Ewan McGregor on Cannes jury (From Oxford Mail)

Ewan McGregor on Cannes jury

8:58pm Wednesday 25th April 2012 in Entertainment News © Press Association 2013

Trainspotting actor Ewan McGregor will join actress Diane Kruger and fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier on the jury at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

The nine-strong group, which also includes Wuthering Heights director Andrea Arnold, will decide which film wins the coveted Palme d'Or.

American filmmaker Alexander Payne, whose films include Election and Sideways, is also on the jury.

Among the films in the running for the prestigious prize are David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis and Walter Salles' adaptation of the Beat Generation novel, On The Road, which features Kristen Stewart alongside Sam Riley and Kirsten Dunst.

Veteran director Ken Loach carries British hopes with his new movie about a small-time criminal who is introduced to the world of high-end whisky distilleries.

The Angels' Share is set in Glasgow and stars newcomer Paul Brannigan, Thick Of It actor Roger Allam and John Henshaw from Early Doors.

Also competing for the prize are The Paper Boy, which stars John Cusack, Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman, Lawless - a prohibition-era tale of bootleggers in the American south starring Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Guy Pearce, and Jeff Nichols' Mud which stars Reese Witherspoon.

The festival, which runs from May 16 to 27, will open with Wes Anderson's new film Moonrise Kingdom, which stars Tilda Swinton alongside Bruce Willis and Bill Murray and is set in New England in the summer of 1965.

The annual event, which attracts art-house filmmakers alongside some of the biggest names in Hollywood, ended in controversy last year when organisers banned Danish director Lars Von Trier and declared him "persona non grata" after he told a press conference he was a Nazi and could understand Hitler.

Among the jurors last year were Jude Law, Robert de Niro and American actress Uma Thurman.