This year's NatFilm Festival, the biggest film event in Denmark, will feature a special tribute to Austrian director and actor Erich von Stroheim (1885-1957).

The non-competitive event, now in its 13th edition, runs from April 5-21 in Copenhagen and three other cities around the country and will present a total of 143 features and documentaries to an estimated 40,000 film-goers.

Restored von Stroheim masterpieces like Greed and The Wedding March will highlight a retrospective of all his films as a director and some of his best as an actor.

Among the new films to be showcased at NatFilm are 11 features and documentaries from countries such as Algeria, Syria and Lebanon. Egyptian veteran Youssef Chahine has a seven film retrospective, from Cairo Station to last years' Silence, We're Rolling.

A topically social realist aspect is also highlighted by the line-up of new European political films, which include Nightshift, Rosetta, The Town Is Quiet and Ken Loach's The Navigators.

Other series' include retrospectives on Michael Haneke, Coffin Joe (Jose Mojica Marins) and Bill Plympton as well as new Bollywood-films like Lagaan and K3G.

The festival kicks off by presenting it's 'Natsaermerpris' to a young talent in Danish film. The $3,000 (DKR25,000) prize has previously gone to the likes of Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.

The opening film will be Joel and Ethan Coen's The Man Who Wasn't There. Other pre-release premieres include Mulholland Drive, Panic Room and The Others as well as Dariusz Steiness' new Danish music-drama Charlie Butterfly.

The NatFilm Festival, in association with The Danish Filminstitute also awards an Audience Award of $12,000 (DKR100,000) to a film without a distribution deal in Denmark. The prize is given as support for distribution. It is presented during the closing ceremony, where Todd Field's In The Bedroom is screened.

The festival is organised by Natsvaermerfonden, an independent fund established to support young Danish film. The Board of Directors include Lejf Bernt, Kirsten Dalgaard, Hanne Palmquist, Claus Hesselberg and Peter Wolsgaard. The festival's programmer is Kim Foss.