- Juries
Concorso internazionale
Note: the jury members' films are presented in the "Programmi speciali" section.
Go to the film selection
Eric Khoo
President of the jury - Filmmaker, Singapore
Eric Khoo was born in Singapore in 1965. His first feature film Mee Pok Man (1995), won prizes at Fukuoka, Pusan and Singapore. His second feature 12 Storeys (1997) was the first Singaporean film to be invited officially to participate in the Cannes Film Festival. Eric Khoo also produced 15 (2003) directed by Royston Tan. His TV work includes being executive producer of Drive (1998) a serie, and Seventh Month (2004). In 2004 Eric directed his third feature Be With Me, which was selected as the opening film for the Directors’ Fortnight Cannes 2005. His latest feature film, My Magic, was selected for Cannes official selection. Eric is currently directing an animation film based on works and life of Japanese mangaka, Yoshihiro Tatsumi.
Golshifteh Farahani
Actress, Iran
Born in 1983 in Teheran, Golshifteh Farahani made her film début when she was fourteen, in Dariush Mehrjui’s The Pear Tree (1998). The international audience discovered her in 2003 in Mamad Haghighat’s Two Angels. Other credits include Hamid Nematollah’s Boutique (2003) and Bahman Ghobadi’s Niwemang (2006). She saw her international reputation soar with Body of Lies (2008), a Ridley Scott thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio; and became the first star since the 1979 Islamic revolution to make it to Hollywood. This displeased the Iranian authorities who, in August 2008, put a temporary ban on her leaving the country. In 2009, she starred in Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly.
Melvil Poupaud
Actor, Francia
Born in 1973 in Paris, Melvil Poupaud began his acting career in Raoul Ruiz’ La Ville des pirates (1983). Jacques Doillon’s La Fille de quinze ans (1989) and Laurence Ferreira Barbosa’s Les gens normaux n’ont rien d’exceptionnel (1993) both won him César nominations. In 1995, he once again worked with Raoul Ruiz on Trois vies et une seule mort then Généalogies d’un crime (1996) and Marcel Proust’s Time Regained (1998). He has filmed with numerous directors, including Eric Rohmer, Conte d’été (1996), James Ivory, Le Divorce (2003), Arnaud Desplechin, Un conte de Noël (2008), and François Ozon, Le temps qui reste (2005) and Le Refuge (2009). A filmmaker from an early age, he has directed several short films since 1985 and in 2006 a feature film, Melvil.
Lionel Baier
Filmmaker, Switzerland
Born in 1975, Lionel Baier, a Swiss national of Polish origin, made his first film in 2000, Celui au pasteur (ma vision personnelle des choses), a documentary about his father, a pastor in Vaud. A year later, La Parade (notre histoire) depicted the first gay parade in the Catholic canton of the Valais. Screened at numerous festivals, these films gained him a wide audience. He moved into fiction with Garçon Stupide (Stupid Boy 2004) and Comme des voleurs (à l’est) (Stealth, 2006), critically acclaimed. His third fiction feature, Un autre homme (Another Man, 2008), in competition at Locarno, was released in Europe and Canada. Since 2002, Lionel Baier has taught at the Film Department at Lausanne Art School (ECAL).
Joshua Safdie
Filmmaker, USA
Josh Safdie was born in New York City in 1984. He and his brother, Benny, were constantly at the beck and call of cinema in front of their father’s camera. With friend Alex Kalman, they started Red Bucket Films in 2001 and have gone on to make many short films, books, websites, sculptures, pranks, and features. Josh’s short films, We’re Going To The Zoo, The Back of Her Head and I Think I’m Missing Parts went onto to play many festivals. In 2008, The Pleasure of Being Robbed (his first feature), which garnered awards, was the closing night film of the Directors Fortnight at Cannes and he returned the following year in 2009 to the Quinzaine with Go Get Some Rosemary (aka Daddy Longlegs), which he codirected with his brother Benny Safdie.
