Director Costa-Gavraswill present a masterclass at this year's International Thessaloniki Film Festival(TIFF). Gavras joins previously announced guests, film-makers Wim Wenders andWalter Salles, in attending the 47th anniversary of the festival.

Wenders will host amasterclass as well as a major retrospective of his works at TIFF, which isheld Nov 17-26. An exhibition of film stills photographed by his wife andcollaborator, Donata Wenders, will accompany the retrospective.

Salles appears as aspecial guest of the Homage to Brazilian Cinema program. Actor Lazaro Ramos, KarimAinouz, Marcelo Gomes and producer Sara Silveira are also among the Brazilianindustry delegates who will take part in masterclasses and round-tablediscussions. The homage will feature over 20 films and is organised by TIFF incollaboration with Grupo Novo de Cinema e TV and the Brazilian Ministries ofCulture and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Embassy of Brazil in Greece.

Other events runningduring the festival include programs of Greek, Balkan and new Chinese cinema,as well as an independent film-making section (which spotlights the work of JanSvankmajer, Jim McKay and Abderrahmane Sissako).

A new program,Focus, is being launched this year, with its inaugural theme being Teenage Lust/Teenage Angst.Programmedby Konstantinos Kontovrakis, it pays tribute to Larry Clark's photographicseries "Teenage Lust" with the screening of 10 films about sexual awakening andidentity.

The festival'sBalkan Fund script development initiative continues this year with the additionof a new intiative, Balkan Fund Presents, which will host a Conference onEuropean Screenwriting in collaboration with TIFF and the Federation ofScriptwriters in Europe FSE and in association with the Robert Bosch Stiftungand the European Film Academy.

Over 200 films arescheduled to be screened at the 47th TIFF. The full program will be released inearly November.