12 May 2010 Last updated at 08:18

In pictures: Palme d'Or contenders

Rizhao Chongquing (Chongqing Blues), directed by Wang Xiaoshuai

A total of 19 directors will compete for the Palme d'Or prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Among them is China's Wang Xiaoshuai, whose Chongqing Blues tells of a sea captain who returns to the titular city when his son is killed.

Tournee (On Tour), directed by Mathieu Amalric

Tournee (On Tour) follows a group of burlesque dancers on tour in France. The film is directed by Mathieu Amalric, a French actor best known for his villainous role in James Bond film Quantum of Solace.

Un Homme Qui Crie (A Screaming Man), directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Africa's Mahamat-Saleh Haroun - winner of the Special Jury Prize at Venice in 2006 - is up for the Palme d'Or with Un Homme Qui Crie (A Screaming Man), a drama set amidst the ongoing civil war in his home country of Chad.

Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives), directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Set in his native Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's film Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat - Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives - tells of a dying man who decides to spend his final days with his family.

Biutiful, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (left), who won a director prize at Cannes in 2006 for Babel, returns to the festival with Biutiful, a drama set in Barcelona starring Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem (right).

Copie Conforme (Certified Copy), directed by Abbas Kiarostami

Iran's Abbas Kiarostami last won the Palme d'Or in 1997 with Ta'm e guilass. Will Copie Conforme (Certified Copy), a romantic drama starring French actress Juliette Binoche, win him another?

Mike Leigh, whose Secrets and Lies won the Palme d'Or in 1996, is one of two British representatives in the official line-up. Jim Broadbent (left) stars in his latest effort alongside Ruth Sheen (centre), Lesley Manville and Imelda Staunton.

Des Hommes et Des Dieux (Of God and Men), directed by Xavier Beauvois

Des Hommes et Des Dieux (Of Gods and Men) is about monks who stand up for their beliefs when confronted by fundamentalists. French film-maker Xavier Beauvois is its director and co-writer.

Based on a 1960 movie of the same name, The Housemaid - directed by South Korea's Im Sang-soo - tells of a domestic servant (Jeon Do-youn) who wreaks havoc on the family she works for.

Naomi Watts and Sean Penn star in Fair Game, a thriller about a CIA agent whose cover is blown, that sees Doug Liman in contention for his first Palme d'Or. The US director's previous films include The Bourne Identity and Mr and Mrs Smith.

Utomlyonnye Solntsem 2 (Burnt by the Sun 2), directed by Nikita Mikhalkov

Nikita Mikhalkov's Utomlyonnye Solntsem 2 (Burnt by the Sun 2) is an epic drama set during World War II. Its predecessor, set around Stalin's Great Purge, won the best foreign film Oscar in 1995.

Schastye Moe (My Joy), directed by Sergei Loznitsa

A truck driver takes the wrong exit on a motorway and finds himself embroiled in the life of a small village in Schastye Moe (My Joy). Its director is Sergei Loznitsa, a Ukrainian best known for his work in documentaries.

Former Palme d'Or winner Ken Loach was a last-minute addition to the line-up. His drama, Route Irish, traces the lives of two ex-soldiers, who are in love with the same woman and head to Iraq to work as private contractors.

A Frankenstein Terv (Tender Son - The Frankenstein Project), directed by Kornel Mundruczo

Szelid Teremtes - A Frankenstein Terv (Tender Son - The Frankenstein Project) tells of a boy raised in an institution who returns to the family that rejected him. Hungary's Kornel Mundruczo was last at Cannes in 2008 with Delta.

South Korean director Lee Chang-dong was nominated for the Palme d'Or for 2007's Milyang. Now he returns with Poetry, a film about a middle-aged woman searching for meaning in her life.

Hors La Loi (Outside Of The Law), directed by Rachid Bouchareb

Hors La Loi (Outside of the Law) is a follow-up to Rachid Bouchareb's 2006 film Days of Glory. The story tells of three brothers who become involved in the movement for Algerian independence.

Takeshi Kitano - one of Japan's most celebrated film-makers, actors and producers - directs and stars in Outrage, about a yakuza (gangster) caught up in a battle between rival clans.

La Princesse De Montpensier (The Princess of Montpensier), directed by Bertrand Tavernier

Nominated three times for the Palme d'Or, France's Bertrand Tavernier has yet to win it. La Princesse de Montpensier (The Princess of Montpensier) focuses on a 16th-Century woman torn between a prince and her lover.

La Nostra Vita (Our Life), directed by Daniele Luchetti

La Nostra Vita (Our Life) is a family drama that marks Italian director Daniele Luchetti's second shot at the Palme d'Or. The winner of the prize will be announced on 23 May.

Entertainment & Arts

In pictures: Palme d'Or contenders

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