The Locarno festival (4-14 Aug) will feature a sidebar onthe ever-changing relations between journalism and film, it was announcedyesterday.

Speaking in London at a reception the festival'sartistic director Irene Bignardi said that the topical section will span thelength of film history and include a rare piece of 1899 Georges Melies dramaabout the furore stirred up by the "Dreyfus Affair".

The presentation at the Swiss Embassy also included ascreening of Henry Lehrman's 1914 short Making A Living, the first ever film to feature Charlie Chaplin. Init Chaplin plays an investigative journalist - although some filmreference works also describe his role as "swindler".

Locarno previously announced that its centrepiece will be amajor section dedicated to films from the Mekong Delta region. Thefestival's Open Doors section will host a delegation of directors fromVietnam, Laos and Cambodia who will present a selection of their previous filmsand attempt to match their current projects with financiers and distributorsfrom Europe.

Human rights is also set to be a theme that runs throughoutthe festival, with a new prize that can go to a film from any section of thefestival and a separate focus on women's rights.