The 39th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will kick off here tomorrow with more than 100 films from over 40 countries expected to be showcased during the ten-day extravaganza, dedicated to the celluloid world.

'The Warlords', a Chinese flick by filmmaker Peter Chan will open the fest, which will be held at Kala Academy and the Entertainment Society of Goa Complex on the scenic banks of the river Mandovi in North Goa.

Iranian film 'The song of the sparrows' directed by Majid Majidi will be the closing film for the festival, Director of film festivals (DFF) S M Khan announced here today.

Films from Asia, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Africa will be screened in the competition section, which will be judged by a jury headed by noted Hong Kong film director Peter Chan, Khan said.

Other jury members include Marco Muller (Venice), Niki Karimi (Iran), Lav Diaz (Singapore) and Tabassum Hashmi (India), he said.

The festival will be inaugurated by veteran actress Rekha and Telugu actress Illina DCruz will be the special guest for the opening ceremony scheduled at the Kala Academy.

Union minister of state for information and broadcasting Anand Sharma, Goa Governor S S Sidhu and Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat will be among the dignitaries present on the occasion.