yes we cannes

A scant 16 films playing in official competition at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival — far fewer than usual — were revealed at a Thursday morning news conference held at the Grand Hotel. In announcing the lineup, festival director Thierry Fremaux reiterated comments that he's recently made to the media, saying that it has been a difficult year to put together the list of films but that he does intend to add to it in the coming days.

Among the most high-profile films to make the grade are Doug Liman's political thriller "Fair Game" — about the Joe Wilson/Valerie Plame incident — starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, and the only U.S. film in the main competition. Ridley Scott's " Robin Hood," starring Russell Crowe, will open the festival out of competition, while Oliver Stone's "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" was, as expected, given an out-of-competition screening slot.

Other out-of-competition screenings are Stephen Frears' "Tamara Drewe" and Woody Allen's "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger," which also stars Watts and "Wall Street's" Josh Brolin. Fremaux noted that he had asked Allen whether the film could screen in the main selection but that the competition-shy director refused yet again.

Back in the competition this year is Alejandro González Iñárritu, who last appeared in 2006 with "Babel," for which he won the directing prize. This year's film is the drama "Biutiful," starring Javier Bardem. Iran's Abbas Kiarostami will walk the red carpet with his "Certified Copy," marking the fourth time he appears in competition.

Japanese auteur Takeshi Kitano appears in his "Outrage," which marks his return to competition for the first time since 1999. In total, there are four films hailing from Asia in competition, including Im Sang-soo's "Housemaid," Lee Chang-Dong's "Poetry" and Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "A Letter to Uncle Boonmee."

Also making a return appearance is Mike Leigh with "Another Year," starring Jim Broadbent. This is Leigh's fourth time in the main competition. Nikita Mikhalkov is also back for the first time since winning the Grand Jury Prize with "Burnt by the Sun" in 1994. The Russian maestro's latest film is a sequel of sorts to that epic, "Burnt by the Sun 2."

By Nancy Tartaglione, Special to the Los Angeles Times