The New York film festival has announced its line-up - and is likely to be the launch-pad for many films' Oscar campaigns.

The festival opens on 27 September with the North American premi�re of Alexander Payne's About Schmidt, for which actor Jack Nicholson has already been tipped for an Oscar nomination, according to Screen Daily.

The centrepiece of this, the 40th festival is Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love, which earned Anderson the best director prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Pedro Almodovar is a New York festival favourite

There are no world premi�res, but many US premi�res for some of the most highly-regarded films from this year's international festivals.

The event closes with Talk To Her, the latest film from Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, on 13 October.

Many of the films will be drawn from contenders at the Cannes Film Festival, among them Aki Kaurism�ki's Grand Jury Prize-winner The Man Without A Past, and Marco Bellocchio's My Mother's Smile.

There are also several highlights from this year's Berlin Film Festival, including Paul Greengrass' Golden Bear-winner Bloody Sunday, about the British Army's shootings at a Londonderry demonstration in 1972.

Director's award

Special events at the festival include a showing of the 1926 silent classic Faust, accompanied by a live rendition of a new score, and a celebration of Indian actress Shabana Azmi.

Meanwhile, Spain's San Sebastian International Film Festival has revealed the 20 films that will compete for the New Director's Award this year.

The event, which runs from 19 to 28 September, immediately before the New York festival, is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

The directors' award is worth 150,000 euros (�96,000), and is said by San Sebastian organisers to be the highest prize of any festival award.

The award shortlist, which is predominantly European, only includes films from first- and second-time directors.

Two of the shortlisted titles, Iceland's The Sea (Hafid) directed by Baltasar Korm�kur and the New Zealand-German production Whale Rider, directed by Niki Caro will also compete in the festival's official competition.