JURIES
2005
2005
FEATURE COMPETITION JURY
ATOM EGOYAN
Canada
Born in 1960 in Cairo to Armenian parents, he was raised in Western Canada. Studied International Relations and Music at the University of Toronto where he began making short films. He won attention at the Sundance FF for earlier work, then broke through critically and commercially with The Sweet Hereafter (1997). Three time Cannes IFF winner and the best, since Sergei Parajanov, filmmaker of Armenian ethnicity, Oscar-nominated master of cinema, has collected four awards from the Toronto IFF. A seven-time recipient of Canada's top Genie Awards, he is one of the most remarkable figures of contemporary independent filmmaking. Returned to his ethnic "homeland" when he filmed Calendar (1993) in Armenia. Winner, Golden Apricot Award for Ararat at 1st Yerevan IFF (2004).
SIMON FIELD
UK
Worked for many years as a freelance writer, lecturer on cinema before becoming Director of Cinema at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1988. For eight years he programmed the ICA's two cinemas and ran their film distribution company, ICA Projects. He left ICA to become the Director of the Rotterdam IFF in 1996, where he remained until 2004. He is currently the director of the London Production Company Illuminations Films.
DEBORAH YOUNG
Italy/USA
She is an American film critic, screenwriter and filmmaker based in Rome. As a long-time film reviewer for Variety, she has written extensively on the cinema of Italy, Iran, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Brazil and Argentina. She has programmed films for the Venice FF, the Taormina FF and New Italian Cinema Events (NICE). She is currently a programming consultant for the Tribeca FF. The Tour, a short feature she wrote and directed, premiered at Venice in 2002.
JOS STELLING
Netherlands
Born in 1945 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. He studied Fine Arts and Graphics. Jos Stelling's first feature Mariken van Nieumeghen was selected for the Cannes Film Festival in 1975. He has also been awarded many international and national prizes: four Golden Calves in The Netherlands, a Golden Rose in Montreux, two Golden Gryphons and the prize of the city of St. Petersburg. In 1999 Stelling received a lifetime achievement award in Waterville, Maine (USA), and in 2001 an award of the Association of Czech film clubs for major achievement in world cinema. The Gas Station was awarded the Grand Prix of the Mediawave Festival in Gyor, Hungary in May 2001. Jos Stelling is the owner of an art house cinema. For his cultural achievements, Jos Stelling has received the royal decoration of Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion.
EDUARDO ANTIN (QUINTIN)
Argentina
Born in 1951 in Buenos Aires. He was trained as a mathematician and worked as such among, other activities (football referee, computer programmer, philosophy student). Turned film critic in 1991 when he co-founded the monthly film magazine El Amante del Cine. He also wrote for several media in Argentina and abroad. Founder of the Argentinean branch of "Beautiful Armenians" FIPRESCI in 1997 and its first president. From 2001 to 2004 he was the director of the Buenos Aires Independent IFF.
DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION JURY
JEAN - PIERRE REHM
France
Critic of art and cinema. Studied art and film at various schools and later served in the French Ministry of Culture. He has been a curator at several exhibitions of contemporary art in France, as well as overseas, such as Egypt and Japan. He regularly writes reviews of films and exhibitions and takes part in the creation of catalogues. He is currently working as a member of the magazine Cahiers de Cinema. For the last three years he has also been the director of the International Festival of Documentaries in Marseille (FID Marseille).
GARY CONKLIN
USA
Born in 1932, in Fresno. He is of Armenian descent (Chankalian). Studied Film and History at the University of Southern California and Paris University. He is a well known documentarist. Author of ten documentaries.
FLAVIA DE LA FUENTE
Argentina
Born in 1959 in Buenos Aires. Graduated in Education, worked as a teacher, translator, computer programmer and desktop publisher among other jobs, before becoming a film critic. In 1991, she co-founded the monthly film magazine El Amante del Cine where she was an editor until 2004. From 2000 to 2004 she worked as programmer and programming manager of the Buenos Aires Independent IFF.
RUBEN GEVORGYANTS
Armenia
Born in 1945 in Yerevan. He graduated in 1969 from the Directing Department of the Yerevan Theatre Institute. Since graduation he has worked in the Yerevan Documentary Studio (now "Haik" Studio) and became the studio's director in 1989. He is a professor at the Yerevan Theatre and Cinema Institute. He is currently a member of the International Academy of Television and Radio, the President of the Armenian National Academy of Cinema and Theatre, and the President of the Union of Cinemamakers of Armenia. He is the author of about 60 documentaries and feature films.
PETER WINTONICK
Canada
Born in 1953. Graduated from Algonquin College's Film Production Centre, Ottawa. He worked as a university lecturer in Film Studies and Film Theory at Concordia University, Montreal and is a regular guest lecturer at universities around the world. He has been a producer, director, critic, and co-founder of one of the first global internet sites for independent film (The Virtual FF). He is most noted for co-producing and directing with Mark Achbar one of the most successful documentaries in Canadian history - Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media - which won 22 awards in more than 50 IFF. President of his production company, Necessary Illusions Canada. He regularly contributes to numerous international cinema magazines and is an advisor to a range of events and institutions, including Amsterdam's IDFA, Montreal New Cinema and New Media Festival, the Berlinale and the Buenos Aires IFF of Independent Film.