Jury members Will Smith Air Max 97 Ultra Solde , from left, Jessica Chastain and Pedro Almodovar pose for photographers during the photo call for the Jury at the 70th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 16, 2017. (Photo by Arthur MolaInvisionAP)
The 70th Cannes Film Festival opened Wednesday under the lights of Cote D'Azur sunshine and high-wattage stars such as Will Smith and Marion Cotillard. But a brewing storm over Netflix's place at the world's most prestigious film festival clouded the event as Cannes rolled out the red carpet.


Optimism is high at this year's Cannes Air Max 97 Noir Blanche et Solde , which features a lineup widely considered to be well-stocked with heavyweight filmmakers, including Todd Haynes ("Wonderstruck"), Sofia Coppola ("The Beguiled"), Michael Haneke ("Happy End") and Lynne Ramsay ("You Were Never Really Here"). Rancor and controversy nonetheless dogged the festival's preamble, as well as its opening day.


During the opening ceremony Wednesday, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi helped set a welcoming tone for the festival, calling it a "place where cultures speak to one another." Farhadi's presence in Cannes sharply contrasted with February's Academy Awards ceremony Air Max 97 Argent Solde , which the filmmaker (whose "The Salesman" won best foreign language film) boycotted to protest President Donald Trump's proposed travel ban on visitors from several predominantly Muslim nations.


Farhadi collected his Oscar statuette Wednesday in France, via producer Alexandre Mallet-Guy.


But while Cannes maintained its status as an international melting pot, definitions of what qualifies as cinema continued to stir debate. For the first time, Cannes selected two Netflix releases — Bong Joon-ho's "Okja" and Noah Baumbach's "The Meyerowitz Stories" — for its Palme d'Or competition.


French theaters, which have strict rules regarding streaming service films, rebelled at the thought of a movie that won't play on the big screen winning the Palme d'Or — the biggest award in film next to an Oscar, and to some Air Max 97 Rose Solde , even more important. The festival relented and next year won't accept streaming-only films in the competition.


Earlier Wednesday, Pedro Almodovar, who's presiding over this year's competition jury, read a lengthy statement in which he said, "I personally cannot conceive of not only the Palme d'Or, but any other prize, being given to a film and then being unable to see this film on a large screen."


Coming from the head of the jury that will decide the award Air Max 97 Noir Solde , the comment was striking and potentially means the Joon-ho and Baumbach films already are out of the running. But Almodovar, a Cannes regular, drew applause for his defense of the theatrical experience.