Michael Haneke's Cannes competition title Code Unknown (Code Inconnu) will open this year's Diagonale festival of Austrian cinema, which will feature several sidebars to complement the central showcase of new Austrian film.

Among the special programmes are a retrospective dedicated to German filmmaker Michael Klier; an animation focus presenting work from the Fantoche and Ottawa animation film festivals along with local animation; a sidebar entitled Film/History/Politics analysing the present political situation in Austria; and the co-production market for documentaries, Dok Markt.

An innovation this year among the Diagonale prizes for Austrian films is the addition of an award - donated by the Diocese of Graz-Seckau - for the best short, documentary or feature-length film not present in the category Best Austrian film.

The festival takes place in Graz, Austria from March 19-25.