Ferrell and Chastain head for Deauville

James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain in Ned Benson's Eleanor Rigby

US stars Will Ferrell and actress Jessica Chastain, along with filmmaker James Cameron, will pack their suitcases shortly for the 40th anniversary edition of the Deauville Festival of American Cinema from September 5-14.

Deauville Film Festival director Bruno Barde

Bruno Barde, the event's director, described Ferrell of Anchorman and Stepbrothers fame as being akin to one of France’s favourite American comedians – Jerry Lewis, a choice that many find perplexing.

“Zany, caustic, satirical, off-the-wall and over-the-top, he is all that and more – a pure delight for the audience ... he is a king of comedy,” said Barde.

The other tribute to two-time Oscar nominee Chastain represented “a token of our affection, admiration, recognition and esteem for the talent of the recipient”.

She stars opposite James McAvoy in the romantic comedy The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby by Ned Benson (out in the UK September 26) and has upcoming roles in new productions by Christopher Nolan (Interstellar) and Guillermo del Toro (Crimson Peak). She starred in Take Shelter, which won Deauville’s grand prix in 2011.

“Through her successive roles, she has confirmed her emotional capacity to grab the limelight like no one since Nicole Kidman,” added Barde.

Will Ferrell - 'Zany, caustic, satirical, off-the-wall and over-the-top ...'

Avatar creator Cameron will present his latest opus Deepsea Challenger 3D, in the Normandy seaside town and will also receive a special 40th Anniversary Award on September 13. The film, which chronicles Cameron’s solo voyage in a submersible to the deepest spot on earth at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, is released in the US on August 8 and in France on September 17.

Barde suggests that Cameron “through his work and the emotion it inspires, has awoken consciences, while at the same time transforming movie-making, taking it to a previously unknown dimension”.

The Deauville Film Festival, which includes an edgy Competition section to be presided over by a jury headed by president Costa-Gavras, runs from September 5 to 14.