he organisers of the immensely popular event have managed to sell 30,000 tickets before the start of the festival, but are urging visitors to still try their luck, including 30 minutes before individual screenings when tickets can become available again.

Some of the most eagerly expected films of LIFFe 2012 include Ben Affleck's "Argo", "Beyond the Hills" by Christian Mungiu, Margarethe von Trotta's "Hannah Aarendt", Michael Haneke's "Amour", "On the Road" by Walter Salles, "Rust and Bone" by Jacques Audiard, Marco Bellocchio's "Dormant Beauty" and "Holy Motors" by Leos Carax, who will also be honoured with a retrospective.

Among the films highlighted by critics in the "Perspectives" section of entries competing for the festival's Kingfisher Award are Ursula Maier's "Sister", Rotterdam festival winner "Clip" by Maja Miloš, Sundance winner "Beasts of the Southern Wild" by Benh Zeitlin, "Back to Stay", directed by Milagros Mumenthaler and celebrated at Locarno 2011, as well as "A Night Too Young" by Slovenian director Olmo Omerzu.

A number of established filmmakers will be featured in the "Avantpremieres" and "Kings and Queens" sections, frontrunners at recent festivals can be found in the "Panorama" section and slightly more daring filmmaking in the "Extravaganza" section.

A tribute will moreover be paid to Italian director Matteo Garrone, the "Road Movie" segment will celebrate some of the greatest movies of this genre in history, while the "Kinobalon" section will cater to viewers aged between 4 and 14.

The festival will take place at Cankarjev dom, Kinodvor, Kino Komuna, the Slovenian Cinemateque, Kino Šiška, as well as the Kolosej complex in Maribor.