Twilight stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in Cannes contest

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are competing for one of cinema's most prestigious prizes at this year's Cannes Film Festival (Getty Images)

The two stars of the Twilight films will be competing for one of cinema's most prestigious prizes at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Robert Pattinson takes the lead role in David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis which will be shown in competition at the festival next month.

Also in the running for the Palme d'Or is Walter Salles' adaptation of the Beat Generation novel, On The Road, which features Pattinson's co-star Kristen Stewart alongside Sam Riley and Kirsten Dunst.

Veteran director Ken Loach will carry British hopes with his new movie about an 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 competiting for the prestigious Palme d'Or 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 films being shown out of competition include legendary Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci's Me and You and Philip Kaufman's Hemingway and Gellhorn which stars Clive Owen and Kidman in the lead roles of the novelist and his war correspondent wife.

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 stars who attended last year were Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp.

There could be a return for Pitt again this year after Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly was also entered to appear in competition.

The film, based on a novel by crime writer George V Higgins, stars Pitt as an underworld enforcer and also features Sopranos star James Gandolfini.

PA