"Our Man in Cannes" - Tom Linay at the 66th annual Festival de Cannes - Day One

You only need to look at the jury for the 66th Cannes Film Festival too see it remains the world's premiere film festival. It's like a particularly starry episode of Stella Street, with the most famous of all film directors, Steven Spielberg chairing a jury that also features Nicole Kidman and recent Oscar winners, Ang Lee (Life of Pi) and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained).

The film selection is equally star-studded, with Baz Luhrmann's lavish The Great Gatsby (opening today in the UK) kicking off proceedings yesterday and new offerings featuring numerous stars including Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake and Emma Watson in various strands of competition.

Films in the main competition that we can look forward to seeing in UK cinemas over the coming year include Only God Forgives (2 August), which sees Ryan Gosling re-team with Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn for a typically stylish, violent Bangkok set crime thriller. There's also The Immigrant from James Gray (We Own The Night) starring Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Renner and Joaquin Phoenix.

American indie heroes, the Coen brothers will be hoping for Oscar success with their latest, Inside Llewyn Davis (24 January 2014), a comedy drama set amongst the 1960s New York folk scene starring Carey Mulligan, the aforementioned Timberlake and relative newcomer Oscar Isaac. Another main competition entry that is already being talked about as a 2014 awards contender is Nebraska, from Alexander Payne, the genius behind Sideways and The Descendants. There's also hugely exciting new offerings from perhaps less well known film makers, such as The Past, Asghar Farhadi's follow up to the sensational Oscar winning A Separation.

In the Un Certain Regard section is The Bling Ring starring Emma Watson and directed by Sofia Coppola (Lost In Translation). Out in the UK on 5 July, it tells the true story of a group of fame-obsessed teens in LA who turn to robbing celebrities houses. One of the busiest men in Hollywood, James Franco is both behind and in front of the camera with period drama, As I Lay Dying.

However, as with any Cannes part of the pleasure comes from stumbling across a film you previously knew little about and there's always plenty to choose from. It's also worth noting that unlike other film festivals, all the films at Cannes are free, so you can catch four films a day and pay nothing for the privilege. Just one of the many factors that makes Cannes special. With that in mind, it's probably about time I found out what all the fuss is about and joined a queue for Gatsby. I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing.