Editor

Three prominent film personalities will form the jury for the Iris of Tomorrow for best first or second film in the Competition, Latin Universe and Planet Earth categories of the New Montreal FilmFest. Due to the number of films entered, the award will go to a film having its world or international premiere at the festival, which runs from September 18 to 25.
Headed by Chinese filmmaker Yon Fan, the jury also includes Chilean director-producer Alex Bowen and Quebec film critic Francine Laurendeau.

A colourful figure and unconventional presence on the Chinese film scene, Yon Fan (full name Yang Man-Shih Yonfan) studied film in Europe and the U.S. before returning to Hong Kong, where he is pursuing parallel careers as a director (12 films to his credit) and as a photographer. A recipient of the French Legion of Honour for his contribution to the oriental art collections in French museums, Yon Fan is an expert in classical Chinese art, calligraphy and music. The breadth of his art is displayed in the film that will show at the NMFF, Colour Blossoms which is inspired by an opera by Tang Hsien-tsu.

Born in Chile in 1968, Alex Bowen studied film direction and production at that country's INCACEA institute. He has founded several scriptwriting workshops together with David Vera Meiggs, as well as a cinematography workshop with Hector Rios. In 1988, Alex entered the Filmcentro as a production assistant and in subsequent years produced and directed commercials. In 1998, he wrote and directed his first feature-length production, Campo Minado. He set up his own production house, Alce Producciones, in 1999. His firm took part in launching TV MOBIL, the first closed-circuit television channel broadcast from an inter-city bus traveling throughout Chile.

Well-known Quebec film figure Francine Laurendeau first worked at the daily Le Devoir as a film critic for 17 years. She also served for eight years as director and host of the program À l’écran on Radio-Canada's cultural channel. Currently, she is a film critic for the magazine Séquences and collaborates on Radio Centre-Ville's weekly show Derrière l’image.

The 12 films competing for the Iris of Tomorrow:
Official Competition:
L'audition by Luc Picard (Canada)
Ahnnyeong Hyeong-An (Little Brother) by Im Tai-hyung (South Korea)
Polumgla by Artem Antonov (Russia, Germany)
Su-Ki-Da by Hiroshi Ishikawa (Japan)
Latin Universe:
Les moutons de Jacob by Jean-François Pothier (Canada)
500 Almas (500 Souls) by Joel Pizzini (Brazil)
La suerte está echada (La comédie de la malchance) by Sebastian Borensztein (Argentina)
Arizona sur by Miguel Angel Rocca, Daniel Pensa (Argentina)
Ça m'est égal si demain n'arrive pas by Guillaume Malandrin (Belgium)
Ordinary Man by Vincent Lanoo (Belgique, France)
Planet Earth:
Nam genkilloy (Antarctic Journal) by Phil-Sung Yim (South Korea)
Hyeoleui Nu (Blood Rain) by Kim Dae-seung (South Korea)