Sokurov's film to represent Russia at Cannes festival again

Creators of 20 feature films from 13 countries will be struggling for the Golden Palm, the main prize of the 56th international film festival in Cannes.

The Cannes film festival is often called the most prestigious and representative of such events. The festival gathers many celebrities on the Croisette embankment and sometimes lights new film stars.

After a preview the organising committee chose 50 out of 900 feature films for the official show in 2003.

According to the organisers, they lack some acknowledged masters who failed to accomplish their new films but discovered promising debutantes. The fact that the festival will host 40 world premieres speaks for itself.

Five French, three US, two Japanese film directors and representatives from Great Britain, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, Canada, Brazil, China, Iran and Turkey will be fighting for the main prize.

Russia will be represented by Alexander Sokurov's film "Father and Son". Last year our country also presented his film "The Russian Ark".

The jury is headed by the famous French film director Patrice Chereau, who often was a nominee of the Cannes festival. The jury also includes his compatriots Jean Rochefort and Karin Viard, director Steven Soderbergh and actress Meg Ryan from the USA and representatives of China, India, Italy and Bosnia.

The festival opens with the out-of-competition premiere of "Fanfan the Tulip". This remake of the famous black-and-white movie of the 1950s was shot by producer Luc Besson and director Gerard Krawczyk. Vincent Perez and Penelope Cruz played the brilliant parts of Gerard Philippe and Gina Lollobrigida. The Cannes festival will end with the show of the immortal film "Modern Times" with Charlie Chaplin.