Johansson leads trio of stars going behind the camera for the first time at Cannes

First-time directors with films premiering at Cannes next week could be forgiven for feeling nervous.

- Catherine Shoard

But three of those unveiling their efforts in France are less likely than their peers to be quaking on the red carpet: Scarlett Johansson, Kristen Stewart and Harris Dickinson.

The A-list actors are among filmmakers with movies screening in the festival's prestigious sidebar, Un Certain Regard, over the next 10 days.

Stewart, 35, and Johansson, 40, have had careers forged on the Croisette and attended for many years. The former served on the competition jury in 2018 while the latter also stars this year in a film in the main competition: Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme.

Dickinson, 28, made his breakthrough in Ruben Östlund's Triangle of Sadness, which won the Palme d'Or in 2022, before he found global fame opposite Nicole Kidman in Babygirl.

Actors broadening their portfolio to dabble in directing is nothing new and Cannes has enthusiastically indulged talents such as Sean Penn, Tommy Lee Jones and Clint Eastwood - as well as domestic stars including Mathieu Amalric and Louis Garrel - who have all attempted it.

But the films of Stewart, Johansson and Dickinson are unusual in that none feature the name behind the camera in front of it too.