AUSTRALIAN filmmaker Gillian Armstrong will head the jury for the first international competition at the Sydney Film Festival next month.

At an announcement in Cannes, the festival's head, Clare Stewart, said the director of My Brilliant Career, Oscar And Lucinda and Death Defying Acts would judge the Sydney film prize alongside Iranian writer-director Majid Majidi and the Hong Kong producer Nansun Shi.

Twelve movies will compete for the $60,000 prize that rewards new directions in film, including Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky and two Australian films, Nash Edgerton's The Square and Matthew Newton's Three Blind Mice.

Majidi is best known for the Oscar-nominated drama The Children Of Heaven. His latest film, The Song Of Sparrows, will screen at the festival. Shi has produced The Missing, Dragon Tiger Gate and Seven Swords.

Ms Stewart described the trio as "world-class filmmakers who bring a compelling range of sensibilities and expertise to the jury".