From starry commercial films to projects from world-renowned auteurs, Screen correspondents preview some of the hot European projects in the market at Cannes. Click the sales company names below to navigate to the relevant websites.



UK
Wendy Mitchell in London

Among this year's hottest UK projects is Incendiary, from Bridget Jones's Diary director Sharon Maguire. Michelle Williams, Ewan McGregor and Matthew Macfadyen star in the hard-hitting story of a young mother who has to rebuild her life after a terrorist bombing at a football stadium. Capitol Films is handling sales.

One of the other big projects to watch is the $50m UK-Spanish animation Planet One, HandMade's co-production with Spain's Ilion Animation Studios. Shrek co-writer Joe Stillman wrote the script, and video-game veteran Jorge Blanco will direct.

Ealing Studios International, the new sales arm of the venerable studio, will be arriving at Cannes for the first time to sell St Trinian's, an update of the 1950s film franchise about a girls' school. Co-directed and co-produced by Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson, the cast includes Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Stephen Fry and Lena Headey.

Also making its film-sales debut will be TV veterans Target Entertainment with Jan Dunn's Gypo follow-up Ruby Blue, a romantic drama starring Bob Hoskins and Josiane Balasko.

The first two projects from ambitious digital studio Slingshot will be introduced to buyers: Gary Love's urban drama Sugarhouse, starring Ashley Walters and Andy Serkis via Moviehouse, and Jackie Oudney's romantic comedy French Film with Hugh Bonneville and Anne-Marie Duff, via The Works International.

On the documentary front, hot titles include Oliver Hodge's Garbage Warrior, being sold by The Works, about an eco-friendly architect who takes on the US Senate, and Moviehouse has Taking Liberties, directed by Chris Atkins, about the erosion of civil liberties in the UK. Revolver already has UK rights to the anti-Blair film, and Kurt Engfehr of Fahrenheit 9/11 is one of the executive producers.

Among UK indie features, Lumina is handling sales on Warp X's first project, Donkey Punch, about a yachting trip that goes awry, starring Jaime Winstone. Visual Factory is selling Vampire Diary, set in the London goth scene, produced by Sid And Nancy's Margaret Matheson. And Moviehouse has psychological horror Credo, the directorial debut of Toni Harman.

Puppet sci-fi film Agent Crush, with a voice cast that includes Ioan Gruffudd and Neve Campbell, is being sold by Fantastic Films International with delivery set for September. ThinkFilm has taken on international sales for The Oxford Murders, a murder mystery in post-production starring John Hurt and Elijah Wood and directed by Alex de la Iglesia.

New sales company Velvet Octopus has two titles: one is a big-budget adaptation of David Copperfield with Rowan Atkinson attached, and the other is Bridge To Terabithia director Gabor Csupo's new project, The Moon Princess, which is set to shoot in Hungary and will star Colin Firth.



France
Nancy Tartaglione-Vialatte in Paris

Rezo Films will be on hand with official selection title Ulzhan from director Volker Schlondorff, making his return 28 years after winning the Palme d'Or with The Tin Drum, and returning master Alexander Sokurov's Competition title Alexandra. It will also be selling Lola Doillon's Just About Love' (Et Toi, T'Es Sur Quoi') in Un Certain Regard, from the producers behind Auberge Espagnole and Russian Dolls. Films Distribution has Hou Hsiao-hsien's Looking For The Red Balloon, the opening film of Un Certain Regard.

Wild Bunch is unveiling 10 minutes of Alain Corneau's Le Deuxieme Souffle, a remake of Jean-Pierre Melville's 1966 classic, starring Daniel Auteuil, Monica Bellucci, Michel Blanc and Eric Cantona.

Gaumont is handling UK director Sean Ellis' $7m psychological horror The Broken, starring Lena Headey. His first film Cashback was a big hit with worldwide buyers and Broken is likely to make its mark as well via a five-minute promo reel.

StudioCanal is working with arthouse favourite Amos Gitai on Disengagement, an emotional tale about a French woman's journey to find her estranged daughter in Israel, starring Juliette Binoche and Jeanne Moreau.

Making a long-awaited return is The Dreamlife Of Angels director Erick Zonca with Julia, an English-language thriller starring Tilda Swinton, Saul Rubinek and Aidan Gould.

Wide Management has just acquired Directors' Fortnight title Gegenueber from director Jan Bonny. The drama heralds Bonny's first move from TV and ads to features. Finally, Coach 14 will present a documentary about the US's involvement in Latin American coup d'etats over the past 50 years.



