BELGRADE, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Hollywood star Michael Madsen opened the 41st annual international film festival "FEST" in Belgrade on Friday.
FEST, which is the biggest film festival in the region, will run until March 3 and will show 75 films in eight categories from around the world.
Organizers are upbeat about this year's event, which combines commercial blockbusters with independent art films, to break the 100,000 ticket threshold.
Madsen, noted for his roles in the Quentin Tarantino films "Reservoir Dogs" and "Kill Bill 2," joked about the fact that he had lost his luggage, and was making all his appearances in the same clothes, while addressing the press in Belgrade.
Madsen stars in "Along the Roadside" produced and directed by the Serbian brothers Zoran and Vladimir Lisinca, which will also be part of the FEST screenings.
According to tradition, FEST begins with the screening of the winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes. "Love" by Michael Haneke is a Austrian, French and German co-production and has been nominated for several Oscars.
The main program offers works by directors who come from the world of independent film but have gone on to achieve commercial success. This year's list includes Paul Thomas Anderson's "Master," Marco Belochio's "Stolen Beauty" and a new film by Bernardo Bertolucci, "Me and You."
The competition program "Europe out of Europe" will show nine films from Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Israel and Armenia, while the category "Europe in Europe" will feature films by established European directors like Alex de la Iglesia, Claude Miller and Thomas Winterberg.
In its special program, Panorama of the World films Fest will also show "The Grand Master" by Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai.