JURIES
2007
2007
FEATURE COMPETITION JURY
AN CHEONG-SOOK
South Korea
With a background as a respected journalist on the progressive “Hankyoreh Newspaper” (1987 - 2004), An Cheong-sook was also Editor-in-Chief of Korea's leading film magazine “Cine21”. Previously on the first KOFIC board of commissioners that was instated in 1999, she was also a research fellow at the University of California. Elected chairperson of the new board of commissioners in 2005, An is a member of the Women In Film Korea board of directors as well
BEHROOZ HASHEMIAN
Iran
Born in 1959, has a BA in Film Production from Hunter College City University, NY-USA. Hashemian produced Journey to the Sun (1999), directed by Yesim Ustaoglu. Journey to the Sun received the Blue Angel Prize at the 1999 Berlin International Film Festival; Best Film, Best Director, Fipresci Prize and the Audience Award at the 1999 Istanbul Film Festival, among others. His other films are Summersalt in the Coffin (1997), by Dervis Zaimoglu and Manhatan by Numbers (1993), directed by Amir Naderi.
VLADIMIR MSRYAN
Armenia
Born in 1938 to a family of actors. He was accepted to the Armen Gulakyan studio to study acting at the Yerevan State Institute of Fine Arts in 1958. After graduating in 1963, he started working at the Theatre for Young Audience and then later at the Stanislavsky Russian State Theatre in Yerevan. Since 1964, he has been performing at Yerevan’s Hratchia Ghaplanyan Dramatic Theatre. In 1985 he was deemed worthy for the Armenian Republic Award, and in 1998, he received the “Movses Khorenatsi” medal. He is the bearer of many international honors ad awards for his work in both theatre and film. He really grabbed people’s attention with his performaces of Shakespearean characters such as: Clarence (Richard the 3rd), Hamlet, Julius Caesar. Also his Chekhov performances: Voinitsky (Uncle Vanya), Lopakhin (The Cherry Orchard), Herostratus (Grigory Gorin’s Forget Herostratus). He gained his film attention in Leonid Menaker’s Niccolo Paganini.
DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION JURY
EUGENE CORR
USA
From ages 17-26, Eugene Corr was a factory worker, warehouse man, forklift driver, crane operator, auto, steel, and cannery worker. He started his career in film in 1973 as a member of Cine Manifest, a radical San Francisco film group in the 1970s. A restored print of his first feature, Over-Under, Sideways-Down, screened recently at the Film Anthology Center in NYC. Eugene Corr has broad experience in both fiction and non-fiction filmmaking. He wrote and directed the feature documentary Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey (with Robert Hillmann), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award (1991). He also wrote and directed the dramatic feature film, Desert Bloom (with Jon Voight, AnnaBeth Gish, Sélection Officielle, Cannes IFF, 1986). Corr has worked as a second unit director on major motion pictures (Bull Durham, Cobb), written or co-written dramatic features (Prefontaine, Never Cry Wolf, Wildrose), and written for TV. He has also directed episodic television. His current documentary, Ghost Town to Havana (2015) has been on the festival circuit, winning the Sebastopol Documentary FF Audience Award and the Syracuse IFF Bassel Shehade Award For Social Justice.
TOM FASSAERT
Netherlands
Filmmaker Tom Fassaert (born 1979) grew up in the Netherlands and partly in South Africa. These extreme differences already opened his eyes at a young age. But it was his dad's obsession with making home movies that undoubtedly planted the first seeds that ultimately grew into Fassaert's passion for film. Tom Fassaert debuted with his feature length documentary An Angel in Doel about a small Belgian village threatened with demolition. It premiered at the Berlinale, screened at +50 festivals worldwide and won several international awards. Fassaert's second feature length documentary is A family affair. A film that explores the delicate terrain along the fault lines of his own family. It was the Opening Film of IDFA 2015 where Fassaert also received the prestigious Prins Bernhard Cultuur Fonds Documentary Award for his works. After winning the Special Jury Award at IDFA, the film started its journey to many international festivals and received numerous awards. It recently won the Gouden Kalf (Dutch Academy Award) for best long documentary and is acquired by Netflix to be broadcasted globally. Variety recently named Fassaert ‘One of the Ten Docu-makers to Watch'. Parallel to his passion for filmmaking Tom Fassaert also teaches at international film schools.
