The Deauville Festival of American Film (Aug 30-Sept 8) unveiled a strong competition section of US independents and a starry line-up for its (French) premieres section.

The indies section contains the stars of this year's Sundance such as The Good Girl and Secretary, one of the discoveries of Cannes Peter Sollet's Long Way Home and the acclaimed L.I.E., from Sundance 2001. Nicolas Cage's directorial debut Sonny will also get its world premiere in competition. The winners will be picked by a jury headed by former Canal Plus boss, Pierre Lescure.

The premieres include films which have been US summer blockbusters and look set to perform through France's autumn season: Signs, XXX, Insomnia and Road To Perdition.

Sidebars include tributes to Ellen Burstyn, Matt Dillon, Robert Evans, Harrison Ford, John Frankenheimer and a special focus on producer Jerry Weintraub.

Films in competition:

Blue Car Dir. Karen Moncrieff. Starring David Strahaim and Agnes Bruckner
Emmett's Mark Dir. Keith Snyder. Starring Scott Wolf, Tim Roth and Gabriel Byrne
The Good girl by Miguel Arteta. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal and John C. Reilly
Kissing Jessica Stein Dir. Charles Herman-Wurmfeld starring Jennifer Westfeld and Heather
Long Island Expressway (L.I.E.) Dir. Michael Cuesta. Starring Brian Cox and Paul Franklin Dano
Long Way Home Dir. Peter Sollett. Starring Victor Rasuk and Judy Marte
One Hour Photo Dir. Mark Romanek. Starring Robin Williams and Connie Nielsen
The Safety of Objects Dir. Rose Troche. Starring Glenn Close and Dermot Mulroney
Secretary Dir. Steven Shainberg. Starring James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal
Sonny Dir Nicolas Cage. Starring James Franco, Brenda Bethlyn and Mena Suvari

French Premieres:

Ash Wednesday Dir. Edward Burns
Avenging Angelo Dir. Martyn Burke
The Banger Sisters Dir. Bob Dolman
The Bourne Identity Dir. Doug Liman
City By The Sea Dir. Michael Caton-Jones
City Off Ghosts Dir. Matt Dillon
Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood Dir. Callie Khouri
Full Frontal Dir. Steven Soderbergh
I'm With Lucy Dir. John Sherman
Insomnia Dir. Christopher Nolan
K-19:The Widowmaker Dir. Kathryn Bigelow
The Man From Elysian Fields Dir. George Hickenlooper
Path To War Dir.John Frankenheimer
Possession Dir. Neil LaBute
Road To Perdition Dir. Sam Mendes
Signs Dir. M.Night Shyamalan
Simone Dir. Andrew Niccol
Windtalkers Dir. John Woo
XXX Dir. Rob Cohen

Panorama Sidebar:

CQ Dir. Roman Coppola
Gerry Dir. Gus Van Sant
The Kid Stays In The Picture Dir. Brett Morgen and Nanette Burstein
The Laramie Project Dir. Moises Kaufman
Last Party 2000 Dir. Rebecca Chaiklin and Donovan Leitch
Sunshine State Dir. John Sayles
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing Dir. Jill Sprecher