At the onset of the festival, two favorites are in front place for the Palme d'Or. Pedro Almodovar is allowing, for the first time, that his latest film - All About My Mother - be brought before the Cannes Festival jury and is slotted for a favorable weekend screening on Saturday 15 May. He is very much appreciated by the European public who will likely be rooting for him.

On the other hand, there is Atom Egoyan's Felicia's Journey. He is no newcomer to Cannes and won the Grand Prize for The Sweet Hereafter in 1997, but never the coveted Palme d'Or. He is also Canadian like the jury president David Cronenberg and as coincidental as it may be, Egoyan was on the jury two years ago when Cronenberg received the Special Jury Prize for Crash. Will Cronenberg return the favor?

Considering Cronenberg's artistic penchants, the French contingency with four films should probably look to the first creation - Nos Vies Heureses - from director Jacques Maillot or the second film by Bruno Dumont - Humanity. The French also have their financial stakes invested in several American films in the bidding: Tim Robbin's Cradle Will Rock, Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and David Lynch's Straight Story. But would the jury president allow a North American film to be head the winner list?

Then there is the popular comedian on Japanese television, Takeshi Kitano, who is bringing Kikujiro to the official screenings. If last year's resident comic, Italian Roberto Benigni whose La vita e bella went on to win awards all over the world, is proof that Cannes is just a first stepping stone to success, will comedy triumph again this year?

And don't forget the British strongholds. Peter Greenaway is already clinching pre-sale deals for his Cannes entry Eight and a Half Women, while Michael Winterbottom's Wonderland was almost a cinch for the Venice Film Festival when Cannes decided to grab it first.

And then we can't just whisk away such film monuments as Arturo Ripstein (Nobody writes to the Colonel), Manoel de Oliveira (The Letter), Chen Kaige (Emperor and the Assassin) or Marco Bellochio (The Nanny).