American films chosen for Directors' Fortnight at Cannes

The Festival de Cannes sidebar Directors' Fortnight, announced Tuesday by organizers in Paris, is a French-dominated affair this year, with a good third of the 20-film lineup heralding from home turf. However, the selection also found room for four American movies, including the world premiere of Asia Argento's road movie The Heart Is Deceitful...Above All Things, in which the director stars as a mother who takes back her son from foster parents and embarks on a series of misadventures. The movie, based on the collection of short stories by out author J.T. Leroy, features a string of cameos from such performers as Winona Ryder, Peter Fonda, Marilyn Manson, and Ornella Muti. Also from the United States is Tarnation, a low-budget digitally shot personal diary directed by Jonathan Caouette about his coming-out and his relationship with his schizophrenic mother. The other U.S. titles are The Woodsman, Nicole Kassell's study of a pedophile trying to begin a new life, starring Kevin Bacon, and Mean Creek, directed by Jacob Aaron Estes.