This year's festival, an annual event sponsored by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) since 2003 and co-organized with the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand (FNFAT), will run for one-week from yesterday through Sept. 30 at the SFCinema, Central World shopping complex.

Yesterday, the week-long movie showcase started screening of 79 films from over 40 countries with renowned U.S. filmmaker Woody Allen's much-acclaimed new production "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", in its Asian Premiere.

With a typical sarcastically romantic style of Woody Allen works, the film amused an large audience when it was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.

Highlights of the festival, as usual, would be a Red-Carpet and Gala Screening event on Friday, Sept. 26, with the opening film as "Queen of Lankasuka", a long-awaited big-budget epic by Thailand's famous director and producer Nonzee Nimibutr, followed with the "Golden Kinnaree Awards" ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 28.

At the opening reception, a six-member jury panel including Thailand-based, Lao-Australian-ethnic actor Ananda Everingham, Swedish festival artistic director Martial Knaebel and Singaporean director Eric Khoo were introduced. The juries would preside over the two main competition programs in the Festival -- Main Competition and Southeast Asian Competition, each featuring 10 films from the world and the region.

The festival will reflect Southeast Asian cinema's growing strength and visibility in the film world -- a position it has earned through its unique style and its adaptability to the technological developments in filmmaking, said Yongyoot Thongkongtoon, Artistic Director of the Festival.

Over 100 films were produced in Thailand last year, generating a revenue of 27 billion baht (about US$794 million) for the country, according to FNFAT Executive Director Srirat Nujaniyama in an earlier interview with Xinhua.

The FNFAT now aims to help promote the production and sales of smaller-size producer companies and small budget films, especially short films, to improve their competitiveness in both domestic and overseas markets.