DUBAI: US filmmaker Wes Anderson’s critically lauded “The French Dispatch,” starring French-Algerian actress Lyna Khoudri, is up for the prestigious Palme d’Or at the 74th annual Cannes Film Festival, it’s been announced. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @arabnews.lifestyle The film will be competing against “Annette,” a musical film by French director Leos Carax that stars Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver, and Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta.” The full lineup of the official competition will be announced on June 3. The last Cannes Film Festival took place in 2019, when the prestigious Palme d"Or went to South Korean film “Parasite” by Bong Joon-ho. “The French Dispatch” was originally slated for release in July 2020 but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although the release was pushed to October 2020, it was later postponed indefinitely. It is set to join the line-up of this summer’s Cannes Film Festival, alongside the other films that were meant to premiere at the 2020 edition of the festival before it was canceled. The 74th annual Cannes Film Festival will kick off on July 6 with Spike Lee presiding over the competition jury. The film is scheduled to release in theaters on Oct. 22, 2021. Supplied Meanwhile, the comedic drama, from Searchlight Pictures, has been scheduled to release on Oct. 22, 2021 in theaters, meaning that Khoudri is set to make her Hollywood debut. Anderson’s tenth feature sees the actress star alongside a cast that includes Timothée Chalamet, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe and more. The comedy revolves around a group of journalists at a fictional American newspaper bureau based in a fictional 20th century French city, led by Bill Murray in a starring role as Arthur Howitzer Jr., the editor of the French Dispatch. Khoudri plays a student activist and Chalamet’s love interest in the film. Supplied Tracing three separate storylines, the whimsical film brings to life a collection of stories from the journal with the support of a stellar cast that also includes Benicio Del Toro, Frances McDormand, Adrien Brody, Kate Winslet and Elisabeth Moss. Khoudri plays a student activist and Chalamet’s love interest in the film. The 27-year-old actress first rose to prominence in her role as Nedjma in Mounia Meddour’s “Papicha.” For her work in the film, she won the Orizzonti Award for Best Actress at the 74th Venice Film Festival and she was nominated in the Cesar Awards’ Most Promising Actress category.