MICHELANGELO MESSINA
Italy
Born 1962 in Ischia, Italy. Location manager since 1996 Michelangelo Messina supports and cooperates with several Italian and international film productions. In 2001, he instituted the project Cinema and Territory which aim is to create a commercial dialogue between audiovisual productions and the territory. Since 2003, Messina is the producer and artistic director of the Ischia FF. In 2005, he expanded the project creating the International Exchange of Location and Movie Tourism, the first international appointment for discussion and exchange experience on movie tourism, collaborating with different Italian and international film commissions. In partnership with the BIT (Italian Tourism Exchange) in 2006, Messina commissioned the first Italian study of choosing Italy thought films by the foreign tourists. In 2009, he founded and currently is the Senior President of the permanent scientific observatory on Movie tourism. With the studies and the research collected over the years he collaborates with several Italian Universities on territorial marketing and the impact of audiovisual works on the territory. Since 2005, Messina contributes sharing those experiences and data at the international conferences on the phenomenon of World Movie Induced Tourism. Since 2007, he is a member of the Italian Board of Film Festivals and part of Jury of IFFs.
MIMI GJORGOSKA-ILIEVSKA
Macedonia
Mimi Gjorgoska-Ilievska MA (born 1972) has been involved in the film industry for more than 20 years previously holding the position of a Director of the Cinematheque of Macedonia. She is a national representative of Macedonia in Eurimages (Council of Europe’s European Cinema Support Fund) and was also an active member of the Executive Committee of FIAF (International Federation of Film Archives) and ACE (Association of European Film Archives and Cinematheques). In 2015, Mimi Gjorgoska-Ilievska, was elected as a Director of the Macedonian Film Agency. In 2013, she was re-elected member of the EC of FIAF for a second mandate, and in 2014, she was re-elected for a forth mandate in the EC of ACE. Also, since 2013, she has been focused on developing the Macedonian cinematography, protecting the national film heritage and the strengthening of international relations. As a Director of the Cinematheque, she was focused on the implementation of a new digitization programme aimed at preserving and restoring a range of Macedonian films by prominent film authors. Over the past two decades, Mimi Gjorgoska-Iliveska has been active as a researcher of the audiovisual heritage, as an Eureka Audiovisual expert on the relations of Western Balkan states and the South Eastern Cinema Network member countries. She is the author of numerous publications and articles on film history and theory, film and literature relations and protection of audiovisual heritage. She has been elected Associate professor of Audiovisual Archiving at FDU (Faculty for Dramatic Art) in Skopje, two years ago.
GRIGOR HARUTYUNYAN
Armenia
Director. Born in Yerevan in 1950. In 1975 entered Kh. Abovian Pedagogical Institute, Cinema Faculty, Directing Division (workshop of G. Melik-Avagyan). In 1980 graduated from the Institute and left for Meghri where worked as a director at the local theatre. In 1981-1984 was the director at Yerevan TV Films Studio. In 1987 joined Hayfilm Studio, later worked at Hayk Studio as director of documentary films. In 1988 his film, Theatre Square participated at Sverdlovsk IFF of Non-Feature Films and won the Jury Prize. In 1989 the same film received the Grand Prix at Kiev IFF. In 1990 Harutyunyan was invited to Kiev IFF as a jury member. His works have won several prizes at international film festivals. Has directed over 20 films.
ARMENIAN PANORAMA JURY
NAIRA MURADYAN
Armenia
Born in 1961 in Yerevan. She has graduated from the Fine-Art college after Panos Terlemezyan. From 1980 has worked at “Hayfilm” studio as the artist of cartoon films, then as a director. She was the scenographist of a number of performances in various theatres. Since 2000 has been working at the Television. In 2005 she got award at “Golden Apricot” film festival for the film “The Road”.
