Celebrated French director Luc Besson will head the jury panel for this year's Shanghai International Film Festival, making him the first foreign director to do so. 　　

Chinese director Feng Xiaogang has been appointed vice chairman of the panel. 　　

The 9th Annual Shanghai International Film Festival held its first press conference in Beijing on May 10th. 　　

Seven other jurors were disclosed yesterday, including Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan, female director Xu Jinglei and British producer Duncan Kenworthy.

The CEO of Shanghai Film Studios, Ren Zhonglun, revealed to sources that Luc Besson had expressed his intent to cooperate with Chinese investment companies for his next film. 　　

The organizers of the event have received a record 702 film applications from 52 different countries and regions. The names of the 17 nominated films, 2 of them from China, will soon be released. 　　

The festival will begin on June 17th in Shanghai.

(CRI May 11, 2006)