Argentina's Mar del Plata International Film Festival kicksoff its 20th anniversary edition today (March 10-20) with a line-up boastingmore than 300 titles.

Thisyear the sole FIAPF-accredited A-grade festival in Latin America will also hostthe first annual Mercosur Film Market (March 14-19), sponsored by Al-Invest,Europe's MEDIA Programme and the local Exportar Foundation.

"The goal of the festival is to show what this subcontinentcan create despite scant resources and not-so-few economic troubles," saidfestival president Miguel Pereira, highlighting the new market plus twosections showcasing product from the region: America Latina XXI and VitrinaArgentina.

Sidebars dedicated to countries like Spain, regions such asCentral Asia and themes such as Women and Film will complement the varioustributes and retrospectives to individual talents such as Argentinean actorFederico Luppi.

The international Official Competition includes 18 titles inaddition to eight out-of-competition screeners including Gahman Ghobadi's TurtlesCan Fly, Istvan Szabo's Being Julia and Thomas Vinterberg's DearWendy.

The full competition line-up is as follows:

The Three Rooms Of Melancholy by PirjoHonkasalo (Fin)

The Sleeping Child by Yasmine Kassari (Mor/Belg)

Gilles' Wife by Frederic Fonteyne(Belg/Fr/Lux/It/Switz)

Le Grand Voyage by Ismael Ferroukhi (Fr/Mor)

P.S. by Dylan Kidd (USA)

Vital by Shinya Tsukamoto (Jap)

A Hole in My Heart by Lukas Moodysson (Swe)

Almost Brothers by Lucia Murat (Br/Ch/Fr)

They Come Back by Robin Campillo (Fr)

Springtime by Ryu Jang-Ha (So Kor)

Antares by Gotz Spielmann (Austria)

Bitter Dream by Mohsen Amiryoussefi (Iran)

Tatooed by Eduardo Raspo (Arg)

A Year Without Love by Anahi Berneri (Arg)

The Ninth Day by Volker Schloendorff (Ger/Lux)

Downfall by Oliver Hirschbiegel (Ger/It)

Unconscious by Joaquin Oristrell (Sp)

Something To Remember Me By byPatricia Ferreira (Sp)