Film Society of Lincoln Center, in partnership with the Museum of Modern Art, is excited to announce the first seven films of the 2012 line-up for the 41st annual New Directors/New Films Festival! Running from March 21 – April 1, this year’s docket will include exciting new works from around the world.

The initial seven selections are Karl Markovics’ Breathing (Austria), Anca Damian’s Crulic: The Path to Beyond (Romania), Julia Murat’s Found Memories (Brazil), Pablo Giorgelli’s Las Acacias (Argentina), Joachim Trier’s Oslo, August 31st (Norway), Alejandro Landes’s Porfirio (Colombia) and Angelina Nikonova’s Twilight Portrait (Russia).

“These first seven selections are indicative of the great variety of films and the worldwide scope for which New Directors/New Films has long been known and respected,” says Rajendra Roy, MoMa’s Chief Curator in the Department of Film. “Each of these filmmakers has demonstrated a remarkable gift for storytelling and we are thrilled to bring their work to New York audiences.”

For more than four decades, New Directors/New Films has been a beacon for emerging directors eager to make their mark on the film scene, as the film festival has introduced or cemented the status of some of the most familiar and critically acclaimed directors working today—Pedro Almodóvar, Darren Aronofsky, Ken Burns, Wong Kar Wai, Spike Lee, Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg among them.

Some of these works have already garnered praise on the festival circuit. Murat’s Found Memories, a poetic rendering of the confluence of generations and cultures, was named Best Film in the New Horizons category at the Abu Dhabi International Film Festival and received a Special Mention at the San Sebastian Film Festival, while Giorgelli’s Las Acacias, a unique and surprising South American road movie, was a favorite of the 2011 Cannes Critics Week.

The 2012 line-up will also include a number of directing debuts. Veteran Austrian actor Karl Makovic steps behind the camera for the first time with Breathing, a meditation on the perilousness of youth and the inevitability of death. Newcomer Angelina Nikonova will unveil her first feature Twilight Portrait (co-written and produced with lead actress Olga Dihovichnaya), a dark and provocative story of sexual politics that will certainly have film-goers talking.

The 41st edition of the festival will also feature three sophomore efforts. Damian’s animated documentary Crulic: The Path To Beyond is her second film (following festival favorite Crossing Dates, 2008), and Joachim Trier’s Oslo, August 31st will mark the filmmaker’s return to New Directors/New Films, where he premiered his debut feature Reprise in 2007. Finally, Landes follows-up his 2007 debut Cocalero, which had a successful debut at Sundance, with Porfirio.

Tickets to New Directors/New Films go on sale to the general public on March 11 online, or at the box offices of The Film Society of Lincoln Center (Walter Reade Theater, 165 W. 65th St., near Amsterdam Avenue) and The Museum of Modern Art (11 W. 53rd Street). Film Society and MoMA FilmPlus members may purchase tickets starting March 4. To become a member of the Film Society and MoMA please visit: www.filmlinc.com and www.moma.org.