Twenty-onefilms will screen in the Directors' Fortnight sidebar of the Cannes FilmFestival, it was announced today (April 26).

In hissecond year at the helm, Fortnight director Olivier Pere has pulled together aselection that includes several films from Europe with a smattering from Asia,the US, Iran and Australia.

SixFrench productions or co-productions are in the line up including Cache Cachefrom Yves Caumon whose Amour D'Enfance took a prize in Un Certain Regardin 2001; Anthony Cordier's Douches Froides, a dramatic comedy aboutthree teenagers; La Moustache by Emmanuel Carrere and starring VincentLindon; Travaux On Sait Quand Ca Commence by BrigitteRouan and starring Carole Bouquet.

Geminis from Argentina and France isdirected by Albertina Carri whose Los Rubios was a festival hitin 2003 while France is also partnered with Portugal and Lithuania on SevenInvisible Men by Sharunas Bartas and set in Crimea.

Alsofrom Portugal is Alice by Marco Martins, a first film which centreson the disappearance of a young girl. Rounding out the trio of Portugese filmsis Odete by Joao Pedro Rodrigues about the intertwined destinies ofthree people in Lisbon.

From theUK comes Kim Longinotto and Florence Ayisi's Sisters In Law set inCameroun. Longinotto's documentary The Day I Will Never Forget, aboutfemale genital mutilation, was a festival hit.

Factotum, a co-production from Norway, theUS and Germany, stars Lili Taylor, Matt Dillon and Marisa Tomei. Film isdirected by Bent Hamer and adapted from a story by legendary barfly CharlesBukowski.

US filmsin the selection include Lodge Kerrigan's Keane about a man coming toterms with his daughter's disappearance (a recurring theme in this year's Quinzaine) and Room by Kyle Henry about aTexas woman with mysterious visions and starring Cyndi Williams.

TheNetherlands brings Guernsey by Nanouk Leopold whose Iles Flottantesmade the festival circuit in 2001. Georgia's Levan Zakareishvili brings Tbilisi-Tbilisiabout a struggling filmmaker in the capital city.

Australianfilmmaker Greg McLean's hit thriller Wolf Creek was in Sundance thisyear and grabs a berth in the Fortnight.

FromAsia are two films from Japan. The Buried Forest was originally slatedfor Un Certain Regard until director Kohei Oguri decided to switch sections. Who'sCamus Anyway' from Mitsuo Yanagimachi is the director's first filmin a decade.

SouthKorea is present with two films. The President's Last Bang by ImSang-soo is set during a dinner party in 1979 where a plot is hatched toassassinate the leader. Crying Fist is set in the boxing world anddirected by Ryoo Seung-Wan.

Singapore'sBe With Me is a love story by Eric Khoo and opens Directors' Fortnight.From Iran, Mohammad Rasoulof's The Iron Island tells the story of agroup of men and women seeking refuge on a sinking ship.

Directors'Fortnight also runs a short film section which has 14 titles while two filmsfrom 1962 - Italy's Cronaco Familiare by Valerio Zurlini and SamPeckinpah's Ride The High Country - will have special screenings.

Directors'Fortnight line-up:
Alice, Marco Martins, Portugal
Be With Me, Eric Khoo, Singapore
The Buried Forest, Kohei Oguri, Japan
Cache Cache, Yves Caumon, France
Crying Fist (Ju-meok-I-Woon-Da), Ryoo Seung-Wan, South Korea
Douches Froides, Antony Cordier, France
Factotum Bent Hamer, Norway, US, Germany
Geminis, Albertina Carri, France
Guernsey, Nanouk Leopold, The Netherlands
Jazireh Ahani (The Iron Island), Mohammad Rasoulof,Iran
Keane, Lodge Kerrigan, US
La Moustache, Emmanuel Carrère, France
Odete João, Pedro Rodrigues, Portugal
The President's Last Bang (Bang Gu Tte Gu Sa Ram Dul), Im Sang-soo,South Korea
Room, Kyle Henry, US
Seven Invisible Men, Sharunas Bartas, Lithuania, France, Portugal
Sisters In Law, Kim Longinotto and Florence Ayisi, UK
Tbilisi-Tbilisi, Levan Zakareishvili, Georgia
Travaux On Sait Quand Ça Commence, Brigitte Roüan, France
Who's Camus Anyway', Mitsuo Yanagimachi, Japan
Wolf Creek, Greg McLean, Australia

Special Screenings
Cronaca Familiare, Valerio Zurlini, Italy
Ride The High Country, Sam Peckinpah, US