The lineup for next month’s Cannes Film Festival has been announced, and it’s excellent timing, because I just found out yesterday that I’m going to be attending the festival for the first time. Some notes on the lineup:

• Contrary to previous reports, both Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Steven Soderbergh’s two-part, four hour epic Che will screen at the fest, although both will premiere out of competition.
• As expected, Charlie Kaufmann’s Synechdoche, New York will compete against new films from Philippe Garrel and Nuri Bilge Ceylan, but it’s not the only American film in competition anymore, thanks to the unexpected inclusion of Clint Eastwood’s The Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie.
• A modified version of Wong Kar Wai’s Ashes of Time will screen in the Special Screenings section, as will a new film by Terrence Davies and Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.
  
• Wendy and Lucy, Kelly Reichardt’s follow-up to Old Joy, will screen in the Un Certain Regard section, alongside James Toback’s documentary on Mike Tyson, and Tokyo!, and omnibus with sections directed by Bong Joon-ho, Michel Gondry and Leos Carax.
• The Dardenne Brothers, who won the Palme D’Or in 2005 with L’Enfant, will return to competition with The Silence of Lorna.
• Only one Chinese film will screen at the festival, Jia Zhangke’s 24 City, due to ” a current bottleneck in the Chinese censorship process, which includes authorizing overseas travel.”