Cannes picks its best

The candidates for the next Golden Palm have been announced, with many usual Croisette suspects.

The list of filmmakers vying for a Golden Palm has been announced, confirming that The Cannes Film Festival is a club closed to all but a select group. Among them: Nicole Garcia will present «According to Charlie», after submitting «The Adversary» in 2000; Bruno Dumont will show «Flandres», after winning the Jury Prize in 1999 for «L'humanité»; Xavier Giannoli will enter his first feature «When I was a Singer», after taking home the Palm for best short in 1998; Nanni Moretti will bring along his anti-Berlusconi film «The Caiman”, after participating several times and winning a Palm in 2001 for »The Son’s Room«; Ken Loach, whose appearances on the Croisette are too numerous to count, will present »The Wind that Shakes the Barley«; Pedro Almodovar, whose »All About My Mother« won in 1999, has entered “Volver”; Rachid Bouchareb returns 15 years after being awarded the Youth Award for »Cheb« with »Indigènes«; Aki Kaurismaki is angling for his third prize with »Lights in the Dusk«; Alejandro González Inárritu will present »Babel«, after gaining the film world’s attention in 2000 with »Amores perros«: Paolo Sorrentino returns 2 years later with »The Family Friend«; Pedro Costa presents »Youth on the Move« after receiving his first invitation in 2002; and Guillermo del Toro is back in Cannes 13 after »Cronos« with »Fast Food Nation«. Sofia Coppola is one of the few filmmakers to debut at Cannes, with »Marie-Antoinette«, unless one counts the 2 Palms her father has already taken home.