained in this declaration," organizers said in a statement.