British cinema returns in force to the 55th Cannes Film Festival which runs from 15-26 May. Four British films were in the official competition vying for the Palme D'Or.

Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen revolves around a 16-year old boy dreaming of a new life for his mother and himself. Mike Leigh's All or Nothing deals with the tragic effects of a child's illness on his parents relationship. David Cronenberg's Spider is about a man in his thirties who has been institutionalised with acute schizophrenia for 20 years and his fragile grip on reality. Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People covers the music and dance heritage of Manchester during the late 70s to the early 90s and is currently on release in the UK.

Directors Fortnight premiered Lynne Ramsay's Morvern Callar starring Samantha Morton as a young supermarket worker who finds the body of her boyfriend on the kitchen floor. Also in Directors Fortnight was Once Upon a Time in the Midlands by Shane Meadows set in the North of England revolving around Dek, Shirley and Shirley's ex Jimmy.

Still from Lynne Ramsay's Morvern Caller

British short films were also playing on the Croisette. Shearing by Eicke Bettinga and The Look of Happiness by Marianela Maldonado, both made at the National Film & Television School competed in the Cinefoundation section. Dog by Andrea Arnold, A Fairy Story by Ben Gooder, About a Girl by Brian Perceval and Sweet by James Pilkington were all in Critics Week.

Still from Brian Perceval's About a Girl

Aletta Collins' The Girl in the Red Dress, Michale Boganim's Mémoires incertaines and Toby Macdonald's Mexicano also showed in Directors Fortnight.

At the closing ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival on 26 May, Paul Laverty won the Best Script Award for Sweet Sixteen by Ken Loach

For the latest on British feature films, shorts and animation, click to the British Films Catalogue 2002, online at the following address: www.britfilms.com.

For more about the 55th Cannes Film Festival visit: www.festival-cannes.fr.