Along with the list of competition films announced on August 19, France's Deauville Festival of American Film (Sept 5-14) has unveiled its premieres and special sections.

American films which will have their French premieres out of competition include American Wedding with stars Alyson Hannigan and Jason Biggs set to attend; Woody Allen's Venice opener Anything Else; James Foley's Confidence supported by stars Rachel Weisz and Edward Burns; the latest Merchant-Ivory effort Le Divorce with director and stars Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson making an appearance; Peyton Reed's Down With Love; Finding Nemo in the presence of directors Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich; James Mangold's Identity who will be in town with stars John Cusack and Amanda Peet; remake The In-Laws; F. Gary Gray's The Italian Job with Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron and Seth Green all in attendance; Legally Blonde 2: Red White & Blonde; Ridley Scott's Matchstick Men with star Alison Lohman; Normal in the presence of star Jessica Lange; Rugrats Go Wild!; and Seabiscuit supported by director Gary Ross and stars Tobey Maguire and Chris Cooper.

In the Panorama section, a director's cut of Ridley Scott's Alien will be screened in conjunction with a tribute to the career of the director. Other films in the sidebar include Evenhand by Joseph Pierson, James Cameron's Ghosts Of The Abyss, Neil Burger's Interview With The Assassin, Men In Black writer Ed Solomon's Levity backed up by star Holly Hunter, Campbell Scott's Off the Map, Mars Callahan's Poolhall Junkies starring Chazz Palminteri, Rod Steiger and Christopher Walken, Tiptoes from Matthew Bright starring Patricia Arquette, Gary Oldman and Matthew McConaughey and Zero Day by Ben Coccio.

A documentary section is being added to Deauville this year with some overlaps from last year's Cannes docu sidebar including Kenneth Bowser's Easy Riders Raging Bulls and Errol Morris' The Fog of War. Also screening are The Agronomist by Jonathan Demme, Andrew Jareki's Capturing The Friedmans, Oliver Stone's Persona Non Grata, Paul Justman's Standing In The Shadow Of Motown and Sam Green and Bill Siegel's The Weather Underground.

Six films will compete in the short film category: A Ninja Pays Half My Rent directed by Steven K. Tsuchida, Firepussy from Laurel Almerinda, Geoffrey O'Connor's Four Simple Rules, Chase Palmer's Neo-Noir, Parallel Passage directed by Mandi Riggi and What Are You Having directed by Benjamin Meyer.

Along with previously announced tributes to James Ivory, Ridley Scott, and HBO Films and president Colin Callendar, Jessica Lange will now be the focus of an homage. Films from her oeuvre will be screened including Tootsie and Blue Sky, the two which earned her a best supporting and best actress Oscar respectively.

Master Classes and discussion groups will be held with director James Foley, actor/director Edward Burns and screenwriter/director husband and wife team - not to mention parents of two up and coming actors - Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal and Stephen Gyllenhaal.

Finally a conference will be held on the importance of music scoring in film focusing on the different methods used in the US and France. Composers Tree Adams and Brian Tyler, who specialises in horror films will discuss their work.