Legendary actress Waheeda Rehman will travel south to throw open the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) in December this year.

IFFK Chairman and the festival director K. R. Mohanan told reporters here Sunday that the actress, who inaugurated 40th International Film Festival of India in Goa last year, will be the chief guest for the festival which begins Dec 10, while renowned German filmmaker Werner Herzog would be the guest of honour.

"The eight-day long festival is organised by Kerala State Chalachithra Academy (KSCA) and will be held in Thiruvananthapuram. As many as 14 films from Asia, Africa and Latin America will compete for the top awards, " Mohanan said, adding that the top purse, the Suvarna Chakoram for the best film, will be awarded Rs. 15 lakh (Rs. 1. 5 million).

"Rajata Chakoram and a cash prize of Rs. 400, 000 will go to the best director and a Rajata Chakoram and Rs. 300, 000 will go to the best debut filmmaker. In addition to this, a Rajata Chakoram and Rs. 200, 000 would be awarded as the audience prize, " he said.

Mohanan further said that the festival will screen a retrospective of filmmaker Rainer Fassbinder, while T. V. Chandran will be the Malayalam filmmaker in focus along with other films from Central Asia and those made by Black American filmmakers.

"We will have 190 films screened at 10 theatres in Thiruvananthapuram, " Mohanan said.