2008 Cannes Film Festival Lineup

It's that time of the year again when Hollywood celebrities, international film actors and movie insiders storm the French Riviera at the Cannes Film Festival to showcase their work and a little fashion to boot.

The Cannes Film Festival 2008 will take place from May 14-25, with the film Blindness opening the film extravaganza. Blindness, directed by Fernando Mereilles, is a dramatic thriller that sees a society reeling from the effects of a mysterious case of widespread blindness. Blindnessis set for limited release in the US on September 19 and stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal.

The Cannes Film Festival 2008 is geared to host a bevy of Hollywood beauties and a host of hunky guys as it does every year. Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman, Kate Blanchett, Gillian Anderson, Eva Longoria, Gael Garcia Bernal, Mark Ruffalo, Bruce Willis and Sean Penn to name a few, are scheduled to be in attendance to promote their films.

About 20 films are sent to Cannes to be in competition for the Palme d'or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival each year. Among the films in competition are Blindness, Clint Eastwood's Changeling, Steven Soderbergh's Che, Two Lovers, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow, Adoration, Delta and 24 City among others.

The long awaited Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is set to have its premiere in Cannes as a film out of competition. The film's screening at Cannes will give critics the opportunity to give a sound review of the movie that has been gaining mixed reviews by the select few whom director Steven Spielberg and studio executives have shown the movie. Other films out of competition at Cannes Film Festival 2008 include Kung Fu Panda, an animated movie starring Angelina Jolie, Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman and Lucy Liu. The Good, the Bad and the Weird, out of South Korea directed by Kim Jee-Woon and the film You and I directed by Roland Joffe are also out of competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

The film Hunger that follows the last six weeks of the life of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands is set to have its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. In fact, Hunger, starring 300 star Michael Fassbender is set to open the prestigious Un Certain Regard at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The winning film in this category will get a grant to aid in its distribution in France.

Hollywood actor Sean Penn will preside over a jury, which includes Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman to select the best in competition film at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The winning film will be presented the Palme d'or by Robert Deniro on May 25.

The film What Just Happened? starring Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, Robin Wright Penn, Sean Penn and John Turturro will close the Cannes Film Festival on May 25. What Just Happened? is a dramedy starring Robert De Niro as a has-been Hollywood producer trying to get new movie made, while going through a divorce.

For a complete schedule of events or for screening time for the various films you can go to the Cannes Film Festival website for details.