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David Cronenberg arrives on the red carpet for the 32nd Genie Awards in Toronto, March 8, 2012.Reuters

Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman are expected to be among the famous faces on the Cannes red carpet this year, as organizers unveiled the 2012 lineup in Paris on Thursday.

Officials will be hoping that the blend of Hollywood star power and auteurs from around the globe will help the world's biggest film festival recover from the controversy of last year, when Danish director Lars Von Trier was expelled for making Nazi jokes during a press conference.

Pitt's latest movie, Killing Them Softly, directed by New Zealand-born Andrew Dominik, is in the main competition lineup at the May 16-27 event, held each year on the glamorous French Riviera.

Canada's David Cronenberg is also in competition with Cosmopolis, starring Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson, while the director's son Brandon is in the smaller "Un Certain Regard" selection with his debut Antiviral.

Quebec director Xavier Dolan returns to the festival with his gender-bending drama Laurence Anyways.

Twilight fans will be keen to get their teeth into On the Road, directed by Brazilian Walter Salles, an adaptation of Jack Kerouac's classic novel. Among its cast is Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart, alongside Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst.

There are several previous winners of the coveted Palme d'Or for best picture up for the main prize again this year, including Austria's Michael Haneke ( Amour/Love), Britain's Ken Loach ( The Angel's Share) and Romania's Cristian Mungiu ( Beyond the Hills).

Veteran French film maker and European festival favourite Alain Resnais, 89, is in the main lineup with Vous n'avez encore rien vu.

Hollywood is in the frame with the third instalment of the hit Madagascar animation series, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, which is in 3D.

It will appear out of competition, as will U.S. director Philip Kaufman's Hemingway & Gellhorn, which could see its star Nicole Kidman in Cannes.

As previously announced, the festival will open with Wes Anderson's 1960s drama Moonrise Kingdom, starring Bruce Willis and Bill Murray.

The story revolves around two young lovers who run away from their New England homes, prompting locals to send out a search party.

The closing film in 2012 will be Claude Miller's Therese Desqueyroux, in honour of the French director who died shortly after completing the picture.

This year's jury deciding the awards in the main competition will be led by Italian actor/director Nanni Moretti, who won the Golden Palm in 2001 with The Son's Room.

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