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For the most part, it appears that the festival is combining the old auteurs (Resnais) along with the new (Andrea Arnold), and have once again come to help out & support a filmmaker such as Lou Ye, who was banned from filmmaking in China for a couple of years for coming to Cannes with the uncensored Summer Palace (2006). This year he brings Spring Fever - about a young threesome overcome with erotic longings. Here are some thoughts on some of the announcements.

Cannes launched their new website and a spanking brand new poster hours before the anticipated announcement of the films that will make up the 2009 edition. This year's one sheet (a banner that will litter the entire Croisette) is an homage to last year's dearly departed Michelangelo Antonioni and his masterwork l’Avventura.

Apart from the world premiere of Michael Cuesta's Tell-Tale and one more festival screening and chance to shine for Hirokazu Kore-eda's Still Walking, the selections are comprised of unknown projects, New York-based film productions that were completed in the last year, a bunch of films that receive a May theatrical release anyways and a batch of better than average films that were showcased at Sundance.

Ballast might have lead the total number of nominations, but it is Frozen River who picked up a pair, including Gotham Awards’ top prize. Really?

I’m pleased by some of the names and film titles that were nominated in the fifteen categories and especially glad to see that Lance Hammer’s Ballast grabbed six nominations but I’m perplexed by one of the two films it shares a total of six nominations with.