Dame Judi Dench in Chocolat

Hollywood's two other entries are Gus Van Sant's Finding Forrester, starring Sean Connery, and Sean Penn's The Pledge, which features Jack Nicholson.

Quills, by Philip Kaufman and starring Kate Winslet, will join Hannibal in being shown out of competition.

Hannibal follows 10 years after Silence of the Lambs, which took five Oscars.

Sir Anthony Hopkins reprises his role as serial killer Hannibal Lecter, but Julianne Moore replaces Jodie Foster as FBI agent Clarice Starling. It is due for UK release on 16 February.

British entries

Entries from the UK and Ireland include Lasse Hallstrom's Chocolat, starring Johnny Depp, and The Claim, directed by Michael Winterbottom.

Mike Nichol's Wit and John Boorman's The Tailor of Panama are also in competition.

In all, 24 feature films and 11 short films are competing for the Golden and Silver Bears, with a nine-strong jury led by US director Bill Mechanic.

This year's festival will also pay tribute to the late Stanley Kubrick, with a three-part documentary on his life by Jan Harlan being screened, as well as a showing of a re-mastered 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Kubrick's 1957 film Paths of Glory will also be shown as part of a tribute to Kirk Douglas. The veteran actor will be given an honorary Golden Bear for his lifetime of achievement in the film industry.