TheCannes Film Festival (May 11-22) has unveiled the screening schedule for thefilms playing in its official selection this year.

Festival watchers will scrutinise the schedule carefully tosee which films have secured strong screening slots. In recent years, most films that go on to win the Palme d'Or haveplayed in the second week of the festival.

Last year's winner, Fahrenheit 9/11, screened on theMonday of the second week, while 2003's victor - Elephant - played onthe Sunday going into week two. 2002's The Pianist played on the lastFriday of the festival, 2001's The Son's Room screened on the lastThursday while 2000's Dancer In The Dark played on the Wednesday of thesecond week.

A string of heavyweight Palme d'Or contenders findthemselves programmed in the second week this year, including Lars von Trier's Manderlay(Monday 16), David Cronenberg's A History Of Violence (Monday 16),Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers (Tuesday 17) and Wim Wenders' Don'tCome Knocking (Thursday 19).

Other high profile directors, however, have secured toughslots in the first week. Both Atom Egoyan's Where The Truth Lies and GusVan Sant's The Last Days find their films playing - somewhatinauspiciously -on Friday 13.

Cannes Competition schedule:
Wed 11
Lemming, dir Dominik Moll

Thurs 12
Bashing, dir Kobayahsi Masahiro
Kilometre Zero, dir Hiner Saleem

Fri 13
Where The Truth Lies, dir Atom Egoyan
Last Days, dir Gus Van Sant

Sat 14
Hidden, dir Michael Haneke
Election, dir Johnnie To

Sun 15
Batalla En El Cielo, dir Carlos Reygadas
Once You're Born You Can No Longer Hide, dir Marco Tullio Giordana

Mon 16
Manderlay, dir Lars von Trier
A History Of Violence, dir David Cronenberg

Tue 17
Broken Flowers, dir Jim Jarmusch
Shanghai Dreams, dir Wang Xiaoshuai
The Child, dir Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

Wed 18
Peindre Or Faire L'Amour, dir Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu
Sin City, dir Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller

Thurs 19
Don't Come Knockin', dir Wim Wenders
A Tale Of The Cinema, dir Hong Sang-soo
Free Zone, dir Amos Gitai

Fri 20
The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada, dir Tommy Lee Jones
The Best Of Our Times, dir Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Note: for all market and festival screening times, consultScreen International's Cannes daily editions at the festival.