Cannes enters final weekend

Dancing into the weekend: Julie Walters

British actress Julie Walters will see her new film Dancer bring the Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight to a finish on Friday evening.

Dancer, which marks the movie-making debut of London stage director Stephen Daldry, will take the festival into its final weekend, as the race hots up for the prestigious Palm d'Or.

The decision will be announced on Sunday, with Denys Arcand's out-of-competition picture Stardom closing the festival in the early hours of Monday.

But if the trend of recent years is anything to go by, the winning director is more likely to gain credibility than box office success.

Very handy - the Dardenne brothers with last year's Golden Palm award

Last year's Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's Rosetta took only $20,000 (£12,500) in the United States.

Similarly, Theo Angelopoulos' Eternity and a Day from 1998 and the joint 1997 winners - The Eel by Shohei Imamura and Abbas Kiarostami's The Taste of Cherries - performed little better.

English language triumphs have fared far better in Hollywood, but unfortunately for Walters, Dancer is out of competition.

Set in northern England in 1974, it tells of a young boy who copes with the death of his mother and his brother's bullying to follow his dream of becoming a ballet dancer.

Written by Lee Hall, Dancer stars Walters and a cast of young actors, and has been developed by BBC Films, with help from the new Film Council.

Thrilled

BBC Films head David Thompson said he was thrilled Dancer had been chosen as the closing screening of Directors' Fortnight.

"It is another example of our commitment to backing the very best of British film talent, and we are particularly pleased as this is Stephen Daldry's first feature film," he added.

Until recently, Daldry was artistic director of the Royal Court Theatre in London.

Walters made her name performing comedy with Victoria Wood, and has also appeared in films such as Educating Rita, Personal Services and Buster.

1996 winner Secrets and Lies went on to become a huge success

Mexican director Alejandro Inaturri won the critics week prize on Thursday with his debut feature Love's A Bitch (Amores Perros).

It also won a young critic's prize, and the Grand Rail d'Or - awarded by film enthusiasts who work on French railways.

Love's A Bitch is a bleak film about poverty and delinquency in Mexico City, which contains graphic scenes of dog fights.

But the Palm d'Or remains the big one.

Previous winners have included Pulp Fiction, Wild at Heart and Secrets and Lies, and although this year's champion may not achieve success on such a grand scale, the winning film-maker will gain the kind of kudos in the film world which money just cannot buy.