The best of the fest at Cannes

It's the film festival where art and commerce collide, and the 64th Cannes Film Festival is abuzz with the notion that this year could be a vintage one for the quality of movies being showcased.

With offerings from indie go-to guy Ryan Gosling and Scarlett Johansson's new squeeze Sean Penn, to supermodel-turned-France's First Lady Carla Bruni popping up in Woody Allen's latest offering Midnight in Paris, this year's film fest is certainly one to keep an eye on if you want to stay au fait with the flicks you'll be flocking to see later this year.

e+ picks out the famous faces and films that are blipping on the industry buzz radar… 

The ‘weighty' film

The Tree of Life
Starring Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain
Directed by Terrence Malick

One of the most hotly anticipated films coming out of Cannes, from Terrence Malick, the writer/director of Badlands and The Thin Red Line, comes a tale of how, in even the most close-knit family, parents can wage an invisible-to-the-naked-eye war over the best way to raise a child. Brad Pitt steps outside of his perennially cool Ocean's alter-ego to play Mr O'Brien, who wants to teach his 11-year-old son about the hardships lurking out there in the big bad world; whilst mum (played by Jessica Chastain) offers up the lessons in love. Sean Penn plays Jack as a man attempting to reconcile the seemingly opposing lessons his family sent him out into the world armed with.

The Woody Allen movie

Midnight in Paris
Starring Carla Bruni, Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams
Directed by Woody Allen

Another A-list-heavy offering from the industrious Allen, in which Adrien Brody, Marion Cotillard and Michael Sheen all pop up in this tale of a family visiting France for the summer on business. Among the group, a newly engaged couple get doused in a bucket-of-cold-water wake up call that the grass isn't always greener, but mainly, audiences will be flocking to this flick to see Mrs Sarkozy herself, Carla Bruni, appear on the big screen. 

The adaptation

We Need To Talk About Kevin
Starring Tilda Swinton, John C Reilly, Ezra Miller
Directed by Lynne Ramsay

Adapted from the award-winning novel by Lionel Shriver, We Need To Talk About Kevin tells the story of a teen boy, Kevin Khatchadourian (Miller), who, two days before his 16th birthday, goes on a killing spree, working through a list of hand-picked students from his school. His mother Eva, who confesses through a series of letters to her estranged husband - and Kevin's father - Franklin, to be unsure of if she ever loved her son, attempts to piece together the upbringing that saw Kevin become a killer.

The thriller

The Skin I Live In
Starring Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya
Directed by Pedro Almódovar

Need to know Antonio teams up with long-time Penelope Cruz collaborator, Spanish film-making auteur Almodóvar, for this tale of anger and revenge. Banderas plays Ledgard, a plastic surgeon who tries to save the life of his wife by creating a new skin for her. Based on the book, Mygale by Thierry Jonquet, Almodóvar calls his movie, "A horror story without screams or frights."

Controversial Cannes

Documentary Unlawful Killing to be shown this year, has stirred up anger and controversy in equal measures as it shows a paparazzi image of Princess Diana taken as she lay dying in the car wreck that killed her in Paris in 1997. With her hair and features clearly visible, the image, which has never been shown in the UK, features in the documentary which is backed by British actor - and father of singer Lily Allen - Keith Allen, and Mohammed Fayed, whose son Dodi died with Diana.

Writing in The Guardian newspaper, Keith insisted, "My ‘inquest of the inquest' film contains footage of Diana recalling how the royals wanted her consigned to a mental institution, and the coroner repeatedly questioning the sanity of anyone who wondered if the crash was more than an accident."