One hundred twenty-two films from 58 countries are drawing largeaudiences to a modern theater complex in Silver Spring, Maryland, wherethe annual Silverdocs Film Festival is under way .

AFI Theater in Silver Spring, MarylandNowin its seventh year, Silverdocs has managed to attract hundreds ofestablished and up-and-coming documentary filmmakers, industryprofessionals and movie fans from around the globe. And it's done itagain this year.

Local resident Jim Hill has been attending theSilverdocs festival for the past four years and says it's one of thebest festivals he's been to.

"I like the fact that thisfestival concentrates only on documentary films, which I think brings alevel of reality to films that you don't have in feature films."

Basketball star LeBron James highlight of opening-night film

The film More Than a Game kicked off the festivalAgood example of that reality is the documentary chosen for Silverdocs'opening night. More Than a Game follows the remarkable rise of fivetalented young basketball players from the small Midwestern state ofOhio. One of those players is the current NBA superstar, LeBron James.

While More Than aGame features many scenes on the basketball court, director KristopherBelman says the film is more than a story about basketball.

Director Kristopher Belman with NBA superstar Lebron James"Just seeing the way they interacted, on the court and off the court; the friendship was the unique thing to me."

A first-time festival attendee says he's at Silverdocs for the opening-night film.

"We're in town from Atlanta, Georgia, and we're looking forward to seeing it."

Otherfans weren't so lucky. One man and his daughter said they couldn't gettickets for the film and even missed seeing the film's main star, whomade a special opening-night appearance.

"We want to see LeBron James. He's the best! Where is he?"

Standout films from South Korea, Mali

"We just really show the greatest documentary films that are out there," says Sky Sitney, artistic director of SilverdocsArtisticDirector Sky Sitney says this year's Silverdocs is showcasing not onlyU.S. and European documentaries but also a wide variety of non-Westernfilms that she expects will appeal to international audiences.

"Weare seeing a lot of work coming out of the Middle East this year. Wehad a number of works out of South Korea that were quite interesting. Ithink that documentary has really become a very kind of globalstorytelling at this point."

Supermen of Malegaon was one of 122 films presented at this year's Silverdocs Film Festival Supermenof Malegaon, a film from South Korea, documents the making of alow-budget version of Superman, in which the classic American superherois infused with the local culture of Malegaon, India.

Anotherstandout film at Silverdocs is Mrs. Goundo's Daughter, a moving accountof a Malian mother's quest to save her daughter from genital mutilation.

Silverdocs'organizers say they're encouraged by the growing public interest in thefestival, which is a cooperative effort between the privately fundedAmerican Film Institute and media giant Discovery Communications.Sitney says Silverdocs will continue showcasing domestic and foreignfilms that represent the most diverse and relevant issues of our time.
 
"Asyou can see every single year, the festival grows and grows, andthere's no indication of that slowing down. I think people are reallyinterested in the kind of storytelling that you can get in documentary."

Silverdocsorganizers say they are also planning to broaden the festival's reachto regions of the world where this genre is newly emerging.