Paweł Łoziński is a Polish director, cameraman and producer. Author of more than 20 award-winning documentary films at international festivals. His films such as Birthplace, Sisters, Chemo, Father and Son, You Have No Idea How Much I Love You are considered innovative as they venture into new thematic areas and explore uncharted spaces within the documentary film genre. His latest The Balcony Movie gathered many awards, including the Grand Prix for International Documentary at Fipadoc 2022.
FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CLOSE UP | BELGIUM - ISRAËL
SIGAL YEHUDA
Sigal Yehuda is the Founder & Executive Director of Close Up, an independent international NGO based in Brussels that provides training and mentorship to emerging documentary filmmakers. She was involved in the development of highly acclaimed international award-winning documentaries such as Five Broken Cameras, Midnight Traveler, Hollywoodgate, or Q. Sigal serves as a Selection committee member, pitching forum trainer, and Jury member in various cinema foundations and Film festivals.
FILMMAKER | ITALY - UNITED STATES
MO SCARPELLI
Mo Scarpelli is an Italian American director, producer, and cinematographer of mostly non-fiction cinema. Her work centers on the rupture of identity by rapidly changing landscapes, and the use of myth and destiny to survive. Her filmography includes El Father Plays Himself (Visions du Réel, 2020), Anbessa (Berlinale, 2019), and Frame by Frame (SXSW, 2015). She is currently in production on her latest documentary feature Faith, while developing her debut fiction feature, A Song That Slays.
Grand Prix for French Documentary Jury
RADIO PRODUCER | FRANCE
CHRISTINE MASSON
Christine Masson is a film journalist. She notably worked for Le Journal du cinéma on Canal+, created and presented the Auteur, auteur series on CinéCinéma, and directed several documentaries (on European cinema, Abel Ferrara, Dogma…). She is also the producer of the podcast J’étais dans le film on France Inter. Since 2007, she has produced and presented On aura tout vu, France Inter’s cinema magazine, with Laurent Delmas.
FILMMAKER AND PHOTOGRAPHER | FRANCE
GUILLAUME RIBOT
Filmmaker, screenwriter and photographer, Guillaume Ribot has directed documentaries such as The Black Book, Laurier Documentaire 2020, and Seeds of Hunger – Ukraine 1933, winner of the French Documentary Grand Prix at Fipadoc 2023. With a passion for archive images, he tries to tell the history of 20th century through singular destinies, with a particular interest in defeated intelligences.
CONSULTANT AND PRODUCER | GERMANY
MARTIN PIEPER
Martin Pieper grew up in Tunisia and Ivory Coast. From 2000 to 2023, he was responsible at ZDF for more than 400 documentaries aired at Arte, many of which won awards. He was a member of the award committee of the Baden-Württemberg Film Fund, and has taken part as an expert in various workshops, training programs, juries, etc. He now works for Gebrueder Beetz in Berlin as a consultant and producer for international co-productions.
Grand Prix for Musical Documentary Jury
COMPOSER AND PRODUCER | FRANCE
ISSAM KRIMI
Issam Krimi is a pianist, composer, and music producer. His unique style is a synthesis of his classical training, his jazz background, and his pop and hip-hop culture. He has worked with some of the biggest rap and hip-hop artists: Ninho, Soprano, IAM, MC Solaar, Bigflo & Oli, SCH, Gazo, Oxmo Puccino, Gaël Faye. He is also a composer for theater and film, and a creator and producer of audiovisual works, and has worked with Wajdi Mouawad, Omar Sy and Sofiane Zermani.
FILMMAKER, EDITOR AND PRODUCER | BELGIUM
JOACHIM THÔME
Joachim Thôme directed Lost Harmonies about Belgian composer Albert Huybrechts in 2014 and co-directed with Jérôme Laffont The Temptation of Reality in 2020. He is currently finishing a documentary on Renaissance composer Roland de Lassus. He also regularly makes films about musicians and for the theater. He founded Les Productions du Verger with Jérôme Laffont and teaches at INSAS.
JOURNALIST AND RADIO PRODUCER | FRANCE
ZOÉ SFEZ
Trained as a singer, Zoé Sfez worked for RFI and France Musique before joining France Culture in 2014. For seven years, she followed cultural industry news for Le Journal de la culture, and then Soft Power, and conducted major interviews for Les Masterclasses and À voix nue. Since 2021, she has been producing La Série musicale, a weekly programme and podcast devoted to music in all its forms.
Grand Prix Documentaire Impact
FILMMAKER | FRANCE
ERIC GUÉRET
Eric Gueret has been making documentary films for television and cinema since 1992. In the tradition of direct cinema, he mostly films alone, in the heart of intimacy, in total immersion with his characters. For very long periods of time, he shared the daily life of Greenpeace activists, pesticide-affected farmers, threatened factories, abused women or hospital teams… his uncommented documentaries tell the story of struggles on social and environmental issues.
