Audrey Tautou to host Cannes opening ceremony

French actress Audrey Tautou, best known for the 2001 film "Amelie", will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Cannes Film Festival next month, one of the organisers said on Tuesday.

The opening ceremony of the 66th Cannes Film Festival will take place on May 15 with the closing ceremony on May 26, pay-TV operator Canal+ said.

Director Steven Spielberg has already been announced as the head of the festival jury.

"Amelie", set in Montmartre, was a critical and box office success in which Tautou played a shy waitress who set out to improve the lives of those around her.

Tautou's latest film "L'Ecume des Jours" ("Mood Indigo") by director Michel Gondry, opens in France later this month.

An adaptation of the Francois Mauriac novel "Therese Desqueyroux", in which she starred, closed the festival last year.

The 2012 opening and closing ceremonies were hosted by "The Artist" star Berenice Bejo.