The competition also includes Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces starring Penelope Cruz, Ken Loach's Looking for Eric featuring former French soccer star Eric Cantona and Lars von Trier's horror Antichrist.

Jane Campion, who won the Palme d'Or with The Piano in 1993, brings Bright Star based on the romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne.

Other highlights include Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock about the rock festival and Lou Ye's Spring Fever.

Out of competition, Terry Gilliam has perhaps the biggest movie in Cannes. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is the late Australian actor Heath Ledger's final screen role, which had to be completed by Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law.

Hundreds more movies are shown outside the main competition, many of them on the market, which runs throughout the festival and reinforces Cannes' importance in the world of cinema.

The deal making will go on, as will the parties, but market players expect the mood to be more subdued than in recent years.

(China Daily/Agencies May 14, 2009)