JOURNALIST & FILMMAKER | FRANCE
ANNE POIRET
Anne Poiret is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, and writer based in Paris. She won the 2022 International Emmy Award for Best Documentary and in France in 2007, she received the Albert Londres Prize. Her work focuses on topics related to situations of no-war/no-peace, exploring the aftermath of armed conflicts, the human and political consequences of wars, and the actions of the United Nations and INGO. To further pursue this line of thought, she founded a production house, After War.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SIMA STUDIOS | UNITED STATES - GERMANY
DANIELA KON LIEBERBERG
Daniela Kon Lieberberg is a global media executive, educator and veteran impact producer working at the intersection of human rights, community development and non-fiction storytelling for over two decades. She is the founder of the Social Impact Media Awards and SIMA Studios, an award-winning global media agency that created a new paradigm for merit, distribution, and impact of social issue documentaries, and serves creative, social justice and academic industries in 100+ countries.
Short Films Documentary Award Jury
FILMMAKER & PRODUCER | ITALY
LUCA BEDINI
Luca Bedini (1981) is a director, producer, and owner of Taiga, an Italian company that produces television documentaries, and Pongofilms, a company specializing in corporate films. His works include AIDS – La nostra Battaglia (History Channel) and Jihad Summer Camp, shown at various international festivals including in the short film competition of Fipadoc 2022.
AUTHOR & FILMMAKER | FRANCE
RAPHAËL MEYSSAN
Raphaël Meyssan has produced The Damned of the Paris Commune as a comic strip (Éditions Delcourt, 2017-2019) and as a film (Arte France – Cinétévé, 2021). Unable to draw, he conceived his comic with 19thcentury engravings, then developed his process in the form of an animated film. He won the History Prize “Galons de la BD” (French Ministry of Defense in 2021), the Audiovisual Laurel for best documentary, an Étoile by LaScam and the Audience award at the festival Vrai de Vrai (2022).
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE SHORT FILM CONFERENCE | LATVIA
LAUMA KAUDZITE
Lauma Kaudzite is managing director of the Short Film Conference, the only international organization seeking to unite the global short film community. She is also coordinator of European Short Pitch, as well as the short film programme manager at Riga International Film Festival. Additionally, Lauma is a coordinator at Latvian Animation Association and manages industry events in 2ANNAS, short film festival in Latvia.
New Talent Award Jury
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF IDFA | NETHERLAND - CHILE
ISABEL ARRATE FERNANDEZ
Isabel Arrate Fernandez finished her MA in Film Studies from the University of Amsterdam in 1996, and worked in festival production, programming and film financing before joining IDFA to head the IDFA Bertha Fund. Since 2020 she is the deputy director of IDFA in charge of the
Filmmaker Support department, as such she oversees the Talent Development programs.
FILMMAKER | ITALY
GIANLUCA MATARRESE
Gianluca Matarrese is an Italian director based in Paris. Over the past five years he has directed eight films that have toured numerous international festivals (Mostra di Venezia, IDFA, Thessaloniki, CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, DMZ, Torino Film Festival, Visions du Réel, Festival dei Popoli), often supported by broadcasters such as France Télévisions and Arte. His main titles are: Everything Must Go, The Last Chapter, Fashion Babylon, A Steady Job, Les beaux parleurs,
The Zola Experience.
EDITOR & FILMMAKER | FRANCE
QUTAIBA BARHAMJI
Qutaiba Barhamji is an award-winning film director and editor. He has edited over 50 films in 22 languages, shown around the world at festivals such as Cannes Film Festival, Sundance, Venice Film Festival, IDFA. These include Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege (2021), How to Save a Dead Friend (2022) and Four Daughters (2023), winner of L’Œil d’or at Cannes Film Festival. As a director, his first feature documentary film Gevar’s Land won l’Étoile de LaScam in 2022.
SMART Award Jury
HEAD OF XR MARKET AT THE NEWIMAGES FESTIVAL | TAIWAN
ELLEN KUO
Ellen Kuo is the Head of XR Market at the NewImages Festival in Paris. She works closely with industry professionals to facilitate co-production and co-financing for immersive projects in development, as well as finished content for distribution. She is also an experienced XR producer and programmer, with a focus on exhibitions and art museums.
FILMMAKER & PRODUCER | BELGIUM
MARC-HENRI WAJNBERG
Marc-Henri Wajnberg is a screenwriter, director and producer. His productions are eclectic: he has produced 2,700 very short films, including the Clap series (1,200 × 8 seconds), and co-produced Lars Von Trier and Jørgen Leth’s The Five Obstructions (2003). He has directed and produced numerous multi awarded documentaries, short films and dramas: Just Friends (1993), Kinshasa Kids (2012), the documentary I am Chance (2022) and the VR film Kinshasa Now (2020, 44 selections and 18 awards).
ARTIST & FILMMAKER | ITALY
SARA TIRELLI
Sara Tirelli is an Italian artist and filmmaker based in Venice. She has held various panels about her research within immersive storytelling such as “Bodies, Movement and AI in VR” at Goldsmiths University of London and “Future Narrative” with Laurie Anderson at Film Festival Gothenburg. She is currently the Director of CSC Immersive Arts – A Centre for The Expanded Moving Image, a new department of Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia entirely dedicated to XR media.
