* Controversy comes to Cannes in the shape of Northern Ireland, Perestroika pips personalities to the post and trash gets a look-in. Our man in France, TOBY ROSE

AT CANNES 1990 controversy flared again. The subject was Northern Ireland, echoing last year's Mickey Rourke- invoked tabloid fury over alleged contributions to a Republican humanitarian fund. This year Fleet Street fulminated over Hidden Agenda, which dramatises the allegations of a 'shoot to kill' policy by former M15 man Colin Wallace. An Establishment nightmare, the chilling narrative unfolds with no holds barred. The air was charged as director Ken Loach's Hidden Agenda team - including ex-intelligence of ficer Fred Holroyd - was quizzed over the deliberate testing of the Government ban on Sinn Fein's access to the media, by casting a member in a speaking part. Angry words always jar the air but never more so than at the puff and back slap of a Cannes press conference. Loach cut a benign figure against the hectoring, while thenon-UK press corps sat agog at the passion being generated and clapped his wry observation: "Today has shown how difficult it is to have a civilised discussion about Northern Ireland in the UK." The Festival supported his view by awarding the film the Jury Prize. David Lynch's Wild A t Heart, which scooped top prize the Palm d'Or, was an eerie and violent tale of two lovers, Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern, on the run through America's South. In pursuit is Laura's real life momma, Diana Ladd. A lipstick-smearing, hipswinging, volatile blonde bombshell, behold a new cine icon, who'll doubtless lose Joan Collins some of her fan club! But this year perestroika took precedence over personalities. 

The newly unshackled cinema of the East was recognized. The Franco-Soviet Taxi Blues won Pavel Lounguine Best Director, Best Actress went to Krystyna Janda for Poland's The Interrogation and the USSR's The Mother (Forbidden People) won for Best Artistic Contribution. And Idrissa Ouedraogo's Tilai, joint winner of the Grand Jury Prize with Japan's The Sting Of Death, confirmed his reputation as Africa's leading film-maker, building on the success of Yabba. Personalities certainly kept their distance from Cannes this year, 12 miles to be exact. The A- list bash of the Festival was a party for distributors Carolco at the Hotel Du Cap up the Coast at Antibes. Flown in aboard a chartered Boeing were Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen. Also in town for the fireworks and Gipsy Kings were Clint Eastwood, Mick 'n' Jerry, Grace Jones, Robert Downey Jr and Adrian Fatal Attraction Lynne. Stallone, in a bid to meet the people, ventured into Cannes for a'discreet' Perrier. In a move totally unconnected with the gathering crowd of hundreds, his PRs had slipped Sly's arrival time beneath the doors of all and sundry that morning. John Waters, in town with Cry Baby which stars Ricki Lake and Iggy Pop, revealed that starring throb Johnny Depp wore not one but three pairs of underpants for the 'whoops-we've- gratuitously-ripped-his-trousers- off scene. No unsightly bulges there! Roger Daltrey, in a newie entitled Buddy's Song found his poolside photocall too much and pushed his young co-star, Chesney Hawkes, into the water. Other, younger, British talent was also in evidence. Frank Clarke and Tilda Swinton came in to beat the drum for their respective projects, Blonde Fist and Oralando respectively. British directorial debuts also proved highlights. The Reflecting Skin, directed by Philip Ridley screenwriter of The Krays - won a place in Critics Selection for the story of childhood fears set on a North American prairie. Another notable was new Hrit Horror flick Hard ware from dircctor Richard Stanley - Aüen meets Bladerunner. Its TooHotTo Trotsky' party was aboard a Russian freighter, very glasnost. The jury is still out on the alternative list for best trash title in the film market. Currently jostling are Macho Woman, Frankenhooker-A Terrifying Tale Of Sluts And Bolts. Stuff Stephanie In The Incinerator plus a late UK entry with I Bought A Vampire Motorcycle. Sadly Flesh Gordon Meets The Cosmic Cheerleaders was unfinished and therefore ineligible. Still, there's always next year.