Sixty Indian films are set to travel to Stuttgart, Germany, to celebrate the fourth annual 'Bollywood and Beyond Film Festival'.

According to festival director Oliver Mahn, the festival will improve ties between Stuttgart and its Indian partner-city Mumbai.

"City partnerships tend to get neglected after a while. The festival really revitalized the relationship and it has helped create greater interest on both sides," Variety quoted Mahn, as saying.

The festival was started by Indian producers' association and Stuttgart city officials, who came to attend the annual Stuttgart Meets Mumbai event in India, in 2004.

The event that will take place from 11th to 15th July will also showcase short films by independent directors, and art house films, which usually don't receive much acknowledgement.

The five-day event will present recent feature films from or relating to India that portrays the country.

John Jeffcoat's 'Outsourced' will kick start the festival. The film revolves around a young office manager in Seattle who is forced to travel to India after his service call centre is relocated to Mumbai.

Rajnesh Domalpalli's 'Vanaja' which won the director Golden Bear for the best debut film at this year's Berlinale, will also be a highlight of the event.

Other films that will be shown are Mani Ratnam's 'Guru', Farhan Akhtar's 'Don', Saket Chaudhary's comedy 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects' and Himansu Khatua's 'Kathantara - Another Story'.

After the festival, awards in different categories will also be given.