Stars on La Croisette
George Lucas, Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Sharon Stone, Ralph Fiennes, Adam Sandler, Emily Watson

Cinematic highlights
· 20-minute preview of Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York
· Roman Polanski's The Pianist, about a Jewish musician confined to the Warsaw ghetto during the second world war

Likely controversies
· Garpard Noé's Irreversible, selected as a competition film, contains a nine-minute rape sequence
· Kedma, by Amois Gitai. Set in 1948 before the creation of Israel, is set to cast an unflattering light on British troops

British interest
·Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen, about a boy who looks forward to his mother being released from jail in time for his birthday
· Mike Leigh's All or Nothing, a film about a cabbie (Timothy Spall) whose partner (Lesley Manville) no longer loves him

Cannes in numbers
· Films on show: More than 2,000
· Visitors: 6,000
· Films competing for the Palme d'Or category: 21