Festival De Cannes 2005 - May 11th - 22nd

The event, which lasts nearly a fortnight, opens with a gala screening of Lemming at 7:30pm followed by another showing at 11pm.

Lemming is a surreal family drama starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and British actress Charlotte Rampling.

The last day of the festival will end with Chromophobia starring Ralph Fiennes, Penelope Cruz, Ian Holm, Rhys Ifans and Kristin Scott Thomas.

This thriller is directed by Fiennes' sister Martha.

This year, the international flavor is rich. Morocco, South Africa, Mexico, Austria, Peru, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Mexico are among a few of the countries that will be honored. These first seven countries are being hosted by "All the Cinemas of the World", an effort to promote the diversity and richness of a whole country's cinematographic production.

Separately, Cannes will pay homage to Mexico and it's prestigious history of filmmaking.

In James Dean's memory, fifty years after his fatal car crash, Cannes welcomes a photo exhibit, and two films. Dean's 1955 film East of Eden will be shown, as well as Rebel Without a Cause, which is expected to be re-released on the big screen this September.

The Cannes Classic, East of Eden will be shown on Friday, May 20th at 8:30pm.

The prestigious Palme d'Or

This year, there will be twenty films vying for the prestigious Palme d'Or award.

Three of the judges involved in deciding who will win this coveted prize are Spanish actor Javier Bardem, U.S. novelist Toni Morrison and Mexican actress Salma Hayek.

From Bollywood to Football Save The Politics

On May 13th, Indian cinema will make its presence known with a film called Naina that is expecting to become the first Indian horror thriller to appeal to the global audience.

In the field of football, or soccer -- as we say in America -- a number of films will be shown featuring international stars and English players.

Pele, the 64-year-old former Brazilian striker, will attend this week's premiere of a feature two-hour documentary about himself called Pele Forever. Pele, one of the international stars, is often described as the world's best soccer player.

Two English soccer stars David Beckham and Alan Shearer played the role of themselves in Goal!

Each year, the Cannes film festival attracts more than 40,000 people. Among the attendees invited to the French Riviera are 30,000 professionals, 1,000 of whom are authors/directors, 4,000 distributors, 5,000 producers and 4,000 journalists.

Add the public and often 200,000 people descend on the small Riviera resort of Cannes each May.

Cecile de France will be the master of ceremony for the Festival de Cannes 2005.

Today, the French movie star, who won the Cesar for Best New Acting Talent in 2003, opened the 58th Festival and welcomed the jury and its President, Emir Kusturica, to the stage of the Palais des Festivals.

Cecile de France, the star of Daniele Thompson's upcoming Fauteuils d'orchestre, will also host the Award Ceremony on Saturday May 21st.

For further details, go to the festival's official website at: