The new Samuel L. Jackson movie Coach Carter will open the Palm Springs Film Festival, which runs from January 6th-16th 2005. 190 films from 65 countries will play during the festival, and they include the Charles Dance directorial debut Ladies In Lavender, which stars Dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench, which will close proceedings.

"This year's lineup is especially auspicious, featuring as it does a number of major premieres from both well-established auteurs and promising emerging filmmakers based in America and abroad," festival executive director Darryl Macdonald told The Hollywood Reporter.

"The breadth and depth of the talent encompassed by the lineup is truly heartening, and we're especially delighted to have such a strong lineup of films from current cultural hotbeds of world cinema such as Argentina, Israel, China, Italy and Germany -- all of whom are undergoing a resurgence of sorts of their national cinemas."