Controversial director Kim Ki-duk's 10th film Samaria has been selected to screen in the competition section of the 54th Berlin International Film Festival, according to local press reports in South Korea.

Berlin is expected to announce further elements of its competition line-up today (Jan 15). Other titles tipped at press time to make the competition include Bjorn Runge's Daybreak, Eric Rohmer's Triple Agent, Walter Salles' The Motorcycle Diaries, John Boorman's The Country Of My Skull, Richard Linklater's If Not Now , Ken Loach's Ae Fond Kiss and Theo Angelopoulos's Weeping Meadow.

Five competition titles were announced by Berlin in December: Annette K Olesen's In Your Hands, Romauld Kormakur's Nightsongs, Manuel Gutierrez Aragon's Your Next Life, Vinko Bresan's Witnesses and Ron Howard's The Missing.

Kim Ki-duk last competed at Berlin in 2002 with Bad Guy, the story of a woman who is kidnapped and forced to become a prostitute.

Kim's latest work focuses on two teenage girls engaged in child prostitution, and the father of one of the girls who discovers their secret by accident. Shot in just over two weeks for $400,000, the film is being released locally by Show East and sold internationally by Cineclick Asia.

Samaria marks a return to controversial subject matter for Kim, whose previous film Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring centers around Buddhist themes. Spring was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics for North America and was also selected as South Korea's representative for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Other Korean films said to be chosen by Berlin include E J-yong's acclaimed costume drama Untold Scandal for the Panorama section and Kim Jee-woon's horror film A Tale Of Two Sisters for the International Forum of New Cinema.