By Christine Pirovolakis Nov 15, 2006, 2:34 GMT
Athens - The 47th Thessaloniki Film Festival will showcase adolescence at this year's event as well as highlight Brazilian and mainland Chinese cinema production in Greece's northern port city.
Twelve filmmakers from around the world will tackle the subject of adolescence, inspired by Larry Clark's photographic album, 'Teenage Lust' in the filmfest running November 17 to 26.
Feature films include 'Twelve and Holding' by Michael Cuesta; 'Lucy' by Henner Winckler; 'The Peter Pan Formula' by Chang-ho Cho; 'Innocent' by Simon Chung; 'Glue: A Teenage Story in the Middle of Nowhere,' by Alexis Dos Santos; 'Deept' by Simone van Dusseldorp; 'Thirty Seven' by Murali K. Thalluri; and 'White Palms' by Szabolcs Hadju.
The screening of over 300 films will also highlight mainland Chinese cinema production with a tribute on 'New Cinema from China: Another View,' comprising of 22 films and Brazil, with a homage consisting of 18 titles including classics and more recent productions.
While lacking the glamour of other film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin or Venice where the screen stars saunter across red carpets, the Thessaloniki Film Festival is seen as a support mechanism for first- and second-time directors.
This year's programme, drawn up by director Despina Mouzaki, comprises of 14 first or second feature films by emerging directors.
'This year, the International Competition section, perhaps more than ever will lean toward the adventure of narrative,' said Mouzaki in previewing the festival. 'It creates a world of visual stories, which filmmakers from four continents believe they must tell at any cost.'
Acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders will also be headlining Thessaloniki's film festival with a screening of Stephen Frears's award-winning 'The Queen,' starring Helen Mirren.
Festival-goers this year will also be able to enjoy Chinese master filmmaker Chen Kaige with his screening of 'The Emperor and the Assasin' and Alain Resnais's 'Private Fears in Public Places.'
Screen beauties Emmanuelle Beart and Valeria Goliono will present their latest films, 'A Crime' and 'Respiro' and Sandrine Bonnaire will attend a master class on 'Adopting Literature for Cinema' conducted by her husband, scriptwriter Guillaume Laurent.
The Independence Days section of the festival, depicted by many as the most interesting, will pay a tribute to Czech Jan Svankmajer with screenings of his five feature and short films, as well as an exhibition of hist art work titled 'Imaginative Eye, Imaginative Hand,' which also includes several pieces created by his late wife Eva Svankmajerova.
Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako will also feature his latest drame 'Bamako'. His 2002 film 'Waiting for Happiness' was awarded the Certain Regard prize from the international film critics' union jury in Cannes.
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