From July 15 to July 22, 2006, for the 24th time, Munich will be the setting of Germany's largest summer film festival.

Among the highlights of our International Program are spectacular debut films such as THANK YOU FOR SMOKING by Jason Reitman from the USA, VALERIE by Birgit Möller from Germany and MÜETTER by French director (but Munich resident) Dominique Lienhard. As always, there are exciting discoveries to be made - like American Wunderkind Andrew Bujalski, whose first two films (FUNNY HA HA and MUTUAL APPRECIATION) are both German premieres here at the Filmfest. So is LOOK BOTH WAYS, the award-winning feature film debut of Australian filmmaker Sarah Watt. We are also presenting new films by well-known directors such as Steven Soderbergh (BUBBLE), Richard Linklater (A SCANNER DARKLY), Bertrand Blier (HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE ME?), Marco Bellocchio (THE WEDDING DIRECTOR), Takeshi Kitano (TAKESHIS), Terry Gilliam (TIDELAND), Deepa Mehta (WATER), Rudolf Thome (SMOKE SIGNALS), Manoel de Oliveira (MAGIC MIRROR), Abel Ferrara (MARY), and many more.

The sections
New German Cinema - German TV Movies - American Independents - Nouveau Cinéma Français – Central Revisited - Québec Kinderfilmfest - Silent Movie - Open Air: Pirate Movies will hopefully be helpful in navigating our program of over 250 films.

In Central Revisited, we are focusing on a new generation of directors from Central Europe. We are showing ten new films that reflect the new political, cultural and societal realities in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and countries of former Yugoslavia.

We are also spotlighting one of the world's most successful film industries – that of Québec. For years, cosmopolitan Montréal has been producing original and extraordinary films. We are screening six of the latest.

We are honoring Barry Levinson with the 2006 CineMerit Award and are showing six of the Academy Award winning director's films.

Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and leading man Ulrich Mühe will be receiving the Bernhard Wicki Film Prize – The Bridge for THE LIVES OF OTHERS. The speaker at the award ceremony will be former German Foreign Minister Hans Dietrich Genscher.

FILMFEST MÜNCHEN is showing the first retrospective of the Makhmalbaf family to include all available films of Mohsen, wife Marziyeh, and children Samira, Hana and Maysam. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the former Shiite revolutionary and founder of the Makhmalbaf Film House in Tehran has, in the meantime, left Iran for political reasons and now lives in Paris with his family. His latest film SCREAM OF THE ANTS, shot in India, will be having its world premiere at the Filmfest. Also having its world premiere at Filmfest München is Vera Tschechova's documentary, SALAM CINEMA, a portrait of Mohsen Makhmalbaf.

Filmfest is also presenting another first – all of the films of Mike Figgis, British director, writer, composer and video artist will be shown for the first time in a comprehensive retrospective.