The new Cancun Riviera Maya International Film Festival is planning to expand next year to include an international market.

The event debuts on Nov 5, opening with Mexican film Nonna's Trip and including titles from the US, Canada, Spain, Iceland, Germany, Italy and Latin America.

But there are already plans for future growth.

'We are also putting together plans for an international market, but that won't feature until next year,' Pedro Valiente, director general of the new festival, told ScreenDaily.com.

For now, he is confident that the first festival will be strong enough to make a significant impact even in a crowded calendar. 'Cancun is a popular tourist spot on the east coast of Mexico and so I believe it should attract film-makers and industry people from all over the world,' says Valiente. 'We hope to have at least three or four world premieres from Mexico, as well as new work from young Latin American film makers.'

This year there will be an official programme of films split into three categories; international, iboamerican and Mexican. For each category there will be 10 fictional films, 10 documentaries and 10 short films

The festival, which will have a budget of close to $1m supplied by private sponsors, including Coca Cola and Kodak, will also offer a film lab, a producers seminar and a section for films made by children.

Other confirmed entries for this year's Cancun festival include Christopher Zalla's Padre Nuestro, currently in Official selection at the San Sebastian film festival, Ricardo Arnaiz's Mexican animation films La Leyenda De La Nahuala, and Canadian director Jennifer Baichwal's Manufactured Landscapes.

The closing date for film entries is 5 October and the full line-up will be announced on Oct 26.

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