Paris: The final line-up for this year's Cannes film festival sees veteran directors Clint Eastwood, Steven Soderbergh and Brazil's Fernando Meirelles face off against lesser-known talent for its coveted Palme d Or for best movie, organisers said today.

Bumping up the number of films to compete for the top prize from 19 to 22,organisers said in a surprised announcement that this year s award will be handed out by Robert de Niro.

Canne's mix of old and new, of Hollywood glitz and auteur fare, has proven a recipe for success a the film industry's paramount festival gears up or its 61st edition from May 14 to May 25. After viewing 1,792 films from 9 countries, organiser selected 22 movies to compete for the Palme with the countdown per continent at Asia (three), Europe (eight, Latin America (four) the United States (four), and a film each from Israel, Canada and Turkey.

A yearly 12-day extravaganza of exclusive parties, red-carpet screenings, and wheeling and dealing, the festival this year expects movie celebs Harrison Ford, Angelina Jolie, Penelope Cruz and Woody Allen not to mention sporting giants Mike Tyson and Diego Maradona.

De Niro, apart from handing out the Palme, flies in for a red carpet ceremony as star of Barry Levinson's "What Just Happened", in which he plays a fading Hollywood producer. The film, also starring Bruce Willis and Sean Penn, closes the filmfest.

Kicking off the event is "Blindness" by Meirelles, best-known or his Oscar-nominated "City of God" or more recent "The Constant Gardener", which stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Danny Glover as residents of a city mysteriously struck by creeping blindness.

Source : PTI