MDCInternational is to handle world sales for Polish director Piotr Trzaskalski's TheMaster (Mistrz) which will have its world premiere in San Sebastian'sZabaltegi section next month.

The title role of the master, an Afghanistan war veteran travellingthrough Poland with a knife-throwing act, is played by the Russian actorKonstantin Lavronenko.

Hebecame known to international festival audiences through his hauntingperformance as the father in Andrei Zvyagintsev's The Return (Vozvrashcheniye)two years ago.

The Master is the first Polish film to be shown at San Sebastian for13 years and has also been invited to screen at the Pusan International FilmFestival in October.

Trzaskalski'sprevious feature Edi was nominated for the Foreign Language Film Oscarin 2002.