A bumper crop of 21 titles will compete for the grand prize at the 32nd Polish Film Festival in the seaside town of Gdynia. Palm D'Or laureate Andrzej Wajda's highly anticipated new film Katyn will screen at the opening ceremony Sep 18.

Katyn examines the Katyn massacre of 1940, where Soviet troops killed thousands of Polish POWs along blame fell to Germany. Wajda's film tells the story of the massacre and subsequent cover-up through the perspective of four families. The film is not in competition in Gdynia, making it a contender for a major festival prizes next year.

Generous subsidies from the Polish Film Institute allows this year's festival a bumper of 42 new feature films - 21 in the main competition and 21 in Independent Cinema competition - and 34 shorts.

Among the main competition titles are Hania, a holiday-themed family drama from director Janusz Kaminski, best known to Hollywood for his work with Steven Spielberg. In competition too is Andrzej Jakimowski's Venice Days title Tricks, about a young boy who tries to alter fate and re-unite his family.

Polish director Janusz Majewski will chair the main competition jury.

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