Entertainment

Marilyn Monroe chosen for Cannes Film Festival poster

By Jessica Derschowitz

February 28, 2012 / 4:22 PM EST / CBS News

The official poster for the 65th Cannes Film Festival, featuring Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe photo: Otto L. Bettmann/Artwork: agence Bronx

(CBS) Marilyn Monroe has a new starring role, as the face of the 65th Cannes Film Festival.

The festival is paying tribute to the star by featuring her on its official poster, and have named her the "icon" of the 2012 event.

Pictures: Marilyn Monroe
Pictures: Early Monroe photographs

"Fifty years after her death, Marilyn is still a major figure in world cinema, an eternal icon, whose grace, mystery and power of seduction remain resolutely contemporary," organizers said in a statement Tuesday.

The poster features a photo of Monroe blowing out a candle on a birthday cake.

Monroe has also been back on the big and small screens recently. Michelle Williams portrayed the starlet in "My Week with Marilyn," earning an Independent Spirit Award, a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for the role, and NBC's new series "Smash" focuses on the creation of a Broadway musical based on Monroe's life.

The 65th Cannes Film Festival runs from May 16 to 27.