Big names up for Palme d''Or

British director”s Ken Loach”s latest film, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, is in the running for the prestigious Palme d”Or award at this year”s Cannes Film Festival. Set during the Irish Civil War, it will compete with Pedro Almodovar”s Volver and Sofia Coppola”s Marie-Antoinette for the festival”s top honour. US director Richard Linklater is also in contention for his film adaptation of non-fiction book Fast Food Nation. Last year”s Palme d”Or was won by Belgian drama L”Enfant.

It is the eighth time Loach has been nominated for Cannes” most coveted prize. The veteran British director has never won the honour but has been given other awards, including a lifetime achievement prize in 2004. Also in the running this year is Il Caimano (The Cayman), a satirical portrait of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi from director Nanni Moretti. The Italian film-maker won the Palme d”Or in 2001 with The Son”s Room.

There are four French films in this year”s line-up, including the latest movies from Nicole Garcia and Bruno Dumont. Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly is nominated for his new film Southland Tales, while new films by Finland”s Aki Kaurismaki and Mexican directors Guillermo Del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu also make the cut.

United 93, a recreation of the final hours of one of the planes hijacked on 11 September 2001, will be shown out of competition, as will blockbuster sequel X-Men 3: The Last Stand. Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Hugh Jackman and Kirsten Dunst are among the stars expected at this year”s event. It opens on 17 May.