Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding, which won the Golden Lion at last year's Venice Film Festival, has been named as the opening night film at the 13th annual Nortel Networks Palm Springs International Film Festival which will be held Jan 10-21, 2002.

A total of 150 films will screen from 45 countries including ten world premieres and 43 of the 51 films submitted for consideration in the best foreign language film Oscar category. The FIPRESCI jury, made up of journalists from around the world, will vote on a Critics Award from these Oscar submission films.

Among those Oscar-eligible films competing for the Critics award are Dark Blue World (Czech Republic), Behind The Sun (Brasil), The Son's Room (Italy), Amelie (France), Baran (Iran), Aranarjuat, The Fast Runner (Canada), Italian For Beginners (Denmark), The Piano Teacher (Austria) and Pauline Et Paulette (Belgium).