Festival cornucopia

Jointly programmed by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art's film department, the eclectic international showcase for emerging talent will run this year for the first time at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and Walter Reade Theater and at MoMA Film's temporary home at the Gramercy Theater.

Event unspools March 26-April 6, kicking off with previously announced opener "Raising Victor Vargas," a tender tale of Lower East Side Latino teens from director Peter Sollett. Samuel Goldwyn Films and Fireworks Pictures are releasing the pic.

'Sun,' 'Ticket' on sked

Among titles selected with U.S. distribution in place are Lions Gate Films' "Mondays in the Sun," a Spanish drama of unemployed shipyard workers starring Javier Bardem and directed by Fernando Leon de Aranoa; Rashid Masharawi's docufiction "Ticket to Jerusalem," a Palestinian-Dutch-French co-production from Global Film Initiative; Czech helmer Vladimir Michalek's comedy about a pensioner and his long-suffering wife, "Autumn Spring," from First Look Pictures; and British documaker Kim Longinotto's examination of female circumcision, "The Day I Will Never Forget," from Women Make Movies.

Other selections include Tajik director Jamshed Usmonov's poetic drama "Angel on the Right," which premiered last year at Cannes; Tareque Masud's account of a political uprising and its impact on a rural family, "The Clay Bird," from Bangladesh; Chinese newcomer Chuan Lu's bittersweet black comedy murder mystery "The Missing Gun," from Columbia Pictures Film Prod. Asia; and Gyorgy Palfi's dialogue-less meditation on Hungarian village life, "Hukkle."

African, Latin lineup

African cinema is repped by Mahamet Saleh Haroun's "Abouna," from Chad; Latin America by Adrian Caetano's Argentinean box office hit "The Red Bear" and Brazilian filmmaker Jose Padilha's "Bus 174," an account of a Rio hijacking that drew one of the strongest receptions of the Sundance international docu lineup; and East Asia figures with Nishikawa Miwa's "Wild Berries" from Japan and "Infernal Affairs," directed by Hong Kong duo Andrew Lau and Alan Mak and starring local heartthrobs Tony Leung and Andy Lau.

Remaining selections include Iranian director Fariborz Kamkari's "Black Tape -- The Videotape Fariborz Kamkari Found in the Garbage," Israeli Igal Bursztyn's "The Glow" and Maja Weiss' "Guardian of the Frontier" from Slovenia.

As previously reported, Italy is present with an unprecedented three titles in the selection: Emanuele Crialese's "Respiro" from Sony Pictures Classics; Matteo Garrone's "The Embalmer," from First Run Features; and Roberta Torre's "Angela," from First Look.