Brando to star as himself in film: Veteran actor Marlon Brando is set to make a big screen comeback, playing himself in a low-budget drama.

Brando and Brando, details of which have been revealed at Cannes, is about a young boy who heads for the US in search of the actor. Shooting on the £3m project, to be directed by Tunisian filmmaker Ridha Behi, will begin this summer. Brando, who recently turned 80, was last seen on screen in the 2001 crime drama The Score. As well as starring in the film, the actor has been involved with the development of the project, including working on script revisions with the director. Special: The film's producer, Norma Heyman, said the script was "one of the best I have ever read in my life". "Marlon Brando has turned down every single film - but Ridha's script has done the trick. It's very special." Brando made his big screen debut in 1950 and has been nominated for an Oscar eight times, winning twice for On the Waterfront in 1955 and 1972's The Godfather. He has also starred in such classics as The Wild One, A Streetcar Named Desire, Apocalypse Now and Last Tango in Paris. He was paid $3m (£1.6m) for a cameo role in the 2001 thriller The Score, starring Robert de Niro and Edward Norton.

Tarantino takes French arts prize

Director Quentin Tarantino been handed a special new award by the French government at the Cannes Film Festival.

The director, who is heading the jury at the festival, was made an Officer of Arts and Letters by French Culture Minister Renaud Donne dieu de Vabres. "I'm actually for the first time speechless," Tarantino said afterwards. Czech film-maker Milos Forman, who made One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, was given another new award, becoming a knight of the Legion of Honour. Forman was described by the French government minister as "a master of world cinema". "Your cinema crosses borders and is a model for generations of filmmakers," he said. Francophile: Tarantino told reporters he became familiar with France through watching film. "That's how I became a Francophile, not by going here, I couldn't," he said. "It was from watching French movies and learning about French culture through its cinema, through the eyes of its greatest directors and its stars." He named French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville as his inspiration. "He gave the impression that if you love movies enough you can't help but make a good one." As well as heading the jury at the festival, Tarantino's current film, Kill Bill Volume 2, is being shown.

MOORE FILM "FAVOURITE" FOR PRIZE

Director Michael Moore has been tipped by critics as one of the favourites to win the top prize - the Palme d'Or - at the Cannes Film Festival.

Trade paper Screen International ranked Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 as a leading contender, based on the views of critics from around the world. The controversial film received a 15-minute standing ovation when it was screened at the festival on Monday. The last documentary to win the Palme d'Or was The World Of Silence in 1956. Fahrenheit 9/11 explores the Iraq war and alleges connections between President Bush and prominent Saudi families, including the Bin Ladens. Positive: It was originally set to be released in the US through Disney subsidiary Miramax, before Disney blocked it. It is now expected to be released through a third party. "This film will be seen in the United States before the election - have no fear of that," Moore told reporters in Cannes. The critical reaction to the film has generally been positive, with praise coming from The Washington Post, Time Magazine and British newspapers including the Independent and the Telegraph. However, others have been more critical of the film. The Hollywood Reporter said Moore was "pioneering a reality film as an election device." Incendiary: And trade paper Variety described it as "rather less incendiary than expected" and said it was "a blatant cinematic 2004 campaign pamphlet". Fahrenheit 9/11 is competing against 18 other films for the Palme d'Or. Other strong contenders, according to Screen International, include Look At Me, the latest film from French director Anges Jaoui. The winner of the award will be announced on Sunday, the last day of the festival.

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