The Rio International FilmFestival, which kicks off Thursday (Sept 21) and runs until Oct 5, hasannounced a line-up of more than 300 films from 60 countries.

The festival, sponsored bythe City of Rio, the Secretary of Culture, Riofilmeand Petrobras, aims to provide a world platform fornew Latin American cinema as well as showcasing the best new internationalfilms.

The Premiere Brazil andPremiere Latin America sections will present more than 60 films with highlightsincluding Tata Amaral's Antonia, which premiered at Toronto, Cao Hamburger's The Year My Parents Went OnVacation and Karim Ainouz'sSuely In The Sky.

Meanwhile, Latin Americanpremieres include Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Pedro Almodovar'sVolver,Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel, Bruno Dumont's Flanders, Rolf de Heer's Ten Canoes, Hans-Christian Schmid's Requiem,Stephen Frears' TheQueen and Emanuele Crialese'sGolden Door (Nuovomondo).

Guests set to attend theevent include Matt Dillon, Charlotte Rampling, IreneJacob, Carmen Maura, Rodrigo de La Serna, Daniel Hendler,Darren Aronofsky, Bruno Dumont and Abigail Breslin, the 10-year-old star of Little Miss Sunshine.

'The International RioFilm Festival is a mosaic of world cinema, bringing together all levels ofproduction and achievement - top name directors screening alongsideindependents and newcomers," said festival director IldaSantiago. "Our aim is to make the city alive with anticipation and to deliverthe most comprehensive programme of any world festival.'

The festival's seminars andmarket events have grown significantly over the past two years, and will thisyear host representatives from Pandora (Germany), CJ Entertainment (Korea),Alfa (Argentina), HanWay (UK), Gaga (Japan), Cinemark (Mexico), Fox Searchlight, Miramax, WeinsteinCompany, Sony, Paramount, Fox, and Focus, Warner Bros, Columbia and Disney.

Kicking off the marketactivity, Rioscreenings runs Sept 24-Oct 4 and isdedicated to the world's newest productions. Rioseminarsruns Sept 25 to Oct 3 and presents panel discussions on new technologies andtechniques.

Launching this year is riomarket, a new space dedicated to the audiovisualindustry which creates a forum where producers can attend seminars and panels,pitch their projects and meet with international buyers.

Other events this yearinclude a focus on Canada, a retrospective tribute to LuchinoVisconti and a new Images of Iran programme.