Michel Mitrani Discovery Award Jury
FRANCE TÉLÉVISIONS
MATTHIEU BRIÈRE
Matthieu Brière joined France Télévisions in 2013 in the digital department. Since 2019, he has been overseeing documentary projects, notably focusing on those targeting young adults (France.tv Slash). His areas of expertise lie within investigation, pop culture, and sports.
SCAM
PATRICK JEUDY
Patrick Jeudy is a director with a passion for contemporary history and the great figures of the 20th century. He specializes in archive-based documentaries, and has directed nearly a hundred films, broadcast in some sixty countries. He is best known for his films about the Kennedy family, but has also made films about Richard Nixon, General De Gaulle, Poulidor, Robert Capa, Marilyn Monroe, Romy Schneider, Gérard Philippe, Adamo and Amanda Lear.
SACEM
ANNE DORR
Anne Dorr enjoys telling true stories, those that fill the heart with wonder, make the eyes shine and have an impact on our society through the actions of the protagonists. Light and shadow, that’s our world. In her work as a documentary filmmaker, Anne Dorr likes to play on these contrasts to highlight the diversity and beauty of a committed life. She loves making films that enchant the world. She was awarded a Grand Prix Sacem in 2013.
PROCIREP
FÉLICIE ROBLIN
Félicie Roblin started out at TF1 as a society journalist in Pascale Breugnot’s magazine unit, before moving on to France 3 where she worked on Christine Ockrent’s magazine, France Europe Express. After a spell at Morgane Production, she joined Zadig Productions in 2003. Now a partner, she produces documentaries on social issues, culture, and history, regularly selected and awarded at international festivals such as the Cannes Film Festival, IDFA, Hot Docs, etc.
CINÉ+ Award Jury
Head of Ciné+
BRUNO DELOYE
Bruno Deloye has participated in documentary co-productions for 20 years. He began his career at Région Câble as deputy director for development, and in 1991 launched France’s first pay-per-view channel. In 1995, he joined MCM Euromusique for the creation and launch of the channel Muzzik before moving, in 2000, to Canal + Thématique. There, he worked as director of Cinéclassic (in France, Italy, and Spain, successively). Today, he directs the Ciné + Club and Ciné + Classic channels.
FILM CRITIC | FRANCE
CHARLES TESSON
Charles Tesson is the vice-president of the French Film Critic’s Union. He has been the Artistic Director of Critic’s Week at Cannes Film Festival from 2012 to 2021. He has been editor-in-chief of Cahiers du cinéma (1998-2003), where he started as film critic in 1979. He was professor in cinema at University of Sorbonne Nouvelle. He wrote several books and essays: Satyajit Ray, Luis Buñuel, El from Luis Buñuel, Photogénie de la Série B, Théâtre et cinéma, and Akira Kurosawa.
ACTRESS | FRANCE
FRANÇOISE LEBRUN
Françoise Lebrun is best known for her role as Veronika in Jean Eustache’s cult film The Mother and the Whore (1973). She has appeared in over fifty feature films, including several by Michèle Rosier, Paul Vecchiali, Christophe Lamotte and Guillaume Nicloux. More recently,
she has worked with Arnaud Desplechin, Gaspar Noé and Michel Gondry. She has also made
a documentary, Crazy Quilt, a road movie in which she sets off to meet her English pen pal.
PFDM Award Jury
COMPOSER | FRANCE
AXELLE RENOIR
After starting out as a singersongwriter with three albums for Warner and a nomination at the Victoires de la Musique, Axelle Renoir composes for the cinema (Pretty Things, Gangster, 36th Precinct, Cheba Louisa), and since 2015 for television, notably for the series Cassandre (30x90’) or Manipulations (6x52’). In recent years, she has been composing more and more music for documentaries such as La V e, une constitution sur mesure? or the collection Il était une loi (5x52’).
CONSUTANT & MEDIA EXPERT | FRANCE
GUÉNAËLLE TROLY
After five years as head of programming and content of the Fox Group’s documentary channels in France (Nat Geo Wild and Voyage), she went on to set up and run the television channels RMC Découverte, RMC Story and Altice studio, and to organize the production company RMC Prod. Since 2021 she has been working with media and production companies.
PRODUCER | FRANCE
CANDICE SOUILLAC
Candice Souillac learnt her trade at the Capa agency, before becoming a producer at Éléphant & Cie and managing subsidiaries in the Endemol and Lagardère groups. In 2007 she joined forces with Joan Faggianelli to become manager and producer at J2F Production, where she has produced numerous documentaries, most recently The Water Guardians (4x52’), winner of the Prince Rainier III Special Prize at the Monte-Carlo Festival 2022, and La Brigade Extraordinaire, winner of the French Society Special Prize at the Luchon Festival 2023.
FILMMAKER | FRANCE - UNITED-STATES
SABRINA VAN TASSEL
Sabrina Van Tassel is a FrancoAmerican filmmaker. Over the past twenty years, she has produced more than 40 committed reports and documentaries. Her work takes an uncompromising look at today’s world. Her latest film, The State of Texas vs. Melissa, helped save a woman from execution in Texas. The film has been selected and won awards at numerous international festivals, including the PFDM Prize for the best French director at Fipadoc 2021.
