The seaside town of Deauville is spicing up for this year's 26th Festival. Organizers of the event have confirmed the appearance of celebrities ranging from Clint Eastwood to Carmen Electra. This year's sidebar festival Panorama will feature 11 films, 2 films will make world premieres, accompanied by a lineup of world-famous directors in attendance.

The Directors

Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers), will be in Normandy along with Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Shue to present his latest film Hollow Man, which will open the festival in its French premiere. The crew will arrive in Deauville fresh off the festival circuit from the Locarno Festival (2- 12 August), where Verhoeven will be a guest of honor.

Honored guest Clint Eastwood will present his film Space Cowboys, which stars Donald Sutherland, James Garner, and Tommy Lee Jones. Director John Singleton (Boyz 'n the Hood) will also be in town to screen Shaft and the film's star, Samuel L. Jackson, is also being honored at the festival this year.

The Films

Among the films that will premiere at Deauville are: Brother from director Takeshi Kitano; Center Stage from Nicholas Hytner , starring Amanda Schull, Peter Gallagher and Laura Hicks; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon from director Ang Lee, starring Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh; High Fidelity by Stephen Frears starring John Cusack, Lisa Bonet, Tim Robbins and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

The Panorama sidebar, billed as a noncompetitive section to "reflect the diversity of the independent production of the year" includes Animal Factory by Steve Buscemi starring Willem Dafoe, Edward Furlong, Mickey Rourke and Tom Arnold; Endurance (documentary) by Leslie Woodhead; Famous by Griffin Dunne; George Washington by David Gordon Green; Requiem for a Dream by Darren Aronofsky, starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly; RKO 281 by Benjamin Ross, starring John Malkovich and Liev Schreiber; State and Main by David Mamet, starring William H.Macy, Alec Baldwin, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Sarah Jessica Parker; Steal This Movie by Robert Greenwald starring Vincent d'Onofrio, Janeane Garofalo, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Kevin Pollak; and Things you Can Tell Just By Looking at Her from Rodrigo Garcia, starring Calista Flockhart, Glenn Close, Cameron Diaz, Kathy Baker; Timecode by Mike Figgis, starring Salma Hayek, Holly Hunter and Glenne Headly; Trixie starring Emily Watson, Nick Nolte and Dermot Mulroney. There will be two competitive sections, one for features and one for shorts. The jury will award a Grand Prize and a Jury Prize in both categories. The films in competition will be announced on 15 August, and the jury announcement is forthcoming.

The Tributes

Other added agenda at the festival will be a tribute to Susan Sarandon, who was discovered in 1987 with The Witches of Eastwick, but is most remembered for her performance as Louise in Thelma and Louise. Italian producer Dino de Laurentiis will also be honored for his films, which include Body of Evidence, Assassins, Unforgettable, and King Kong. He will be in Deauville to present the premiere of his film U-571 and is currently producing Hannibal (starring Julianne Moore and Anthony Hopkins), the sequel to Silence of the Lambs.

Last but not least, there will be a special tribute to Samuel L. Jackson, the bad guy - turned action hero who became famous in the 80's from Spike Lee's films: Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues and Jungle Fever and later earned an Academy Award nomination for his role in Pulp Fiction.There will also be a special tribute to Broadway, with a "special day" dedicated to musicals with screenings of Singing in the Rain, Wizard of Oz, and The Sound of Music. There will also be presentations from choreographers and appearances by stars of musical hits such as Leslie Caron, Mickey Rooney, Gregory Hines, and Joel Grey.

The Michel D'Ornano Award, dedicated to the former Mayor of Deauville and cofounder of the Deauville Film Festival, will be awarded to a young French screenwriter. Last year's winner was Le Bleu des Villes from Stephane Brize and Florence Vignon starring Mathilde Seigner, Antoine Chappey and Florence Vignon. The award will be given by Jack Valenti, President of the MPAA, followed by a screening of the film with English subtitles.