Sweden's BUFF, one of Europe's major children's film festivals, is to celebrate its 20th anniversary on March 11-16.

The festival, which takes place in Malmo in the south of Sweden, plays an important role as a platform for children's films in the Nordic region. In 2002 the festival had 12,000 visitors.

This year, BUFF will screen 91 films from all over the world. Just like at Berlin's Kinderfilmfest, there is a strong showing of Scandinavian children's films. Five out of the ten feature films in competition are from the Nordic region, including Klaus Haro's Finnish-Swedish Kinderfilmfest winner Elina (Elina - Som Om Jag Inte Fanns) (pictured).

Other Scandinavian films that also played at the Berlinale include: Wallah Be (Kald mig bare Aksel), about a Danish boy who wants to become a cool muslim, and Someone Like Hodder (En som Hodder), about a nine-year-old boy who is asked by a fairy to save the world.

The competition also includes titles from China, Iran, the UK, Poland and Germany. The best film will be awarded the City of Malmo Children and Young People's Film Award and a purse of Euros 5,500. Most of the directors of the competition films will be attending the festival, and some of the former winners will come to BUFF and talk about their new projects.

Apart from the competition, other sections include World Panorama, New Nordic Films, New Young Swedish Films, Danish Documentaries for young people and a series of classics from BUFF's 20 year history.

Films in competition, BUFF 2003

25 Children And One Daddy (China) dir. Huang Hong
An Angel For May (UK) dir. Harley Cokeliss
Do Fish Do It' (Germany) dir. Almut Getto
Elina (Sweden/Finland) dir. Klaus Haro
Heaven Comes Tomorrow (Poland) dir. Jaroslaw Marszewski
One-Way Ticket To Mombasa (Finland) dir. Hannu Tuomainen
Someone Like Hodder (Denmark) dir. Henrik Ruben Genz
Strong As A Lion (Sweden) dir. Manne Lindwall
Wallah Be (Denmark) dir. Pia Bovin
You Are Free (Iran) dir. Mohammad-Ali Talebi