The stage is set for the sixth International Film Festival of Kerala that opens in Thiruvananthapuram on March 30 and will feature 125 films from a record 40 countries.Kerala Cultural Minister T.K. Ramakrishnan said the only problem theorganizers of the eight-day festival were facing was a cut in the budgetfor the event from Rs.10 million to Rs.6.5 million. "This is going to be made up by the rich content, which is available in the entries in the festival,"he said.

In the world cinema section about 100 works, of which 50 films are from 40 countries, would be screened. Apart from these there are packages of Iranian short films, German films and French films focusing on women's issues.In the Indian cinema section, almost half of the works are from Kerala.

An added attraction in this year's festival is the retrospective of the works of Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Cuban filmmaker Tomas Gutierrez Alea. Among the other highlights is that homage would be paid to Karamana Janardhanan Nair, Balan K. Nair and Bahadur, all luminaries of the Malayalam film world who passed away in the last 12 months. Special monographs on them would also be released.

Awards would be given away in the best director, best producer, best film and best short film categories. A special award for exceptional brilliance in any aspect of a film would also be given.Noted Hungarian director Istvan Gaal will head the jury. Other members of the jury include Iranian filmmaker Makhmalbaf and Marathi director Vijaya Mehta. Like in the previous years, this time also there would be open sessions on different aspects of filmmaking every day.