A film by Russian Oscar-winning film director Nikita Mikhalkov, Utomliennye solntzem 2 (Burnt by the Sun 2), has been selected for the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, the Festival's art director Thierry Fremaux said.

Part one of Burnt by the Sun is a tragic comedy set in 1936 about a Bolshevik hero spending a final idyllic summer in his dacha amid the impending terror of the Stalin's purges. The film was awarded best foreign-language film at the 1995 Academy Awards.

Mikhalkov spent seven years making Burnt by the Sun 2, which has a budget of around $70 million. He said that he was not sure how a foreign audience would relate to the film. "I am not sure that it [the film] will be understood and accepted, however, the fact that it was included into the competition is prestigious and pleasant," he said. The director said it was his aim was to give an impression of life in the Soviet Union during World War II to a Russian, rather than international audience.

The Russian premiere of the film will be held on April 17 in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow.

Mikhalkov's began his career as an actor in the 1963 romantic comedy Ya shagayu po Moskve (Meet me in Moscow). His directorial debut, the 1973 war adventure Svoy sredi chuzhikh, chuzhoy sredi svoikh (At Home Among Strangers) was an instant hit. Apart from one Oscar, his other prestigious awards include a Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival and a Grand-Prix from Cannes.

The Cannes Film Festival will be held from May 12-23. Its competition program includes 16 films.