The Thessaloniki International Film Festival has unveiled today the full line-up of its 44th edition.

The Festival kicks off November 21, with Takeshi Kitano's Venice winner Zatoichi and closes with Jim Sheridan's In America on Saturday November 29.

Vincent Gallo's controversial Brown Bunny is, in its new 90 min version, among the eagerly expected premieres of the 14-strong international competition titles - reserved to first and second films.

Other films in competition are,
Barbara Albert's Free Radicals from Austria, Celina Murga's Ana Y Los Otros from Argentina, Manish Jha's Matru Bhoomi (India), Michelangelo Frammartino's Il Donno (Italy), Luis Fonseca's Antes Que O Tempo Mude (Portugal) and Nariman Turebayev's Little Men (Kazakhstan).

Two Greek productions have also been unveiled for the official competition: Dimitris Indares' Totally Married and Elissavet Chronopoulou's A Song Is Not Enough.

The seven-member International Jury, set to award the Golden and Silver Alexander, backed respectively by Euros 37,000 and Euros 22,000, comprises among its members the Iranian director Jafar Panahi and the veteran English DOP Walter Lassaly. The Georgian noted director Otar Iosseliani serves as president and his films enjoy a retrospective .

The greatest attraction for the international press, film critics and industry executives at the festival should be the presentation of extracts from Greek master Theo Angelopoulos' new film Trilogy No 1, The Weeping Meadow.

This is the first time that material from the picture, currently in post production and set to bow in competition at the upcoming Berlin Film Festival, will be revealed by the director who will round up the presentation with a press conference.

Among the 200 films to unspool at the festival, a record 28 brand new Greek productions will be premiered in the Greek Cinema 2003 information section backed by Market Screenings reserved for international sales agents and distributors present.

The Balkan Survey section of the event, comprising 13 films from the countries of the region, is boosted this year with the inclusion of the Balkan Fund (Thessaloniki Film Festival Script Development Fund) designed to encourage script development in the Balkan countries.

The first grants, out of eleven shortlisted projects, to the tune of Euros 10,000 each, will be announced by an international five-member jury presided over by the Cannes Film Festival Cinefondation head Georges Goldenstern. Funds are provided by the Ministry of Culture.

International Competition:
Ana And The Others by Celina Murga, Argentina, 2003
The Gift by Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy, 2003
Free Radicals by Barbara Albert, Austria/Germany/Switzerland, 2003
The Last Train by Aleksej German, Russia, 2003
A Nation Without Women by Manish Jha, India, 2003
Little Men by Nariman Turebayev, France/Kazakhstan, 2003
The Brown Bunny by Vincent Gallo, USA, 2003
For She Is A Jolly Good Fellow by Siegrid Alnoy, France, 2002
Girlie by Benjamin Tucek, Czech Republic, 2003
Before Things Change by Luis Fonseca, Portugal, 2003
Eager Bodies by Xavier Giannoli, France, 2003
Tiny Snowflakes by Alireza Amini, Iran, 2003
A Song Is Not Enough by Elissavet Chronopoulou, Greece,2003
Totally Married by Dimitris Indares, Greece, 2003

Out of Competition
Reconstruction by Christoffer Boe, Denmark, 2003
Memories Of Murder by Bong Joon-Ho, Korea, 2003
Silent Waters by Sabiha Sumar, Pakistan, France, Germany, 2003

Special Screenings: 2003-The Landmarks
A Talking Picture by Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal/France, 2003
Last Life In The Universe by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Thailand, 2003
Drifters by Wang Xiaoshuai, China , 2003
Goodmorning, Night by Marco Bellocchio, 2003
The Story Of Marie And Julien by Jacques Rivette, France, 2003
Youthful Dreams by Marco Tullio Giordana, Italy, 2003
Elephant by Gus van Sant, USA, 2003