Following a degree in economic arbitration from Sciences Po in Paris, Charles Hembert first worked both in the Court of Cassation and the City Hall of Paris before being hired as Director of Publications for Blaq Out in 2012. Following the purchase of Blaq Out by Le Meilleur du Cinéma (UniversCiné) in 2014, he became their Director of Publications. Hembert also teaches video (physical and digital) economics in several film schools, and is a member of the National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image’s committee for audiovisual documentary innovation aid.
Filmmaker
SHOLA LYNCH
An acclaimed filmmaker, she makes films about audacious women, and in particular black women. She is best known for her documentaries, Chisholm '72 - Unbought & Unbossed and Free Angela & All Political Prisoners. She is working on her first scripted film. She is also the Curator for the Moving Image & Recorded Sound Division archive at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library. She believes in the value of preserving history and its power in storytelling.
Journalist
LEENA PASANEN
Leena started as a political journalist (Finnish News Agency, YLE), then worked as Head of documentaries for YLE TV1 and YLE Teema programmes. In 2005 she became Director of EDN. From 2011 to 2014, she worked in Budapest, leading the Finnish Institute and also serving as cultural attaché at the Finnish Embassy. She is currently Managing and Artistic Director of DOK Leipzig, and will take over Biografilm Festival in Bologna in 2020.
FRENCH DOCUMENTARY
Journalist, Writer
JEAN-MARIE DURAND
Freelance journalist Jean-Marie Durand was deputy editor-in-chief of Inrockuptibles in charge of the Media, Ideological Debate, and Art sections from 1997 to 2018. Current clients include France Culture and The Art News Paper. He has an appreciation for the inventive work of documentary filmmakers, and defends the notion of creative television. His published essays include Le Cool dans nos veines, histoire d’une sensibilité (Robert Laffont, 2015); 1977, année électrique (Robert Laffont, 2017).
Writer, director
DOMINIQUE GROS
Dominique Gros has directed more than 30 documentaries for Arte and France Télévisions. Her first, Simone et Jacqueline: une resolution, won the 1983 Télévision Scam-SGDL Creation Award. Earning a Villa Médicis Hors les Murs grant in 1985, she directed La Mort du bœuf, shown at International Film Festival Rotterdam, followed by Julie, itinéraire d'une enfant du siècle (1996, Cinéma du Réel, winner of the Scam International Prize and the Bibliothèques Award), Au nom de Marie (2012, winner of a Scam étoile), and L’Honneur de vivre (2015). She also writes for theatre.
Director
MEHRAN TAMADON
Iranian architect and director Mehran Tamadon produced his first documentary Behesht Zahra, shot in a Tehran cemetery, in 2004. There, he discovered an alien universe of religion and met numerous advocates for an Islamic Republic in Iran. Consequently, he made the films Bassidji (2009) and Iranien (2014), his recorded attempts at having a dialogue with those who support Iran’s regime. He is currently working on two feature-length films, a documentary, and a TV drama.
MUSICAL DOCUMENTARY
Director, producer
PASCALE CUENOT
In addition to her work as an artistic director, Pascale Cuenot dedicated herself very early in her career to writing and directing numerous short films and documentaries. In 2008, she founded Prelight Films, directing the company’s documentary department. She developed a collection of documentaries on film composers, and, in 2015, produced another collection of six documentaries entitled Paper Screen, examining the origins and the impact of great novels adapted for cinema.
Producer, director
VALLI
Valli moved to France in May 1981 after studying film at New York University. As part of the band Chagrin d’Amour, she made a grand entrance into the world of music with their single Chacun Fait (c’qui lui plaît). In 1985, she became involved in the media, working alongside Alain Chabat on Canal+. She began a radio career in 1992 and presented music programmes on France Inter from 2002 to 2018. Passionate about the history of rock ’n’ roll, she has directed several hundred radio “rockumentaries”.
