The directorial debuts of actors Matt Dillon and Salma Hayek are included in the line-up of the 2003 Sundance festival.

The festival, which was set up by veteran actor and director Robert Redford, is the biggest event in the world for independent film-makers.

The festival takes place every January in Park City, a mountain city in the US state of Utah. Next year it takes place between 16 and 26 January.

Sixteen films are chosen for the drama and documentary categories, while other films are shown in what the festival calls the American Showcase section.

Faith

Dillon has directed the film City Ghosts, about a con man who travels to Cambodia to collect on a scam.

Hayek's The Maldonado Miracle is about the residents of a small Mexican town who have their faith put to the test after a statue of Jesus begins to drip blood.

Actor Robert Redford set up the Sundance festival

Sundance receives thousands of films from around the world every year.

This year, organisers say, the festival has a large number of films dealing with the 1960s and 70s.

Drama films included for competition this year include Die Mommy Die, about a one-time pop singer who murders her husband only to find her daughter plotting revenge.

Other films include The Technical Writer, about a hermit dragged into the outside world by his neighbours, and What Alice Found, where a young woman travels across American with an elderly couple.

Documentaries include films about writers Charles Bukowski and Gore Vidal, as well as acclaimed photographer Robert Capa.

The festival's 2002 edition included The Good Girl, the critically lauded low-budget film starring Friends actress Jennifer Aniston.

The full programme can be found at the festival's Sundance programme website.