New films from African filmmaker Idrissa Ouedraogo and Japan's Yoshimitsu Morita (Copycat Killer) are among 15 titles unveiled by the 27th Montreal World Film Festival (Aug. 27-Sept. 7), which has announced the balance of its Official Competition line-up.

But the announcement also reveals anticipated conflicts with rival Venice festival (Aug. 27-Sept. 6).

One of the films listed in the MWFF's Official Competition, Indian director Goutam Ghose's In The Forest...Again (Abar Arannye), also screens in the Venezia 60 competition. In June, the MWFF was stripped of its Category 1 competitive festival ranking by governing body FIAPF following complaints from Venice and Toronto about the change of dates of the 2003 event.

At press-time it was not confirmed if Raoul Ruiz's Une Place Parmi Les Vivants, which screens in Venice's Controcorrente competition at Venice, would be in competition at Montreal. MWFF spokesperson Martin Malina told ScreenDaily the festival will likely announce a further two films, bringing the competition to 21 titles.

Ouedraogo's La Colere Des Dieux (Anger Of The Gods) is a quasi-Shakespearean melodrama set in 18th century Africa where heirs legitimate and illegitimate battle for control of a kingdom. Morita's new film Ashura No Gotoku (Like Asura) tells the story of four mature Japanese sisters who discover their elderly father has a mistress and try to keep the fact from their mother while juggling their own complicated and messy love lives.

MWFF competition titles previously reported include youth drama 4th Floor (Planta 4a) from Spain's Antonio Mercero, Le Coeur Des Hommes (French Men) by French director Marc Esposito; from Canada, Gaz Bar Blues, directed by Post-Mortem filmmaker Louis Belanger; and The Gun, from US-based Russian filmmaker Vladimir Alenikov.

Other films announced in the MWFF's various sidebars include New Zealand filmmaker Gaylene Preston's Perfect Strangers, starring Rachael Blake and Sam Neill, and The Night We Called It A Day, an Australia-UK coproduction by director Paul Goldman (Australian Rules) about the ill-starred 1974 Australian tour of crooner Frank Sinatra.

27th Montreal World Film Festival Official Competition

Planta 4a (4th Floor) Spain. Dir. Antonio Mercero
Milchwald (This Very Moment) Germany/Poland, Dir. Christoph Hochhausler
Karsilasma (The Encounter) Turkey/Hungary Dir. Omer Kavur
Binecuvantata Fii Inchisoare (Bless You, Prison) Romania Dir.Nicolae Margineanu
Aabar Arannye (In The Forest... Again) India Dir. Goutam Ghose
La Colere Des Dieux (Anger Of The Gods) Burkina Faso/France Dir. Idrissa Ouedraogo
Il Posto Dell' Anima (The Soul's Haven) Italy Dir. Riccardo Milani
Le Intermittenze Del Cuore (Memory Lane) Italy Dir. Fabio Carpi
El Polaquito (The Little Polish) Argentina/Spain Dir. Juan Carlos Desanzo
Profesionalac (The Professional) Serbia And Montenegro Dir. Dusan Kovacevi
Gaz Bar Blues Canada Dir. Louis Belanger
The Gun (From 6 To 7:30 pm) US Dir. Vladimir Alenikov
Le Coeur Des Hommes (French Men) France Dir. Marc Esposito
Ashura No Gotoku (Like Asura) Japan Dir.Yoshimitsu Morita
Ira Madiyama (August Sun) Sri Lanka Dir. Prasanna Vithanage
Kordon (The Cordon) Serbia And Montenegro Dir. Goran Markovi
Jericho Mansions UK/Canada Dir. Alberto Sciamma
Ruoma De Shi Sui (When Ruoma Was Seventeen) China Dir.Zhang Jiarui
Kako Los Son (Like A Bad Dream) Republic Of Macedonia/Croatia Dir..Antonio Mitrikeski