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 three former Palme d'Or winners will be ready plus a host ofother Cannes and Venice prize-winners. In addition to Pedro Almodovar, whobecomes the first Spaniard to open proceedings on the Croisette, the OfficialSelection is likely to include Emir Kusturica, Mike Leigh and Abbas Kiarostami,all of whom have already won the Palme. Other auteur giants in the competitionmix include Wong Kar Wai, Zhang Yimou, Walter Salles and Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

Continuity with the past then looks a certainty. However, having assumedcomplete control of the selection process from former artistic head GillesJacob, Fremaux will also want to leave his own stamp on the Cannes festival.Particularly now that Fremaux has successfully reduced the selection committeefor French films to the status of an advisory board, like the team for foreignfilms.

Innovation may be most evident in the programming. Already Fremaux has made onebold move by playing 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 other themes, however, may be emerging. These include tributes to YasujiroOzu, from both Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Abbas Kiarostami. Fremaux is understood tobelieve Brazilian directors to be particularly hot at the moment. He hasalready bagged Motorcycle Diaries, Walter Salles' poetic account of CheGuevara's youth, from under the nose of Berlin and others may be added.And with South Africa celebrating the tenth anniversary of democracy, IanGabriel's Forgiveness or the DV8 low budget series have good chances ofspecial attention.

In fact low budgets themselves may become a theme at Cannes: DirectorsFortnight has its eye on Tarnation, a film made for the princely sum of $218.32. WimWenders is currently editing Land Of Plenty, the latest film from the InDigEnt digitalfilmmaking collective in New York. Rebecca Miller, whose own InDigEntbreakthrough, Personal Velocity won Sundance last year, is said to be a hot bet for Cannes with TheRose And The Snake,starring her husband Daniel Day-Lewis.

FOR FREMAUX'S CONSIDERATION:

Confirmed Cannes titles
Bad Education, dir: Pedro Almodovar (Focus) -opening film, out of comp
Motorcycle Diaries ,dir: Walter Salles. (Pathe Int.)

Strong possibilities for main competition
2046, dir: Wong Kar-Wai (Fortissimo)
Life Is A Miracle,dir: Emir Kusturica (Wild Bunch)
Cafe Lumiere, dir: HouHsiou-Hsien (Wild Bunch/Shochiku)
Dedicated To Ozu. dir:Abbas Kiarostami
Untitled, dir: MikeLeigh (StudioCanal)
Comme Une Image , dir:Agnes Jaoui(StudioCanal)
Marseille, dir:Angela Schanelek (Bavaria)
House Of The Flying Daggers, dir: Zhang Yimou (Focus)
Clean, dir: OlivierAssayas (The Works) (Fr release May 19)
Rois Et Reine, dir:Arnaud Desplechin (Wild Bunch)
I Heart Huckabees,dir: David O Russell (Fox Searchlight/Icon)
Alexandria New York, dir:Youssef Chahine
La Femme Est L'Avenir , dir: Hong Sang Soo (MK2)
Notre Musique, dir:Jean-Luc Godard (Wild Bunch)
The Rose And The Snake,dir: Rebecca Miller (IEG)
Yes, dir: SallyPotter (Greenestreet)
Ma Mere, dir:Christophe Honore (Gemini)
Old Boy, dir: ParkChan-wook (Cineclick Asia)
Le Chiavi di Casa,dir: Gianni Amelio (Lakeshore)
She Hate Me, dir:Spike Lee (Sony Pictures Classics)
Land Of Plenty,dir: Wim Wenders (InDiGent)
The 7th Day, dir: CarlosSaura (Lolafilms)

Special treatment possibilities
Kill Bill Pt II, dir: Quentin Tarantino (Miramax)
Shrek 2, dirs: AndrewAdamson, Kelly Asbury, Conan Vernon (Dreamworks)
The Lady Killers,dirs: Joel and Ethan Coen (Frrelease 26 May) (Disney)
Eros, dirs:Michelangelo Antonioni, Steven Soderbergh, Wong Kar-Wai (various)
Harry Potter 3, dir:Alfonso Cuaron(Warner)
Ha Ryu In Saeng, dir:Im Kwan-Taek (CinemaService)
Around The World In 80 Days, dir: Frank Coraci (Summit)
Bridge Of San Luis Rey,dir: Mary McGuckian (Senator)
The Assassination Of President Nixon, dir: Niels Mueller (Senator)

Other sections beckon
Mean Creek, dir: Jacob Aaron Estes (ParamountClassics)
Waiting For The Clouds,dir: Yesim Ustaoglu (Celluloid Dreams)
Producing Adults, dir:Aleksi Salmenpera (Celluloid Dreams)
Being Julia, dir:Istvan Szabo (Myriad)
Kinsey, dir: BillCondon (Myriad)
Life And Death Of Peter Sellers Dir: StephenHopkins (HBO FilmsLondon)
The Holy Girl, dir:Lucrecia Martel (HBO FilmsLondon)
A Home At The End Of The World, dir: Michael Mayer (Pandora)
Strings, dir: AndersRonnow-Klarlund (Trust)
Tarnation, dir:Jonathan Caouette
Exils, dir: TonyGatlif (Flach Pyramide)
Le Silence, dir: OrsoMiret (Films Distribution)
Forgiveness, dir: IanGabriel (no seller attached)
Mysterious Skin,dir: Gregg Araki (Fortissimo)
PS I Love You, dir: DylanKidd(Fortissimo)
Paradise Girls, dir: HoFu Pyng
Untitled, dir:Hirokazu Kore-eda (Celluloid Dreams)
The President's Barber, dir: Im Chan-Sang(Cineclick Asia)
Downfall, dir: OliverHirschbiegel (EOS)

Unavailable/Unready
Bride And Prejudice, dir: Gurinder Chadha (The Works)
5x2, dir: FrancoisOzon (Celluloid Dreams)
Enduring Love, dir:Roger Michell (Pathe)
Dear Wendy, dir:Thomas Vinterberg (Trust)
Vanity Fair, dir: MiraNair (Focus)
Dirty Crying Shame,dir: John Waters (Fine Line)
Millions, dir: DannyBoyle (Pathe)
A Very Long Engagement, dir: Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Warner)