The Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) has lined up 15 guest programmers for its 15th anniversary, including Quebec director Philippe Falardeau, documentary directors Alanis Obomsawin, Frederick Wiseman and Kim Longinotto; musician Lou Reed; and actor Gael García Bernal.

The festival’s team has invited 15 high-profile figures in the film world to share their favourite documentary, which will be presented in a special section of this year’s RIDM programming.

The other guest programmers are: Laura Poitras, Barbet Schroeder, Agnès Varda, Patricio Guzman, Jia Zhang-ke, Gilles Jacob, Naomi Kawase, Philip Glass and Samira Makhmalbaf.

Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar) chose the Belgian film Une délégation de très haut niveau from Philippe Dutilleul, calling the film “as hilarious as it is frightening.” His chosen documentary follows a Belgian parliamentary delegation on a surreal tour of North Korea.

Jacob, president of the Cannes Festival, selected Dziga Vertov’s Man With A Movie Camera for the way the film “reinvents everything technique allows – or denies – yielding a breathtaking interplay of themes.”

Mexican actor García Bernal, who has a background of documentary production and distribution in Mexico, chose Michael Glawogger’s Megacities, the first part of a trilogy.

The remainder of the guest programmers’ selections will be officially announced on September 17.

RIDM runs from Nov. 7 to 18.