DEAUVILLE, France - The 43rd edition of France's Deauville American Film Festival opened on Saturday in the Normandy seaside resort with a tribute to American actress Laura Dern.

The festival, a showcase for American cinema, will run for ten days and offer 14 films in the official competition. Dern appeared on the red carpet in a dress covered in blue and white feathers.

Known for her turn in David Lynch's "Wild at heart", which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1990, the 50-year-old American actress appears in the third season of Lynch's Twin Peaks.

"It's so exciting that the fans not only love it... but also my son and his friends are all watching," she said.

"It's beautiful for them to say to me: we can't believe that this is the craziest thing that's ever been on television, so 20 years later a new generation still feels that way about Twin Peaks, speaks to David's genius."

In total, some 60 films will be shown by the end of the festival on Sept. 10, of which 14 are in competition.

In contrast to the controversies that hit the Cannes festival over Netflix, Deauville has rolled out the red carpet to new forms of distribution. - AFP