Premieres, parties, pretty people and paparazzi. All come together at the annual Cannes Film Festival on the French Riviera. Associated Press journalists are in the mix, too, and here's what they're reporting:

MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ RULES IN ZUHAIR MURAD

"Wild Tales", a pitch-black comedy from Argentina produced by art-house superstar Pedro Almodovar, delighted critics at Cannes on Saturday with an uproarious take on the thin line between civilization and savagery.

One of 18 contenders in competition at the world's biggest film festival, the movie by 38-year-old Damian Szifron plays out in six absurdly violent episodes.

A Syrian woman whose horrifying footage of the siege of Homs was turned into a film by an exiled director was on Friday given a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, a few hours after the pair met for the first time.

Documentary maker Wiam Simav Bedirxan, dressed in a long black dress and red shawl, bent forward, put her head in her hands and had to be comforted by director Ossama Mohammed as the Cannes audience applauded her arrival at the start of the film they made together, "Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait".

An armed man stole jewels with an estimated value of 40 million euros ($53 million) in a brazen heist in broad daylight at a diamond exhibition in the French Riviera resort of Cannes Sunday, investigators said.

The hold-up, at the Carlton Hotel on the promenade in Cannes, famous for its annual film festival, would be the second largest ever in France if the value of the jewels is confirmed.

Nicole Kidman and "Amelie" star Audrey Tautou kicked off 12-days of red carpet fashion at the opening of the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday.

The prestigious Riviera movie meet provides both big fashion houses and up-and-coming designers with unparalleled opportunities to showcase their work before a global audience.

French authorities said on Saturday they had lost all trace of a light aircraft piloted by a 66-year-old Briton over the Mediterranean Sea.

The Tobago aircraft, with just the pilot on board, took off from the southern French city of Cannes on Friday, heading for Salerno in southern Italy.

The fishing villages have become chic resorts and the yachts of the wealthy dominate the waters of the French Riviera, but the 300 odd fishermen who remain on this sunny coast are determined to keep up a tradition that is also their livelihood.

These fiercely independent men in their seven-meter (23-foot) boats bring a touch of authenticity to a region that has largely dedicated itself to tourism and luxury in resorts like Cannes, Nice or Saint-Tropez.

The Venice film festival kicks off on Wednesday with the arrival of stars on water taxis for an art house dominated line-up dealing with issues from religious extremism to economic crisis.

First up at the world's oldest film festival will be a showing of Mira Nair's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" -- a political thriller about a young Pakistani man torn between Wall Street ambitions and the call of his homeland.

Nicole Kidman's red carpet date travelled for 35 hours to join her in Cannes.

The actress's husband — musician Keith Urban — made the trip from Sydney, where's he's been filming "The Voice," to escort her up the famous Palais stairs at the Cannes Film Festival for the screening of her film, "The Paperboy."

The Cannes Film Festival rewarded one of its favorite directors Sunday, as Michael Haneke won the top prize for a second time with his stark film about love and death, "Amour."

The Austrian director's powerful and understated film stars two French acting icons — 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva and 81-year-old Jean-Louis Trintignant — as an elderly couple coping with the wife's worsening health.