Actor Jack Black was joined by nearly 40 huge "pandas" this morning, to help launch this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Black, who was promoting his new animated comedy Kung Fu Panda, arrived at the Carlton Hotel pier in a water taxi, to be greeted by the life-size versions of panda Po - the hero of the film, for which Black provides the voice.

The "panda-monium" on La Croisette will be forgotten by Sunday, when film-lovers’ focus turns to the world premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the year's most eagerly awaited blockbuster.

Screening outside the main competition, Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones sequel sees Harrison Ford back in the role for the first time in 19 years.

Clint Eastwood's latest film as director, Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie, and Steven Soderbergh's four-hour biopic of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara are among the films competing for the Palme d'Or - the festival's top prize.

Madonna will stroll the red carpet next week, to attend a fundraising gala for amfAR, the Foundation for Aids Research.

The singer has made a documentary entitled, I Am Because We Are, about children orphaned by Aids in Malawi.

Woody Allen is also showing his latest film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, starring Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz, out of competition.

Last year the Palme d'Or went to Romanian abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days and to Ken Loach title The Wind That Shakes The Barley in 2006.

Actor Sean Penn leads this year's jury, which also features actress Natalie Portman and former Harry Potter director Alfonso Cuaron.

British hopes are on Love You More, a film produced by the late director Anthony Minghella by artist Sam Taylor-Wood, which has been selected for the short film competition.

Soi Cowboy, filmed in Liverpool and directed by Brighton-born filmmaker Thomas Clay, has been selected for the Un Certain Regard section of the event.

And Better Things, the first feature film from British director Duane Hopkins, has been selected for the Critics' Week competition at this year's festival.

Set in a small, rural community in the Cotswolds, the film tells the story of a group of young people as they struggle to come to terms with the difficulties of growing up in a world of limited opportunities.

A UK Film Council spokesman previously said of an absence of British films for the second consecutive year: "People shouldn't get too hung up on the fact that there are no British films in the main competition section - ultimately it comes down to what films are ready in time plus different trends and tastes each year for what is essentially an auteur film festival.

"This year has already been a great success with the best year ever for British films at the Sundance film festival."

The festival runs until May 25.

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