Stars Walk Snowy 'White Carpet' of Serbian Film Festival

French screen star Isabelle Huppert was among guests to walk a "white carpet" of snow at Tuesday's opening of the Fifth Kuestendorf film and music festival in Serbia.

The event is organized by Sarajevo-born director Emir Kusturica in Drvengard, a wooden village he built as a movie set some 250 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Belgrade.

Huppert, asked to compare the festival with the glamorous red-carpet event in Cannes, told Agence France Presse: "They are not comparable, that's for sure... but there is a white carpet" of snow in Drvengard.

"There is a plethora of directors, great directors coming here. From that point of view, they (the festivals) can be compared."

Kusturica, a two-time Golden Palm winner, said the main goal of the festival was to "defend the dignity of author films that are facing the terror of the market" and praised Huppert as "one of the best actresses in the world".

Thierry Fremaux, artistic director of the Cannes film festival, said Kuestendorf was a "unique festival in times when it is difficult to invent a new form of festivity celebrations".

"I hope that young authors discovered by the Kuestendorf festival will one day appear in Cannes, first simply to come and see the films and eventually, one day, maybe, with a short or long film in competition," Fremaux said.

The festival will honor South Korean director Kim Ki-duk and Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylanfor their respective films, "Arirang" (2011) and "Once Upon a Time in Anatolia" (2011).

Other directors feted are Belgian brothers Jean-Piere and Luc Dardenne, Golden Palm winners for their 1999 film "Rosetta", and for "The Child" (2005), and Iran's Asghar Farhadi, 2011 Berlinale winner for "Separation".

The jury, led by Iranian actress Leila Hatami, also includes French producer Pierre Edelman and Serbian actor-producer Zoran Cvijanovic.

It will award Kuestendorf's Gold, Silver and Bronze Egg awards to the best among some 20 movies in competition from Belgium, Britain, Canada, Estonia, France, Italy and the United States.

The festival runs until Monday.