Cannes film festival unveils its line-up

PARIS- Agence France-Presse

This photo shows Austrian director Michael Haneke and actress Isabelle Hupert. Haneke’s flim ‘Love,’ starring Hupert, will be screened in competiton at the festival.

The Cannes film festival yesterday unveiled its pick of Hollywood giants and art house newcomers to compete at the world’s top movie showcase on the French Riviera next month.

Organizers will announce the over 50 films awarded a slot at the May 16-27 event at a press conference in Paris, half of them in the official race for the Palme d’Or and half in the parallel new talent section, Un Certain Regard.

Cannes general delegate Thierry Fremaux selected the line-up from among some 1,700 submissions, from the biggest names in film right down to first-time directors from North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America or Africa.

Star-wise, Nicole Kidman is tipped to make a double appearance after Fremaux warned in an interview the Australian actress was “going to surprise us.” Kidman holds lead roles this year in two very different thrillers: “Stoker” by South Korea’s Park Chan-wook, and the 1960s-set “The Paperboy” by U.S. director Lee Daniels.

The French press is betting on Marion Cotillard, star of three Cannes-tipped films: “Of Rust and Bone” by Frenchman Jacques Audiard, “Low Life” by US director James Gray about an immigrant woman tricked into a life of burlesque, and Christopher Nolan’s new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises”.
“On the Road” by the Brazilian Walter Salles is all-but-assured of a slot: based on the Jack Kerouac novel the movie stars Kirsten Dunst, Kristen Stewart and Viggo Mortensen.

David Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis”, starring Robert Pattinson as a billionaire asset manager, is seen as a strong contender, as is Australia’s Andrew Dominik with the gangster flick “Killing Them Softly” starring Brad Pitt.

Austrian director Michael Haneke, whose “The White Ribbon” won the 2009 Palme d’Or, is seen as a likely choice with “Love,” starring Isabelle Huppert as a woman hit by a stroke.

Veteran Frenchman Alain Resnais, who will shortly turn 90, is expected to bring his new film “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.”

From Britain, Ken Loach, who has brought 16 films to Cannes in the past, could be in contention with “The Angel’s Share,” about an ex-offender on the mend.

This year’s jury is lead by Italian director Nanni Moretti, who scooped a Palme d’Or for “The Son’s Room” in 2001.