The Cannes Film Festival 2010 (12-23 May) unveiled this year’s line-up with a strong selection of male heavyweights. Americans Woody Allen and Oliver Stone shine alongside British veterans Mike Leigh and Stephen Frears, all of which chose the capital to shoot the projects they will premiering at Cannes next month.

The four directors are expected to descend to the Riviera and follow the trail marked by Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood – yet another film shot in London and the South East, which will open this year’s festival.

Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is presented in the Out of Competition section. The film is a romantic story featuring an all-star cast which includes Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Naomi Watts and Anthony Hopkins and it was shot on location largely in central and west London. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is Allen’s fourth feature shot in the capital in recent years.

Coming from a very different film-making school from Allen but with an equally preeminent voice, Oliver Stone is expected to present a crude and critical view on the economic meltdown in thriller Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, a follow up to his 1987 hit, featuring Shia LaBeouf (Transformers), Michael Douglas and this year’s Oscar® nominee Carey Mulligan (An Education). The film, set in New York City, follows a young broker as the first signs of the financial crisis unfold. The film-making team was in London late last year to gather aerial views for London-set scenes.

Accompanying Stone and Allen out of competition is Stephen Frears (The Queen) with Tamara Drewe, based on Posy Simmons’ comic about a young and sexy journalist (Gemma Arterton, Clash of the Titans) who stirs up a storm when she returns to her idyllic childhood home in the English countryside. The film shot in Dorset, London and Pinewood Studios.

A Cannes favourite with one Palme D’Or win and two nominations under his belt, Brit Mike Leigh is presenting the only UK film in competition this year. Shot between London and Derbyshire, Another Year is Leigh’s follow up to the upbeat Happy-Go-Lucky starring Leigh’s favourites Jim Broadbent and Imelda Staunton. Leigh will no doubt be hoping to woe this year’s jury, presided by Tim Burton, for a chance to bag the top accolade a second time.

Finally, taking part in the more experimental Un Certain Regard section is thriller Chatroom, by Japanese horror master Hideo Nakata (The Ring) and starring Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy). The film follows five teenagers who meet online and form destructive bonds. The film completed work at Shepperton Studios before moving to the capital, where it finished shooting on location in early August 2009.

To see the full juries and line-up, visit the Cannes Film Festival official website.