Composer
REINHARDT WAGNER
Following numerous first-place awards from the Paris Conservatoire, Reinhardt Wagner began composing for film, theatre, and television in 1984 and has since written over 60 pieces for cinema and stage productions. For theatre, he co-wrote the opera buffa René l’Enervé with Jean-Michel Ribes, and is currently adapting Poil de carotte for an opera directed by Zabou Breitman. Wagner has won many awards, and has been nominated twice for an Oscar. In 2008, he was made a Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
IMPACT DOCUMENTARY
Creation, production and distribution manager – ALCA Nouvelle-Aquitaine
NOEMIE BENAYOUN
Following studies in Film History, and Cultural and Documentary Engineering, Noémie Benayoun helped create the Espace Histoire-image (Audiovisual History Space) in Pessac in 2003, giving pride of place to documentary and to film history. In 2012, she joined the regional agency ECLA Aquitaine (now ALCA Nouvelle-Aquitaine) to manage the financial aid and assistance fund helping professionals from the early writing stages of their projects. Ms. Benayoun is also a regular speaker at training courses and industry events.
Producer
FELICIE ROBLIN
Producer at Zadig since 2004, Félicie Roblin has produced over 50 documentaries: examining society (Dans le ventre de l’hôpital, by Jérôme le Maire for ARTE; La Gueule de l’emploi, by Didier Cros for France 2), history (T4, un médecin sous le nazisme by Catherine Bernstein for France 3), and culture (Il est minuit, Paris s’éveille, by Yves Jeuland for ARTE), all of which were created by respected writers and are regularly shortlisted or awarded prizes at the world’s largest festivals.
Head of the music and film at the Biarritz Médiathèque
MARION SIBERS
Trained in audiovisual documentation, Marion Sibers joined the team at the Biarritz Mediatheque in 2006 as part of the Image department which focuses on media education. In 2011, she was made head of the mediatheque’s Music and Film department.
MITRANI
ADAMI
JEAN-PAUL TRIBOUT
Famous for his role as Inspector Gustave Pujol in the television series The Tiger Brigades, Jean-Paul Tribout is also a stage director and manager of the Sarlat Theatre Festival.
France Télévisions (FR)
Renaud ALLILAIRE
PROCIREP
BLANCHE GUICHOU
Producer for more than 60 documentaries championing hybrid and creative writing styles, Blanche Guichou believes in transmitting knowledge and is involved in training young writers and community service projects.
SACEM
REMY GRUMBACH
He has directed countless television programmes, playing a major role in the history of French television. He is a Knight of the Ordre of Arts and Letters in France and vice-president of SACEM’s Board of Directors.
SCAM
BRIGITTE CHEVET
Journalist by training, Brigitte Chevet has directed more than a dozen TV documentaries: environmental investigations, archival films, stories about women, and portraits. She lives in Brittany and is director of SCAM (Civil Society of Multimedia Authors).
ERASMUS+
Journalist, writer
ERWAN DESPLANQUES
After graduating from the École supérieure of journalism (ESJ) in Lille, Erwan Desplanques spent 15 years as a documentary critic and reporter at Télérama. Since 2017, he has lived in the Landes region, running photography and image-appreciation courses through the organization Troisième Session. He is also a freelance journalist, contributor to the Culture section of the Sud-Ouest newspaper, and author of two novels and a collection of short stories, all published by Éditions de l'Olivier.
Director
SEBASTIAN MAYR
He studied communication science and started working as an assistant for film productions. Following his year abroad with Erasmus in Malaga, he worked in Munich as script/continuity for feature films. He then started studying directing under Michael Haneke in Vienna in 2009. In 2013 he received an honorary prize for filmmaking from the city of Salzburg. He is enrolled in the Master program at Filmakademie Vienna since 2016. His last short films were selected in numerous international film festivals.
Producer
MARTINE VIDALENC
Martine Vidalenc began her career in 1995 alongside Chantal Akerman, Fernando Solanas, and Bertrand van Effenterre, whom she assisted for several years. After gradually working her way up in various cinema and audiovisual production companies, she started producing her own films, first in the greater Paris region, and then in Nouvelle-Aquitaine where, in 2010, she founded Marmitafilms, a production house for new and unique artistic talent.
