The Era New Horizons Film Festival is back in Poland with its third edition to celebrate innovative arthouse films.

The festival, which runs from July 17-27 in Cieszyn, southern Poland, sold almost 40,000 tickets last year. This year it is set to showcase over 100 screenings of the latest productions that go beyond the limits of conventional cinema.

The annual festival will kick off with Lars von Trier's Dogville, starring Nicole Kidman and will close with Francoise Ozon's Swimming Pool.

The festival's competition consists of 18 films including Takeshi Kitano's Dolls, Guy Maddin's Dracula: Pages from A Virgin's Diary, Abbas Kiarostami's Ten, Shinya Tsukamoto's A Snake Of June, Alexander Sokurov's Russian Ark, Patrice Chereau's Son Frere, Claire Denis' Vendredi Soir and two Cannes winners - Samira Makhmalbaf's At Five In The Afternoon and Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Uzak.

The festival's Grand Prix is voted by the audience and will be awarded to one film. In addition, and also decided by audience vote, festival organiser Gutek Film, will guarantee distribution to seven other films throughout Poland.

Apart from the competition, the festival's main aim is to promote film culture and attract young audiences, with film screenings from nearly 40 countries. The festival programme includes a focus on French cinema, American independent films and Latin American cinema and will combine a variety of arts such as dance, visual arts, exhibitions, lectures and seminars.