Sophia Loren is guest of honour at Cannes

Sophia Loren is guest of honour at Cannes

Sophia Loren will be a guest of honour at this year's Cannes Film Festival where the 79-year-old Italian actress's latest film will also get a screening, organisers said on Wednesday.

A double Oscar winner considered one of the last great sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s, Loren will return to the red carpet as part of the Cannes Classics series.

She will also give a masterclass and attend the screening of "The Human Voice" (2014) in which she is directed by her son Edoardo Ponti.

Over 20 features and documentaries will be screened as part of the Cannes Classics series including a restored version of Wim Wenders' "Paris, Texas", which marks its 30th anniversary this year.

The film, starring Nastassja Kinski, won the Palme d'Or in 1984.

Other films in the section will include Alfred Hitchcock's 1939 adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel "Jamaica Inn" and "Angst" (1954) by Roberto Rossellini.

Loren, who was president of the Cannes jury in 1966, has continued working well into her seventies.

Before "The Human Voice", her last major role was in the 2009 musical "Nine" alongside Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson and Nicole Kidman.

A ceremony in her honour at the Oscars Academy in 2011 included tributes from John Travolta and Tom Hanks who called her "a great artist".