Cannes directors 2008

The inside man: Laurent Cantet has spotlighted white-collar angst in the brilliant Time Out, and sex tourism in Heading South. He is widely regarded as one of the most distinctive, clear-sighted directors at work in France today. The mission of his latest film, Between the Walls: to make the jury see him that way too. Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/AFP

The organ grinder: Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan is an art-house darling courtesy of Uzak and Climates and could be an outside bet to take the prize. Three Monkeys might sound like a zany, kids comedy (ooh, those monkeys!), but past evidence suggests this will be another mordant, slow-burning human drama - possibly with no monkeys in it at all. Photograph: PR

The champions: The Dardenne brothers won the Palme d'Or for Rosetta, and then won it again for L'Enfant a few years back. Can they pull off the treble with The Silence of Lorna? Or is their brand of lugubrious social-realism destined to fall on rocky ground? Photograph: Gerard Julien/AFP

The watchmaker: Arnaud Despleschin has earned a reputation as one of the master craftsmen of French cinema thanks to such intricate, expert pictures as Ma Vie Sexuelle and Rois et Reine. A Christmas Story stars Catherine Deneuve and Mathieu Amalric and, if form is anything to go on, the tale is liable to be a long one. Photograph: Allstar

The legend: Will it be fifth time lucky for Clint Eastwood, who was previously nominated for Pale Rider, Bird, White Hunter, Black Heart and Mystic River? His latest, Changeling, is a 20s-set mystery thriller starring John Malkovich and Angelina Jolie. If nothing else, the 77-year-old will bring a little old-style Hollywood gravitas to Cannes - but does he "represent the face of America they like"? Photograph: Scott Wintrow/Getty

The provocateur: Atom Egoyan suffered a rough ride with his last Cannes contender - 2005's sensual, sleazy Where the Truth Lies. But the Canadian film-maker remains one of the more ambitious and distinctive artists in the competition and will be hoping for a warmer response to his internet-themed drama Adoration. Photograph: Suki Dhanda/Guardian

The witness: Animator Ari Folman was a soldier in the Israeli army during a 1982 massacre of Palestinian refugees by the Christian militia. Folman was there at the scene and revisits the horror in Waltz With Bashir. Animations typically struggle at Cannes, though the success, last year, of Persepolis suggests that times are changing. Photograph: Public domain

The spirit of 1968: Philippe Garrel is a Left Bank intellectual (and onetime boyfriend of Nico) who has been shooting films for 40 years but is only now being included in the competition. His latest, The Frontier of Dawn, stars his son Louis, who established his own revolutionary credentials by dint of a role in Bertolucci's The Dreamers. Photograph: Javier Echezarreta/EPA

The Neopolitan: Matteo Garrone has been a sleeper success story in his native Italy for the best part of a decade now. Big things are expected of his Gomorra, a Mafia saga based on the bestselling expose by Roberto Saviani. Photograph: Kurt Vinion/Getty

The under-performance artist: Great things were expected of American film-maker James Gray when he made his debut with the award-winning Little Odessa at the tender age of 24. Since then his output has been fitful, although he was at Cannes last year with (the generally unloved) We Own the Night. Two Lovers, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow, aims to recapture that youthful promise. Photograph: Allstar

The urban warrior: Jia Zhangke is a leading light of the so-called "Sixth Generation" movement of Chinese cinema, who attracted rave reviews for his last film, Still Life. 24 City is reportedly a study of Chinese urbanisation (which should please the high-minded), focusing on "three beautiful women" (which should cater to the rest). Watch this space. Photograph: PR

Joker in the pack: Charlie Kaufman's directing debut looks set to be one of the hot tickets at this year's festival. Synecdoche stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theatre director who constructs a scale model of Manhattan in his apartment. It promises to be another walk on the wild side from the brains behind Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Photograph: Evan Agostini/Getty

The conjuror: Eric Khoo is in Cannes with My Magic, which purportedly involves fire-eaters, alcoholics and yes, magic too. Influenced by the work of Martin Scorsese, Khoo's films traditionally take a poetic approach to the underside of his native Singapore. An outside bet to take the prize. Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Getty

Santa, with claws: The buzz is already building behind Lucrecia Martel, the acclaimed Argentine director behind the stealthy, gently menacing La Cienaga and La Nina Santa. Insiders claim she's overdue a major prize and are whispering that The Headless Woman may just be the film to win it. Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

The curtain raiser: Opening night pictures (Lemming, My Blueberry Nights) have rarely gone to take the Palme d'Or, though Fernando Meirelles will be hoping to change that. Certainly the Brazilian is a world heavyweight with a formidable track record (City of God, The Constant Gardener) and excitement is already building around Blindness, an apocalyptic drama, starring Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo and based on the novel by José Saramago. Photograph: John D McHugh/AP

The dark horse: Brillante Mendoza's Serbis is only the third film from the Philippines to ever compete at Cannes. It's about a family who run a brothel and follows hard on the heels of his 2005 tale, The Masseur. Anyone see a theme emerging here? Photograph: Kristian Dowling/Getty

The who ..? Kornel Mundruczo is the name. He's from Hungary and is perhaps best known for Johanna - a filmed opera of Joan of Arc, set in a Budapest hospital and featuring a junkie nurse who humps the patients. This suggests that his latest, Delta, will be different, if nothing else. Photograph: PR

The Latin scholar: Brazil's Walter Salles is one of the figureheads of the 'buena onda' of Latin American cinema. Co-directed with Daniela Thomas, Linha de Passe revisits the underclass landscape of his 1998 breakthrough Central Station, and should therefore be a whole heap better than his Hollywood rejig of Dark Water. Photograph: Sarah Lee/Guardian

The insider's tip: Early indications suggest that the smart money might be drifting towards Paolo Sorrentino. The Italian film-maker has already built up a groundswell of support courtesy of his sharp, stark dramas (The Consequences of Love, The Family Friend). Il Divo casts an eye back on the turbulent Andreotti era of Italian politics, and could well be worth a flutter. Photograph: Francesco Proietti/AP

Argentine number two: Pablo Trapero goes head-to-head with countrywoman Lucrecia Martel in the hunt for the top prize. The creator of El Bonaerense and La Familia Rodante is known for his gritty subject matter and his Leonera looks no different - focusing on a woman's attempt to raise a child in prison. The trailer features much blood, shouting and rattling of bars. Photograph: Jean-Loup Gautreau/AFP

The comeback kid: Steven Soderbergh earned his spurs by scooping the Palme d'Or with his 1989 debut sex, lies and videotape. Since then he's gone on to bigger and better things (Out of Sight, Traffic) and bigger and worse things (those Ocean movies). Che is his four-hour double-bill biopic of the 60s revolutionary, starring Benicio Del Toro in the title role. It's probably the highest profile picture in competition - much good that will do him. Photograph: Chris Pizzello/AP

The sentimental favourite: Now nobody is disputing that Wim Wenders was one of the key directors of the 70s and 80s - but can he still make the grade today? The omens are not altogether encouraging: The Palermo Shooting seems mired in the Wim heyday, with a starring role for Dennis Hopper and cameos from Lou Reed and Patti Smith. Will the nostalgia vote be enough for Wenders? Photograph: Linda Nylind/Guardian