Welcome to Cannes. The annual film festival is always a spectacle, but 2024's edition may be the most combustible in years. The 77th Cannes red carpet unfurls against a backdrop of war and protest. The #MeToo movement, so slow to take root in France, is now quickly tearing through the country's film industry. Festival workers have threatened to strike.

And yet, the usual cavalcade of celebrities and filmmakers from around the world are descending upon the French Riviera over the course of two weeks. And so is The Associated Press. This year, we're keeping a running diary of life at — and in — Cannes. Follow along for an insider's view from the festival.

Leaning into the microphone in Saudi Arabia's capital, Nora let loose a primal scream. Guitars wailed and drums throbbed behind her as part of a set with her bandmates during a recent show.

The performance by Seera, an all-women psychedelic rock band that blends traditional Arabic melodies with the resurgent psychedelia of bands like Tame Impala, would have been unthinkable just years earlier in the kingdom.

They may be attending one of the glitziest festivals on the planet, but some personalities in Cannes are signalling they have not forgotten the war in Gaza.

Laura Blajman-Kadar, a survivor of the October 7 attacks on Israel, swept up the red carpet on Tuesday in a bright yellow dress calling for the release of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.

Beneath intermittent rainy skies, the Cannes Film Festival opened Tuesday with the presentation of an honorary Palme d'Or for Meryl Streep and the unveiling of Greta Gerwig's jury, as the French Riviera spectacular kicked off a potentially volatile 77th edition.

A 10-day stream of stars began flowing down the Cannes' red carpet with the opening night film, "The Second Act," a French comedy starring Lea Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Louis Garrel and Raphaël Quenard. They play squabbling actors filming a movie directed by an artificial intelligence.

They stroll Doha's waterfront promenade and sing softly about children who are now "birds in heaven," flying free of the pain of the war in Gaza.

For the Palestinian group Sol Band, it seems surreal that weeks ago they were hiding from Israeli shelling.

The Eurovision song contest continued to spawn unprecedented controversy, days after the winner was crowned, with the 27-nation European Union lambasting organizers for their "incoherence" in banning its flag from the concert hall during the final.

In an unusually sharp letter, EU Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas wrote to the organizer, the Swiss-based European Broadcast Union, that its ban contributes to "discrediting a symbol that brings together all Europeans."

The Cannes Film Festival opens Tuesday with the unveiling of Greta Gerwig's jury and the presentation of an honorary Palme d'Or for Meryl Streep, as the French Riviera spectacular kicks off a potentially volatile 77th edition.

A 10-day stream of stars will begin flowing down Cannes' famous red carpet beginning with the opening night film, "The Second Act," a French comedy starring Lea Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Louis Garrel and Raphaël Quenard. During the opening ceremony, Streep will be given an honorary Palme.

New Mexico is standing in for California in a new film as Jamie Lee Curtis' production company and others tell the story of a bus driver and a school teacher who rescued students during the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history.

The 2018 blaze killed 85 people and nearly erased the community of Paradise in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Some residents have returned to help make something new, while others are still haunted by their memories.

The Cannes Film Festival rarely passes without cacophony but this year's edition may be more raucous and uneasy than any edition in recent memory.

Lebanon's Muslim religious authorities have filed complaints against a stand-up comedian and LGBTQ rights activist, after a sketch of hers about Friday prayers sparked controversy online.