The 41st ChicagoInternational Festival will open on Oct 6 with Cameron Crowe's romantic comedy Elizabethtown starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunstand closes on Oct 20 with the world premiere of Gore Verbinski's family drama TheWeather Man.

The WeatherMan stars Nicolas Cageas an ambitious broadcaster who gets a shot at the big time as his personallife begins to slide out of control. Michael Caine and Hope Davis also star.Paramount will release the picture in North America on Oct 28.

Other titlesconfirmed in the line-up include Scott McGehee and David Siegel's family drama BeeSeason, Noah Baumbach'sSundance hit The Squid And The Whale, and Duncan Tucker's transsexual road movie Transamerica starring Felicity Huffman,

Victor Gaviria'sColumbian-Spanish crime saga Addictions And Subtractions is among a healthy does of internationalfare that includes Krzysztof Krauze's Karlovy Vary Polish prizewinning drama MyNikifor, Yoji Yamada'ssamurai epic The Hidden Blade, and Chinese filmmaker Ning Hao's gentle slice of life, MongolianPing Pong.

Claude Lelouchis represented with his romantic fable The Courage To Love, alongside Vassilis Katsikis' surrealGreek episodic tale CCTV, Jaime Humberto Hermosillo's Mexican mother-son drama TwoAuroras, and compatriotAlejandro Valle's tale of sexual awakening, Stories Of Disenchantment.

DOCUFEST entriesinclude The Devil's Miner, a US-German chronicle of a 14-year-old silver miner thrust intothe role of primary earner following his father's death, while the BlackPerspectives series includes Joe Angio's How To Eat Your Watermelon In WhiteCompany (And Enjoy It),which explores the life of Blaxploitation pioneer Melvin Van Peebles.

For more information visitthe official website at www.chicagofilmfestival.com.