British are a no-show at Cannes festival

The 2005 Cannes film festival will mark a return to the big names - top, cult directors who have dominated global cinema since the 1980s will compete against younger Asian film-makers, organisers said yesterday.

Movie greats such as Wim Wenders, Jim Jarmusch, Lars von Trier, Gus van Sant and David Cronenberg will be among the 20 directors whose films will compete for the coveted Palme d'Or in the French Riviera resort.

The choices this year mark an attempt to move away from the eclectic selection seen in 2004, when the giant-green ogre Shrek competed against the eventual winner, Michael Moore's polemic documentary Fahrenheit 9/11.

Artistic director Thierry Fremeaux said organisers had had a tough time selecting films for all the festival's categories, having to whittle down their choice from more than 1000 films.

"Last year we wanted to present the importance of documentary cinema and animation. This year, there is a return to a certain classicism, the great authors, many of whom have already been in the competition," he said.

Wenders, returning to Cannes for the first time since 1997, will show his Don't Come Knockin', starring Sam Shepard and Jessica Lange from May 11 to 22.

Von Trier, like Wenders and Van Sant a past Cannes winner, will show Manderlay while Jarmusch will present his Broken Flowers.

Canadian director Cronenberg will show A History of Violence starring, Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris and William Hurt while Van Sant will be there with his film Last Days, a rock'n'roll drama set in Seattle about a musician whose life resembles the late grunge rocker Kurt Cobain.

Young Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai will show his Shanghai Dreams, Japan's Masahiro Kobayashi screens Bashing, and Taiwan's Hou Hsiao-Hsien presents The Best of Our Times.

There are no British films in the Palme d'Or selection.

The organisers wanted to encourage emerging film-makers in eastern Europe, who are well represented in the Un Certain Regard section - films not in the running for the Palme d'Or.

Three French films will be in competition for the Palme d'Or - Lemming by Dominik Moll, Peindre ou faire l'amour (Paint or make love) by Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu and Cache (Hidden) by Michael Haneke.

Sceening out-of-competition, the final episode of George Lucas' Star Warr trilogy Episode III - Revenge of the Sith will be screening before its May 19 worldwide release date, while Woody Allen, a frequent Cannes visitor, will show his new movie Match Point.

The make-up of the festival's jury, which will this year be headed by Bosnian director Emir Kusturica, will be unveiled in Paris next week.

- NZPA