LocarnoInternational Film Festival's new artistic director Frederic Maire has announced the names of the five jurors for theFilmmakers of the Present sidebar, which will be competitive for the firsttime.

In addition tothe previously announced Argentine producer Hernan Musaluppi (The MagicGloves), the jury will include French-Iranian director RafiPitts, who was in Locarno's Video Competition in 2003with Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty; AmericanTania Blanich, director of the prestigious Programfor Media Artists set up by the Rockefeller Foundation; Italian-Germanscreenwriter Heidrun Schleef,who worked with Nanni Morettion The Son's Room and The Caiman; and the Swisssculptress-video artist Emmanuelle Antille.

Twenty full andmedium-length features will compete for the $24,310 (CHF 30,000) prize whichhas been sponsored by the C.P. Company.

'By makingthe section competitive, we want to underline Locarno's interest in giving a special platform tostrong works whose intentions and film form experiment with new trends incontemporary filmmaking," Maire explained.