“It’s been an extraordinary year for French cinema. We couldn’t have done it any other way. This is the first time there have been so many great French titles to choose from for as long as I’ve been doing this. It’s just great! What’s shocking is that there are very few first films in the official selection or the Director’s Fortnight, and Critics Week is pretty much just that. It’s great that we can be the ones to really showcase the next generation of filmmakers. We didn’t do it on purpose. The most interesting films we were sent this year were first films”

First-time filmmakers will be center stage at this year’s, where announced competition titles will be up for the. Critics Week runs May 14-22, 2009. in Cannes. Fest opener will be’s freshman drama “” (), featuring French starsand. Latin American films continue a strong showing, with Chilean helmer‘ “Huacho” and Uruguayan director‘s “” both included in the sidebar’s seven-film competition. Colombian feature “,” directed byand starringwill be presented on closing night.French filmmakeralso competing for a Camera d’Or, will screen his dark drama “,” ((originally titled “Adieu Gary Cooper”) ()) which stars actor-directoralongsideand. This year, Belgium presents two competition features:‘s “,” about the relationship between a Hungarian engineer and a co-worker’s young daughter in the wake of a fatal accident, andand‘s Andean-set drama “,” starring. “Altiplano” is the sole nondebut in the competition. Also competing are Iraqi helmer‘s “” and Serbian director‘s “.” Vladimir Perisic will present his directorial debut, a Franco-Serbian co-production about how ordinary men can turn into monsters.

Critics Week artistic director Jean-Christophe Berjon said.

An additional feature for the Special Screenings session will be announced in the coming days. Here’s the critic’s week line-up:,” Belgium, Caroline Strubbe “,” Belgium-Germany-Netherlands, Peter Brosen, Jessica Woodworth “,” Chile, Alejandro Fernandez Almendras “,” France, Nassim Amaouche “,” Iraq, Shahram Alidi “,” Serbia-France-Switzerland, Vladimir Perisic “,” Uruguay-Spain, Alvaro Brechner

COMPETITION SHORTS “Runaway,” Canada, Cordell Barker “Tulum,” Croatia, Dalibor Matanic “Logorama,” France, H5 “C’est gratuit pour les filles,” France, Claire Burger, Marie Amachoukeli “Together,” Germany-U.K., Eicke Bettinga “Noche adentro,” Paraguay, Pablo Lamar “Seeds of the Fall,” Sweden, Patrick Eklund

,” France, Mathias Gokalp (Opening film) “,” Spain, Gabe Ibanez “,” France, Gregoire Colin (Closing night short) “,” Columbia, Camilo Matiz (Closing night),” Brazil, Vera Egito “,” Brazil, Vera Egito “,” France, Pierre Pinaud “,” France, Nicolas Giraud “,” South Korea, Moon Seong-hyeok