Nicole Kidman is the hot tip to win the best actress prize for Dogville (2003) which premiered at the Cannes film festival last night.
In the film she plays a beautiful woman who arrives in the isolated township of Dogville in the Rocky Mountains.

She is on the run from gangsters and persuades the townfolk to hide her - but their act of kindness comes at a price.

Dogville is the latest film from Danish director Lars Von Trier and is in competition for the festival's Palme d'Or prize.

Kidman, 35, arrived in Cannes at the weekend, just days after Spanish actor Penelope Cruz made her exit.

Cruz, now partner of Kidman's ex-husband Tom Cruise, arrived for the opening night premiere of her film FanFan La Tulipe.

Organisers ensured the pair would not bump into one another by tactfully scheduling their appearances five days apart.

Cruz's film is not in official competition so she has no chance to compete with Kidman for the best actress award.

Kidman, whose film Moulin Rouge (2001) opened Cannes in 2001, won an Oscar this year for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours, while Von Trier won Cannes' prestigious Palme d'Or in 2000 for Dancer in the Dark, which starred the singer Bjork.

Dogville is provoking intrigue because of the way it was filmed - it has just one stark set - a simple theatre stage with few props.

Herald Sun

Source: Press Release