Religulous and The Secret Life Of Bees will open and American Violet starring Alfre Woodard and Israeli drama Lemon Tree will close the 31st Mill Valley Film Festival, which runs from October 2-12.

The festival will pay tributes to Woodard, Swedish actress Harriet Andersson and screenwriter Eric Roth, who wrote the upcoming sci-fi romance The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, as well as Paul Schrader, whose Adam Resurrected played at Toronto this week, and Happy-Go-Lucky star Sally Hawkins.

Workshops and seminars will feature a Joe Wright masterclass, a panel on independent cinema with Jonathan Dana, Ron Yerxa and Danielle Renfrew, a panel on socially conscious film-making and a conversation with Janusz Kaminski, who will talk about the relationship between the cinematographer and director.

For further details visit www.mvff.com.