Thierry Fremaux, artisticdirector of the Cannes festival, has realigned and clarified the selectionsystem for the next edition (12-23 May 2004).

The festival will now havetwo Paris-based selection committees which screen and pre-select films, one forFrench films and one for foreign pictures. In a significant shift, bothcommittees are now deemed to be consultative, with the final decision fallingto Fremaux. In previous editions, the artistic director was a member of theFrench committee, but did not have absolute decision-making power.

The French panel willcomprise Lucien Logette, Gilles Lyon-Caen, Philippe Piazzo and the selectorsfor the foreign films: Virginie Apiou, Guy Braucourt, Paul Gransard and LaurentJacob.

In a novel and welcome pieceof transparency Fremaux has also published a list of "foreigncorrespondents" or festival scouts around the world. They are: JoelChapron (Central and Eastern Europe), Lorenzo Codelli (Italy), Mamad Haghiat(Iran), Christiane Peitz (Germany), Brice Bedroletti (Asia), Agnes Poirier andSimon Perry (UK), Jose Maria Riba (Spain and Latin America) Ilda Santiago(Brazil) and Magda Wassef (Mediterranean countries).

For the 2004 event, thefestival requires all films to be submitted by 25 March.