NEW U.K. FILM ADDED TO CANNES LINE-UP

A 19th film has been added to the list of competitors for the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or this year. The festival announced Monday that it is adding British director Ken Loach’s Route Irish, about a couple of soldiers-turned-independent-contractors who fall in love with the same woman in Iraq. Although it is rare for a film to be appended to the competition list at the last moment — the festival opens on Wednesday — Loach would appear to be something of a darling to the festival crowd who merits special consideration. Route Irish is his third film selected by the festival directors to screen at Cannes. Loach won the Palme d’Or in 2006 for The Wind that Shakes the Barley. He returned last year with the critically acclaimed Looking for Eric. Meanwhile, festival director Thierry Fremaux has indirectly criticized Hollywood producers for their reluctance to submit films for the competition. Only one American film is competing this year, Doug Liman’s Fair Game, starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. “The Cannes Film Festival must show more American films,” Fremaux told the Associated Press. “That’s part of our tradition and part of what we want for the future.”