A look down thelist of festival-friendly films likely to be ready for Cannes (12-23 May)suggests that Thierry Fremaux and his selection team have an embarrassment ofriches to pick from - and that Quentin Tarantino's jury will be weighingup the reputations of numerous art-house legends (see below for full list).

At least threeformer Palme d'Or winners will be ready plus a host of other Cannes andVenice prize-winners. In addition to Pedro Almodovar, who becomes the firstSpaniard to open proceedings on the Croisette, the Official Selection is likelyto include Emir Kusturica, Mike Leigh and Abbas Kiarostami, all of whom havealready won the Palme. Other auteur giants in the competition mix include WongKar Wai, Zhang Yimou, Walter Salles and Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

Continuity withthe past then looks a certainty. However, having assumed complete control ofthe selection process from former artistic head Gilles Jacob, Fremaux will alsowant to leave his own stamp on the Cannes festival. Particularly now that Fremauxhas successfully reduced the selection committee for French films to the statusof an advisory board, like the team for foreign films.

Innovation may bemost evident in the programming. Already Fremaux has made one bold move byplaying one of his trump cards, Bad Education, as the opening film. Shrek 2, although not yet a certainty, looks setto provide some light relief on the evening of Saturday.

Some otherthemes, however, may be emerging. These include tributes to Yasujiro Ozu, fromboth Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Abbas Kiarostami. Fremaux is understood to believeBrazilian directors to be particularly hot at the moment. He has already baggedMotorcycle Diaries,Walter Salles' poetic account of Che Guevarra's youth, from underthe nose of Berlin and others may be added. And with South Africa celebratingthe tenth anniversary of democracy, Ian Gabriel's Forgiveness or the DV8low budget series have good chances of special attention.

In fact lowbudgets themselves may become a theme at Cannes: Directors Fortnight has itseye on Tarnation, afilm made for the princely sum of $218.32. Wim Wenders is currently editing LandOf Plenty, the latestfilm from the InDigEnt digital filmmaking collective in New York. RebeccaMiller, whose own InDigEnt breakthrough, Personal Velocity won Sundance last year, is said to be ahot bet for Cannes with The Rose And The Snake, starring her husband Daniel Day-Lewis.

Confirmed Cannes titles

Bad Education, dir: Pedro Almodovar (Focus) -opening film, out of comp

MotorcycleDiaries , dir: WalterSalles. (Pathe Int.)

Strong possibilities for main competition

2046, dir: Wong Kar-Wai (Fortissimo)

Life Is AMiracle, dir: EmirKusturica (Wild Bunch)

Cafe Lumiere, dir: Hou Hsiou-Hsien (WildBunch/Shochiku)

Dedicated ToOzu. dir: AbbasKiarostami

Untitled, dir: Mike Leigh (StudioCanal)

Comme UneImage , dir: AgnesJaoui (StudioCanal)

Marseille, dir: Angela Schanelek (Bavaria)

House Of TheFlying Daggers, dir:Zhang Yimou (Focus)

Clean, dir: Olivier Assayas (The Works) (Frrelease May 19)

Rois Et Reine,dir: Arnaud Desplechin(Wild Bunch)

I HeartHuckabees, dir: David ORussell (Fox Searchlight/Icon)

Alexandria NewYork, dir: YoussefChahine

La Femme EstL'Avenir , dir:Hong Sang Soo (MK2)

Notre Musique, dir: Jean-Luc Godard (Wild Bunch)

The Rose AndThe Snake, dir: RebeccaMiller (IEG)

Yes, dir: Sally Potter (Greenestreet)

Ma Mere, dir: Christophe Honore (Gemini)

Old Boy, dir: Park Chan-wook (Cineclick Asia)

Le Chiavi diCasa, dir: Gianni Amelio(Lakeshore)

She Hate Me, dir: Spike Lee (Sony Pictures Classics)

Land Of Plenty, dir: Wim Wenders (InDiGent)

The 7th Day, dir: Carlos Saura(Lolafilms)

Special treatment possibilities

Kill Bill PtII, dir: QuentinTarantino (Miramax)

Shrek 2, dirs: Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, ConanVernon (Dreamworks)

The LadyKillers, dirs: JoelCoen (Fr release 26May) (Disney)

Eros, dirs: Michelangelo Antonioni, StevenSoderbergh, Wong Kar-Wai (various)

Harry Potter 3, dir: Alfonso Cuaron (Warner)

Ha Ryu InSaeng, dir: ImKwan-Taek (Cinema Service)

Around TheWorld In 80 Days, dir:Frank Coraci (Summit)

Bridge Of SanLuis Rey, dir: MaryMcGuckian (Senator)

TheAssassination Of President Nixon, dir: Niels Mueller (Senator)

Other sections beckon

Mean Creek, dir: Jacob Aaron Estes (ParamountClassics)

Waiting ForThe Clouds, dir: YesimUstaoglu (Celluloid Dreams)

ProducingAdults, dir: AleksiSalmenpera (Celluloid Dreams)

Being Julia, dir: Istvan Szabo (Myriad)

Kinsey, dir: Bill Condon (Myriad)

Life And DeathOf Peter Sellers Dir: Stephen Hopkins (HBO Films London)

The Holy Girl, dir: Lucrecia Martel (HBO Films London)

A Home At TheEnd Of The World, dir:Michael Mayer (Pandora)

Strings, dir: Anders Ronnow-Klarlund (Trust)

Tarnation, dir: Jonathan Caouette

Exils, dir: Tony Gatlif (Flach Pyramide)

Le Silence, dir: Orso Miret (Films Distribution)

Forgiveness, dir: Ian Gabriel (no seller attached)

MysteriousSkin, dir: Gregg Araki (Fortissimo)

PS I Love You, dir: Dylan Kidd (Fortissimo)

Paradise Girls, dir: Ho Fu Pyng

Untitled, dir: Hirokazu Kore-eda (Celluloid Dreams)

ThePresident's Barber,dir: Im Chan-Sang (Cineclick Asia)

Downfall, dir: Oliver Hirschbiegel (EOS)

Unlikely to be ready

Bride AndPrejudice, dir: GurinderChadha (The Works)

Enduring Love, dir: Roger Michell (Pathe)

5x2, dir: Francois Ozon (Celluloid Dreams)

Enduring Love,dir: Roger Michell(Pathe)

Dear Wendy, dir: Thomas Vinterberg (Trust)

Vanity Fair, dir: Mira Nair (Focus)

Dirty CryingShame, dir: John Waters(Fine Line)

Millions, dir: Danny Boyle (Pathe)