Cannes Market (Marché du Film)
Where 50% of international cinema dealings are done, with films bought, sold and greenlit. Sitting snugly in the basement of the Palais, the film world's wheelers and dealers watch movies and try to make money.

Competition
Films screening 'In Competition' are nominees for the Palme d'Or, the most prestigious honour in European cinema. Recent winners include Gus Van Sant (for Elephant), Roman Polanski (for The Pianist), and Lars Von Trier (for Dancer In The Dark). But don't let that put you off: it often awards good films.

The Croisette
AKA The Seaside. The long road which runs the length of Cannes seafront, along which stroll stars, paparazzi, and publicity-seekers alike, gazing out at the Mediterranean.

Critics Week
Running alongside the official festival, this sidebar is controlled by the Union Of French Film Critics. Set up in 1962, it relies on a group of international critics to select features and shorts by first and second-time directors, who compete for the pretty prestigious Grand Prix.

Directors Fortnight
Set up in 1968 to sidestep the politics which caused that year's festival to shut down, the Directors Fortnight is traditionally the most 'out there' of Cannes' sub-sections, open to the widest range of new movies. This year's selection includes The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, from xXx star Asia 'Daughter of Dario' Argento, and controversial Sundance favourite The Woodsman, starring Kevin Bacon as a convicted paedophile trying to go straight (as it were).

Official Selection
Simply, those films selected to screen (both In and Out Of Competition) by the bigwigs of Festival de Cannes.

Out Of Competition
OK, so you fancy the glitz, glam and publicity of Cannes, but can't be fagged trying to join the official selection. Then screen Out Of Competition! This year, Wolfgang Petersen's swords'n'sandals epic Troy is battling with Kill Bill: Volume 2 for a share of the media spotlight. The Cannes organisers are also allowing Terry Zwigoff's Christmas nightmare Bad Santa to screen, along with the amped-up remake of Dawn Of The Dead, of which Jury president Quentin Tarantino is a fan. And don't worry: there's plenty of worthy European fare too - including the latest from French veteran Jean-Luc Godard: Our Music.

The Palais
Known to festival regulars as The Bunker, this imposing building was built in 1983 to house the ever-expanding festival. Home to the Cannes Market and scuds of bad tempered journalists, running from screenings to press conferences to the overcrowded computer room.

Un Certain Regard
Films screened here have no fear of failure: the award is being selected at all. Started in 1978, this festival sub-section is a chance to show off world cinema, without cluttering up the main competition. This year it includes the only film in the Official Selection to be solely UK funded: family drama Dear Frankie.

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