Axelle Ropert (Miss and the Doctors) and Mikhail Red (Rekorder) share the Vancouver International Film Festival's first ever Best New Director Award.

The prize was announced prior to the screening of Welcome to Me at the Playhouse on Thursday (October 2), selected by a jury including Georgia Straight contributor Kim Linekin (along with Ben Gibson of Australia's National Film School, and the "godfather of repertory cinema", Roland Smith).

A special mention was also extended to Marcelo Tobar for the film, Asteroid. 

There were 11 films nominated in total:

Asteroid, Director Marcelo Tobar (Mexico)
August Winds, Director Gabriel Mascaro (Brazil)
Exit, Director Chienn Hsiang (Taiwan)
Miss and the Doctors, Director Axelle Ropert (France)
Ow, Director Suzuki Yohei (Japan) 
Paris of the North, Director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sugurdsson (Iceland)
Rekorder, Director Mikhail Red (Philippines) 
The Sun, the Moon and the Hurricane, Director Andri Cung (Indonesia)
The Womb, Director Daniel Rodriguez Risco (Peru)
Two Step, Director Alex Johnson (USA)
Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind, Director Richie Adams (USA)

Rekorder screens at Cinematheque, October 2 (12 p.m.); Asteroid screens at International Village tonight (9:30 p.m.) and October 4 (11:15 a.m.), and at Cinematheque, October 7 (4:15 p.m.); Miss and the Doctors has completed its VIFF run.