????FROM an Italian movie extravaganza to a crackdown on selfies, here are things you need to know about the 68th Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 13-24. ????The British aren’t coming ????U.K. commentators were swift to point out the dearth of British entries in the main competition, with just two productions (and no directors) arriving from across the Channel. One of them is “Macbeth” by Australian director Justin Kurzel, starring Michael Fassbender and the inevitable Marion Cotillard. And yet Shakespeare’s language is more dominant than ever, accounting for more than half of the 19 films in competition. ????Other converts to English include Norway’s Joachim Trier (“Louder than Bombs”), known for his absorbing “Oslo, August 31st;” Greece’s Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Lobster”), who became an arthouse favorite in 2009 with his bizarre and brilliant “Dogtooth;” and Mexico’s Michel Franco (“Chronic”), the only Latin American in the main line-up. ????Fortunately, the three Asian directors in competition — China’s Jia Zhangke (“Mountains May Depart”), Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda (“Our Little Sister”) and Taiwan’s Hou Hsiao-hsien (“The Assassin”) — have all resisted the lure of English, thereby upholding the festival’s status as a sanctuary for foreign-language cinema. ????French domination ????Cannes commonly reserves around three competition slots for French films, and the presence this year of five entries from the home nation has raised a few eyebrows. Homegrown directors Valérie Donzelli (“Marguerite and Julien”), Stéphane Brizé (“The Measure of a Man”), Jacques Audiard (“Dheepan”), Ma?wenn (“My King”) and Guillaume Nicloux (“Valley of Love”) will vie for the Palme d’Or, while Emmanuelle Bercot (“Standing Tall”) and Luc Jacquet (“Ice and Sky”) have been allotted the festival’s coveted opening and closing slots, respectively. ????Italian extravaganza ????Over the years, Italian directors have clinched Cannes’ Palme d’Or on nine occasions — the same as the host nation. They have a good chance of pulling ahead this year, with three entries in the main competition. The 2001 Palme d’Or winner Nanni Moretti is back with “My Mother,” a delicate and sentimental film about a filmmaker struggling to cope with a collapsing set and her mother’s fatal illness. ????But pundits are more likely to put their money on the two other entries from Europe’s famed Boot. Two-time Grand Jury Prize winner Matteo Garrone presents “The Tale of Tales,” his first English-language effort, starring Vincent Cassel, John Reilly and Toby Jones. ????Oscar-winning director Paolo Sorrentino is also back, with a film about old people called “Youth” that boasts a star-studded cast including Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel and Jane Fonda. ????No selfies ????There will be plenty of star power gracing the red carpet, with the likes of Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender and Matthew McConaughey expected on the Croisette, Cannes’ famed seaside promenade. But if Frémaux has it his way, none of them will be causing traffic jams with their “ridiculous and grotesque” selfies. ????“We don’t want to prohibit it, but we want to slow down the process of selfies on the steps,” said the festival director, adding, “You never look as ugly as you do in a selfie.” ????It is not clear how festival organizers plan to enforce the unofficial ban on the popular self-portraits, which Cannes stars fervently embraced last year. (SD-Agencies) | 