Germany
Martin Blaney in Berlin

Beta Cinema will be selling Adnan G Kose's Ironman, a true story starring Max Riemelt as Andreas Niedrig who transformed from junkie to one of the world's most successful triathletes. Beta is also handling Oskar Roehler's Lulu And Jimi, a Romeo and Juliet tale set in 1950s Germany, starring Ray Fearon and Teresa Weissbach.

The Match Factory is handling Serbian director Stefan Arsenijevic's debut Love And Other Crimes about a woman (Anica Dobra) who must decide whether to turn her back on her homeland. Meanwhile, Doris Dorrie's Hanami is being sold by Bavaria Film International. The drama, about a widower travelling from Germany to Japan, stars Elmar Wepper, Hannelore Elsner and Maximilian Bruckner.



Spain
Dale Fuchs in Madrid

Filmax is offering two new English-language thrillers at Cannes, both in development: The Blind Man Of Seville, based on the detective novel by Robert Wilson, and The Number Thirteen Lady, director Jaume Balaguero's supernatural sequel to Fragile.

New company Imagina International will show first footage from hot Chilean director Nicolas Lopez's $6.5m superhero spoof Santos, starring Spain's Elsa Pataky, Guillermo Toledo and Javier Gutierrez. Santos co-producer Buena Vista retains all Latin American distribution rights. Finally, 6 Sales is bringing Gospel Hill, the directorial debut of Giancarlo Esposito, which will begin filming in June. Fox has US rights.



The Nordic Region
Jacob Wendt Jensen in Copenhagen

Trust Film Sales handling Lars von Trier's horror film Antichrist, inspired by Korean and Japanese genre films. The shoot is planned for the end of this year. Trust is also selling comedy Just Like Home, by Italian For Beginners director Lone Scherfig.

Nordisk Film International is bringing family thriller The Substitute (Vikaren), starring Paprika Steen as a substitute teacher who may or may not be an alien. Director Ole Bornedal is also bringing a promo reel for his next feature, Just Another Love Story. Nordisk also has horror film Dark Floors from Eurovision song contest winners Lordi, which is set to start shooting this month for an early 2008 release.



Italy
Sheri Jennings in Rome

Italy's stand-out title at this year's market is Daniele Luchetti's political drama My Brother's An Only Child, presented in Un Certain Regard and being sold by ThinkFilm. Warner Bros and Cattleya are producing the project which is written by screenwriting duo Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli. It is about a love-hate relationship between two brothers in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Wild Bunch is selling Abel Ferrara's first comedy, Go Go Tales, about a nightclub owner who faces foreclosure. The Directors' Fortnight entry is produced by Massimo Gatti for Bellatrix Media and stars Matthew Modine, Willem Dafoe, Asia Argento and Bob Hoskins.

Adriana Chiesa Enterprises offers several market debuts including Riccardo Milani's Piano Solo (working title), about jazz musician Luca Flores who committed suicide aged 31. Chiesa is also beginning sales on Silvio Soldini's family drama Elsa (working title), and will offer two versions of Giovanni Pastrone's 1914 silent picture Cabiria presented by Martin Scorsese.

Intramovies is selling Davide Marengo's debut Night Bus (Notturno Bus), a comedy starring Giovanna Mezzogiorno. TF1 International is selling Francesca Archibugi's Flight Lessons, produced by Cattleya and also starring Mezzogiorno.



Russia
Kirill Galetski in Rome

Russian films at this year's market include a mix of genre and arthouse fare. Central Partnership, Russia's largest independent distributor, is presenting sword-and-sorcery fantasy Wolfhound, which has grossed $20m in Russia and the CIS. Central Partnership is also unveiling the international release of Paragraph 78, a gritty sci-fi action film.

Rospo Film Group is presenting the 18th-century horror film Viy, an adaptation of the story by Nikolai Gogol. And Intercinema is handling sales of Andrei Zvyagintsev's Competition title The Banishment, as well as Pavel Lounguine's The Island, which premiered at Venice last year.



Hungary
Theodore Schwinke in Budapest

Hungary has its first Palme d'Or contender in nearly 20 years with Bela Tarr's murder mystery The Man From London, being sold by Fortissimo. H20 Motion Pictures, meanwhile, has Janos Szasz's feature Opium, adapted from the diaries of Geza Csath. Hungarian and English-language versions are both available.