The town of Szolnok in eastern Hungary will next week (Oct 1-6) host its annual International Film Festival of Fine Arts along with an international film market.

The festival, founded over thirty years ago, includes 130 films in competition across three categories: documentary, experimental and animation. Thirty features and shorts also screen out of competition in the festival's information section.

The film market is a new addition to the festival's programme. According to the organisers of the event the aim is to bring together Eastern, Southern and Central European buyers and sellers with their potential partners from around the world.

One of the other film-related events organised during the festival is the first ever FIPRESCI conference to be held in Hungary. The main topics of the round-table discussions will include the differences between European films and Hollywood productions and the significance of co-productions.

On Oct 3 a seminar will look at how EU funding and trade information will be made available to producers through the European Union (EU)'s Media Plus Programme after Hungary and other Central European countries join the economic bloc. Speakers include Giorgio Ficcarelli of Media Plus, Eva Vezer, Cornelia Hammelmann, Audiovisual Eureka co-ordinator and head of Filmunio Hungary and Catherine Buresi, head of EAVE in Belgium.

A script writing seminar, led by Munich-based script consultant Csilla Szabo, will focus on evaluating quality and the market potential of scripts.