Cannes unveils official selection

Strong U.S. presence in fest's 65th lineup

They join DreamWorks Animation's "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted," which world preems at Cannes, noncompeting, in a 65th edition with some undeniable U.S. film firepower and potentially even larger Hollywood star wattage.

Already thought locks for Cannes, David Cronenberg's Don DeLillo adaptation "Cosmopolis," with Robert Pattinson, and Walter Salles' Jack Kerouac take "On the Road," also vie for the Palme d'Or, as does Lee Daniels' erotic thriller "The Paperboy," with Nicole Kidman.

With Shia LaBoeuf in "Lawless," Nicole Kidman toplining "Paperboy" and multiple A-list ensemble casts gracing U.S. picks and beyond, the 65th Cannes fest has all the makings of a glitzy affair.

Bearing the imprimatur of delegate general Thierry Fremaux the competition boasts a catholic mix of newer talent, some genre gristle, left-of-field and heavyweight auteurs, often Riviera regulars, such as Austria's Michael Haneke ("Amour"), Iran's Abbas Kiarostami ("Like Someone in Love"), Romania's Cristian Mungiu ("Beyond the Hills"), and Britain's Ken Loach ("The Angel's Share").

Heavily bruited for Cannes, Jacques Audiard's "Rust and Bone," with Marion Cotillard, will fly the flag for France, as will Leos Carax's "Holy Motors," with Denis Lavant, Eva Mendes and Kylie Minogue, and Alain Resnais' "You Haven't Seen Anything Yet."

Among other movies making the competition cut, Fremaux confirmed "Gomorrah" director Mateo Garrone's "Reality," about Italian TV; Im Sang-soo's thriller "Taste of Money"; Hong Sang-soo's "In Another Country," with Isabelle Huppert and Egyptian Yousry Nasrallah's "Baad el mawkeaa."

Mexican Carlos Reygadas' "Post tenebras lux," Austrian Ulrich Seidl's "Paradise: Love" and Dane Thomas Vinterberg's "The Hunt" also make the competition cut.

At a packed press conference Thursday morning in Paris' Grand Hotel, Fremaux, flanked by Cannes president Gilles Jacob, said that at the fest this year, "American cinema will be relatively strong, and not just Sundance-style independent cinema and studio fare."

Dario Argento's "Dracula 3D" figures among midnight screenings. Philip Kaufman's "Hemingway and Gelhorn," made for HBO and with Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman, plays out-of-competition.

"Antiviral," the first film from David Cronenberg's son, Brandon Cronenberg, and Xavier Dolan's "Laurence Anyways" both play Un Certain Regard.

Of U.S. films, Benh Zeitlin's Sundance hit, "Beasts of the Southern Wild," screens in Un Certain Regard, and "The Central Park Five," from U.S. documaker Ken Burns, receives a special screening.

As previously announced, Wes Anderson's 1960s New England-set "Moonrise Kingdom" opens Cannes May 16. Fest closes May 27 with "Therese Desqueyroux," the last film from France's Claude Miller, who died April 4.

OPENER
"Moonrise Kingdom," U.S., Wes Anderson

COMPETITION
"Amour," France-Austria-Germany, Michael Haneke
"The Angels' Share," U.K.-France, Ken Loach
"Baad el mawkeaa," Yousry Nasrallah
"Beyond the Hills," Romania, Cristian Mungiu
"Cosmopolis," France-Canada-Portugal-Italy, David Cronenberg
"Holy Motors," France, Leos Carax
"The Hunt," Denmark, Thomas Vinterberg
"Killing Them Softly," U.S., Andrew Dominik
"In Another Country," Hong Sang-soo
"In the Fog," Sergei Loznitsa
"Lawless," U.S., John Hillcoat
"Like Someone in Love," France-Japan, Abbas Kiarostami
"Mud," U.S., Jeff Nichols
"On the Road," France-U.K.-U.S., Walter Salles
"The Paperboy," U.S., Lee Daniels
"Paradise: Love," Germany-France, Ulrich Seidl
"Post tenebras lux," Mexico-France-Netherlands, Carlos Reygadas
"Reality," Italy-France, Matteo Garrone
"Rust and Bone," Belgium-France, Jacques Audiard
"Taste of Money," South Korea, Im Sang-soo
"You Haven't Seen Anything Yet," France, Alain Resnais


OUT OF COMPETITION
"Hemingway & Gellhorn," U.S., Philip Kaufman
"Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted," U.S., Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon
"Me and You," Italy, Bernardo Bertolucci

UN CERTAIN REGARD
"7 Days in Havana," France-Spain, Benicio del Toro, Pablo Trapero, Julio Medem, Elia Suleiman, Juan Carlos Tabio, Gaspar Noe, Laurent Cantet
"11.25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate," Japan, Koji Wakamatsu
"Antiviral," Canada-U.S., Brandon Cronenberg
"Beasts of the Southern Wild," U.S., Benh Zeitlin
"Confession of a Child of the Century," France, Sylvie Verheyde
"Despues de Lucia," Mexico, Michel Franco
"La Pirogue," France-Senegal, Moussa Toure
"La playa," Colombia, Juan Andres Arango
"Laurence Anyways," Canada-France, Xavier Dolan
"Le grand soir," France, Benoit Delepine, Gustave Kervern
"Les Chevaux de Dieu," Nabil Ayouch
"Loving Without Reason," Belgium-Luxembourg-France-Switzerland, Joachim Lafosse
"Miss Lovely," India, Ashim Ahluwalia
"Mystery," Lou Ye
"Student," Darezhan Omirbayev
"Trois mondes," France, Catherine Corsini
"White Elephant," Argentina-Spain, Pablo Trapero

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS
"Dracula 3D," Italy-France-Spain, Dario Argento
"The Legend of Love & Sincerity," Japan, Takashi Miike

SPECIAL SCREENINGS
"A musica segundo Tom Jobim," Nelson Pereira Dos Santos
"The Central Park Five," Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
"Der Mull im Garten Eden," Germany, Fatih Akin
"Journal de France," Claudine Nougaret, Raymond Depardon
"Les Invisibles," Sebastien Lifshitz
"Mekong Hotel," Apichatpong Weerasethakul
"Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir," U.K.-Germany, Laurent Bouzereau
"Villegas," Argentina-Netherlands-France, Gonzalo Tobal

CLOSER
"Therese Desqueyroux," France, Claude Miller