HRANT HAKOBYAN
Armenia
Born on May 30, in 1950 in Yerevan. In 1970 entered Armenian Pedagogical Institute after Khachatur Abovyan, the faculty of culture, department of directoring (master: Laert Vagharshyan). In 1974 graduated from the institute and left for the city Ijevan, where between 1974-1979 has organized 14 performances. Between 1979-1988 he worked at “Haykfilm” studio, first as a director assistant, then as a second director. In 1982 he left for Moscow for a probation period at director Ilya Frez. Since 1988 works at “Hayk” film studio. Has shot more than 30 documentary films: “Armenia in occupation”, “Monte”, “Without comments”, “My motherland Armenia”, “The people of the forgotthen Island” etc. He is the authour of a number of TV programs. In 2006 at “Golden Apricot” International Film Festival competition program “Armenian Panorama” his film “The people of the forgotten Island” won the first prize. In the same year at “Kinoshok” International Film Festival of the city Anapa the same film was awarded the first prize in the “Films without Prints” program. In 2006 Romania’s ECO-ETNO-FOLK FILM festival the film “Syunik” from the “My motherland Armenia” film-series won a diplom. Now at “Hayk” film studio is being shot the film “Eternal flight, Hrant Dink”.
ARMAN YERITSYAN
Armenia
Born on July 22, 1975 in Yerevan. In 2001, he graduated from the Kh. Abovyan Pedagogical Institute’s Cultural Faculty’s Film Directing Program (D. Kesayants Studio.) He has worked as a creator/director with “Internews.” He co-founded 2P Studios (1997). He has made over 25 TV-films and over 60 socially conscious ads. His first documentary, “The End” won the second prize at the Saratov Film Festival and he won best director at the “I Am”. His film, “Under the Open Sky” has participated in many festivals and won about 18 awards. His highest awards were received at the Golden Apricot, I Am, and Lavr (Moscow). In Yekateriburg, he earned best cinematography, and at Viborg he won the Sava Kulish medal. His latest works are the documentary “Hello, Fellini” and the TV documentary, “Aram Khachaturyan – More Than Love”. He has trained in Russian State Institute of Cinematography, Moscow State University, and at the company “Internews” in Moscow.
VIGEN CHALDRANIAN
Armenia
Born on December 26, 1955 in Yerevan, Armenia. Having earned a Masters both in Film Direction as well as Theatre, at the beginning of his career he directed and often starred in several feature length and short films as well as a myriad of well-known plays. Since then he has gone on to direct fifteen films which have garnered him more than twenty-five prestigious, international awards, among them the Gold Award at the World Film Festival in Houston, Texas in 1994. Most recently he was honored by the President of the Republic of Armenia with the Movses Khorenatsi award. In 2006 he was awarded the Anahit Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cinematographers’ Guild of Armenia. Among the most prominent of his work are two trilogies. The first, comprised of short films, include April, an acclaimed film with the Armenian Genocide as its subject; Depart, I Must Depart, about the incessant need to search for truth in places which are not our own; and Homeward I Shall Go, a film about the subsequent need to return home (or back into the self)- the only place where truth resides. These were followed by The Voice in the wilderness, Lord Have Mercy (Kyrie Eleison) and Symphony of Silence, which became the first film to be presented to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film by Armenia. The Priestess, his latest work of art, which had its World Premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, marks the first Armenian-American co-production in film history. Chaldranian is known for his peculiar tendency to play more than one role in the creation of his films: he is often the writer, the art director, costume designer, star and producer of the films he directs. Currently, having just completed The Priestess, he has several projects awaiting his attention, one of which is of most value to him- a film about the Armenian Genocide- as, in the year 2015, its 100th anniversary is to be commemorated. With a profound feeling of debt to his roots and his ancestry, his land and its people- and in masterfully wielding his brush to paint his themes in a language which all people can understand and accept as their own- Chaldranian continues to create art which defies boundaries of culture and challenges us to hope, to love and do kindness unto others unconditionally.
JACK BOGHOSSIAN
Argentina
Born in Montevideo(Uruguay), he graduated from “Sagrada Familia”, and majored in English Language at ACUEU. He was also trained as social worker at the Wellfare Minister. He has lived in Buenos Aires (Argentina) since 1978. As an actor he formed himself at the Independent Theater with professors such as Roberto Duran, Agustin Alezzo and Carlos Fernandes.. He has interpreted texts by Chekhov, Shakespeare, Odets, Lorca, Borges among others. He devotes his time to investigation on arts and culture and has taken different courses and seminars around the world. He permanently lectures and writes for different media such “Diario Armenia” from Buenos Aires and others. Actually he is working in two topics “History of Armenian Cinema” and “The Danish presence during the Armenian Genocide” to come out soon.