MYRIAM MÉZIÈRES (FRANCE)
President of the International Jury
Born to an Egyptian father and a mother of Czech descent, Myriam Mézières made her film debut at the age of 16, and has worked for directors such as Claude Lelouch, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Andrej Zulawski, Manuel Gómez Pereira, Cesc Gay, Fernando Arrabal, Yves Boisset, Fernando Merinero and Claude Berri. She worked with Alain Tanner on five films, including A Flame in My Heart (1987), for which she co-wrote the screenplay and won the best actress award in Houston, The Diary of Lady M (1993) and Fleurs de sang (2002), which she co-directed. She is the creator of musical shows such as Extraña fruta (Strange Fruit) and Carne y sueños (Flesh and Dreams) and the author of the book El sol tiene una cita con la luna (The Sun Has a Date with the Moon) (Chapiteau, 2018). Her latest work as a director is the short film Tinta (2020).
MARINA PERALES MARHUENDA (SPAIN)
Independent producer born in Cox in 1982 and specialising in international co-productions. Graduated in Audiovisual Communication at the University of Valencia, graduated in production at the Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris at La Fémis (France) and the Filmakademie of Baden-Württemberg (Germany). In 2010, in Paris, she created La Fabrica Nocturna Cinéma in Paris, with which she has produced films selected and awarded at the Cannes, Berlin, Locarno and Rotterdam festivals, among others. She is also an executive producer at Coproduction Office, where she has worked on films by Ruben Östlund, Jessica Hausner and Michelangelo Frammartino, and is a member of the selection committees of the CNC (France), MEDIA and various film schools and institutions.
JEAN-MICHEL BERNARD (FRANCE)
Pianist, composer, educator and producer. Author of soundtracks for films such as The Science of Sleep (Michel Gondry, 2006), Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011), Paris-Manhattan (Sophie Lellouche, 2012) and Be Kind Rewind (Michel Gondry, 2008). He has collaborated with Claude Chabrol, Ray Charles, Lalo Schifrin, Ennio Morricone, Francis Veber, Etienne Chatiliez and Fanny Ardant, among others. His most recent works include Géla Babluani’s Money (Grand Prix at the Brussels Film Festival 2018) and Ballad for a pierced heart (Yannis Economides, 2020), nominated for the Hellenic Film Academy Awards. In 2017 he received the Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Éditeurs de Musique award and has been made a Steinway Artist.
NAJWA NAJJAR (PALESTINE)
Since 2000, she has been exploring different artistic territories as a director and scriptwriter in documentary and fiction films that have participated in festivals such as Berlin, Cannes, Locarno and Sundance. She made her feature debut with Pomegranates and Myrrh (2009), which won an award at San Sebastian, followed by Eyes of a Thief (2014), chosen as a Palestinian candidate for the Oscars. Her third film, Between Heaven and Earth (2019), won the award to the Best Screenplay at Cairo and the Best Actor at the Mostra de València and was shortlisted for the European Film Academy Awards 2020. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of the United States and is currently working on the development of a musical film entitled Kiss of a Stranger.
TAREK BEN CHAABAN (TUNISIA)
Professor of film theory at Carthage University. He has worked as a cultural editor for several newspapers, magazines, and radio programmes. He has been a member of the Sud Ecriture team, which organises writing support workshops for first or second feature films from Sub-Saharan African, Maghreb and Middle Eastern countries. As a scriptwriter, he has collaborated with directors Nawfel Saheb-Ettaba, Ridha Behi, Moufida Tlatli and Mohamed Damak. He has been a programmer at the Carthage Film Festival and currently directs the Tunis Film Library. His latest book, Le cinéma tunisien d’hier et d’aujourd’hui (Tunisian cinema yesterday and today), published by the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image de Tunisie, has been translated into Spanish and Valencian by the Mostra de València.