Sawt Falasteen - Hollywood cavalcade and record for women at Cannes fest

Wes Anderson's "Asteroid City" will alone bring a cavalcade of stars to the red carpet, including Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie and Scarlett Johansson.

It is competing among 19 films for the top prize Palme d'Or when the festival returns to France's Cote d'Azur from May 16 to 27.

The presence of six women directors, including Italy's Alice Rohrwacher and a debut from Senegalese filmmaker Ramata-Toulaye Sy, beats last year's record of five.

Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore will be present for "May December" -- another impressive double-header from director Todd Haynes, whose lesbian drama "Carol" won a joint acting award for Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara at the festival in 2015.

They add more stardust to the glitzy Hollywood premieres already announced by the festival, including the new Indiana Jones and Martin Scorsese movies.

A fiery start is also guaranteed thanks to opening night film "Jeanne du Barry", which sees Johnny Depp play French king Louis XV in his first role since an explosive defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard involving bitter allegations of domestic abuse.

Depp will be joined by his daughter, Lily Rose Depp, who stars in "The Idol", a TV series playing out of competition that was produced by musician Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye. The show has had a tumultuous production with reports of major rewrites and re-shoots.

As if that was not enough to inflame social media, the star and director of "Jeanne du Barry", Maiwenn, had a criminal complaint lodged against her last week for allegedly assaulting a journalist -- yanking his head back and spitting in his face -- in a Paris restaurant.

- Palme laureates -

Veteran filmmakers such as two-time Palme winner Ken Loach, 86, and Wim Wenders, 77, are also competing, along with other past winners such as South Korea's Hirokazu Kore-eda.

Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon", starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, currently has an out-of-competition slot but may end up in the contest, festival director Thierry Fremaux said, without giving a clear explanation.

Also playing out of competition is a documentary about wartime Amsterdam, "Occupied City", by celebrated British director Steve McQueen ("12 Years a Slave"), which Fremaux described as "a very radical film of several hours".

Arthouse fans are particularly excited about the return of British director Jonathan Glazer ("Sexy Beast", "Under the Skin") with a Holocaust-set romance, "The Zone of Interest", based on a novel by Martin Amis.

Other past Palme winners Nanni Moretti from Italy and Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan are also back, as well as celebrated auteurs such as Finland's Aki Kaurismaki.

Victory in Cannes can give a major boost to arthouse cinema, such as last year's winner "Triangle of Sadness", which went on to pick up several Oscar nominations.

Its director, Sweden's Ruben Ostlund, heads this year's jury.

Hollywood loves the French Riviera as a launchpad for its glossier fare, with "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Elvis" getting their world premieres at the festival last year.

This year will see "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", with Harrison Ford as guest of honour for his fifth and final appearance as the iconic adventuring archaeologist, alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Antonio Banderas.

J.AbuShaban--SF-PST