JURIES
2021

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION JURY

KORNÉL MUNDRUCZÓ

Hungary

Kornél Mundruczó was born in Hungary in 1975. PLEASANT DAYS, his first feature film, was awarded the Silver Leopard in Locarno in 2002. His second feature film, JOHANNA- a filmic opera adaptation of the story of Joan of Arc- was presented in Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2005. DELTA was In Competition at Cannes 2008 and was awarded the FIPRESCI prize. In 2010, Tender Son - The Frankenstein project was also presented in Cannes Competition.

KRZYSZTOF GIERAT

Poland

Polish film expert. A graduate of the Jagiellonian University, he studied at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. Joint founder and former head of the Jewish Culture Festival, Graffiti Film Centre and “Film Polski” Foundation. Former Deputy Mayor of the City of Krakow, Director of the Polish State Television Film Agency, General Secretary of the Polish Filmmakers Association. Member of the Polish and European Film Academies. Since 2000, Director of the Krakow Film Festival. Founder and president until 2021 of Krakow Film Foundation, which is the producer of Krakow Film Festival and promoter of Polish documentaries and shorts abroad. Lecturer at the Krakow Academy. Member of numerous film festivals’ juries.

LARISA MALYUKOVA

Russia

Film critic, script-writer, publicist, PhD Columnist of the Russian daily "Novaya Gazette". Member of FIPRESCI and ASIFA. Expert of the Russian Cinema Fund
Regular contributor to Russian newspapers and magazines: "Iskusstvo Kino"/Cinema Art, The Soviet film", “Session”"Izvestia", etc.
Graduated from the State Academy of Theatre Arts in 1980. Doctor of Philosophy 1985 (thesis on interaction of arts: theatre and cinema). Among her books is the study "The 90s. The Cinema We Lost". Numerous awards for professional achievements. Her book “Beyond/Cinema” - awarded the “White Elephant” by the Russian Guild of Film Critics - is the first systematic study of modern Russian animation, its challenges and breakthroughs, its major producers, artists and studios.
Filmopgraphy: "Frida versus Frida", «Diego Rivera in the Land of Bolsheviks", “Look at the Sky!", "Pushkin square", “If not for Kolya Shatrov…” , “German and Carmalita” etc.

FRANÇOIS D’ARTEMARE

France

François d’Artemare established in 1996 the Portuguese film company Filmes do Tejo, nowadays running a library of more than 70 titles and among them many debut films as Margarida Cardoso’s, Serge Trefaut’s, Inês de Medeiros’s and João Salaviza’s. He produced with the Paris-based company - Les Films de l’Après-Midi - he founded in 2001, three features by Manoel de Oliveira: CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, THE ENIGMA (Venice 2007), ECCENTRICITIES OF A BLOND-HAIR GIRL (Berlin 2009), THE STRANGE CASE OF ANGELICA (Un Certain Regard, Cannes 2010)    Les Films de l’Après-Midi has produced and coproduced films from all over the world : Bosnia (SNOW by Aida Begic – Critics’s week Grand Prix Award, Cannes 2008 – CHILDREN OF SARAJEVO – Mention of the Jury Un Certain Regard, Cannes 2012), Angola (THE HERO by Zeze Gamboa – World Cinema Dramatic Jury Prize at Sundance 2005), Portugal (MONTANHA by João Salaviza – Venice 2015 – SAINT GEORGE by Marco Martins – Venice 2016), Romania (ONE FLOOR BELOW by Radu Muntean – Un Certain Regard, Cannes 2015 – ALICE T. – Locarno 2018), Bangladesh (MADE IN BANGLADESH by Rubaiyat Hossein – TIFF 2019), Tunisia (NOURA DREAMS by Hinde Boujemaa – TIFF 2019), France (I WANT TO TALK ABOUT DURAS by Claire Simon – San Sebastian 2021) Les Films de l’Après-Midi is strongly commited to supporting both young and confirmed filmmakers. The company now develops the feature films of Marco Martins, Margarida Cardoso, Angela Schanelec, Meriem Mesraoua…

ROBERT AMIRKHANYAN

Armenia

Amirkhanyan studied composition at the Yerevan State Conservatory, under Edvard Mirzoyan. He has been teaching at the same conservatory since 1969, being the head of the Chair of Music theory (Professor since 1981).  Robert Amirkhanyan has been the music editor of the Armenian National Radio. He also served as the president of the Composers’ Union of Armenia from 1991 to 2013. He created more than 300 songs and vocal series, a concerto for piano and symphony orchestra (1969), ‘Variations for the string quartet’ (First prize at the USSR young composers’ competition , 1969), the operetta ‘From Philistines into the Nobles’ (premiered in 1979), children’s musicales: ‘The Eastern Dentist’ (premiered in 1976); ‘Ding Dong’ (1979), song series «My first word», «The stone» (lyrics by Alicia Kirakosyan), «Memory» (lyrics by Irina Panova), «Yerevan rhapsody» for piano and symphony orchestra (2009), «Cantata of love» for viola, big choir and symphony orchestra (2012), choral songs «The only-begotten- descended from the Father», «Our Father», «Majestic Armenian world», «A promised land». His songs include the well-known «My land-my dream», «An Armenian’s eyes», «You are my song», «Keep smiling», as well as «You, like a star», «Capital city Yerevan», «A sunny rain», «With you, my love», «Two cranes», «Give me, Lord», «My time», «Your melody», «Left in Kars...», «Longing» and more. He composed music for 16 feature and 30 animation films: «The males», «Daddy», «Spring Heghnar», «Sour grape», «Puy-Puy mouse», «Wow, a talking fish!» , etc. His songs gained recognition and were awarded multiple prizes at the international song contests in Berlin, Sopot, Sochi, Belgrade, among others. He is the author of the Armenian Army’s anthem, and was also commissioned to compose the anthem of the German city of Lorsch for its 1200th birthday celebration in 2013. He has published 6 original work compilations.
Amirkhanyan is a Merited (1984) and People’s (1986) Artist of Armenia, and was awarded The RA State Prize (2011), The St. Mesrop Mashtots (1998) and The Honorary (2017) Orders of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the Russian Federation Government’s «Federation Star» (2010) Order .

APRICOT STONE JURY

ROMANNA LOBACH

Greece

Romanna Lobach graduated with a BA in acting from the Drama School of Athens Conservatory in 2013. She started her career as an actress when she was only 11 years old and up until now she has acted in over 20 short and feature films that premiered in festivals at Cannes, Venice, Rotterdam and New York, among others. She has been awarded for her performance in the films “OLLA” by Ariane Labed in 2019 and “4 March” by Dimitris Nakos in 2015 in festivals in Greece and abroad. She has worked as a copywriter in the advertising company McCann Athens and she has been collaborating with various production companies working in different key positions in production. In 2018 she founded the creative company AKRAN and works as a producer and creative director for advertising. She is a Berlinale and Sarajevo Talents alumna, a Locarno Industry Days alumna and a member of the Hellenic Film Academy.

PHILIPPE JALLADEAU

France

Founder of « CinéSup », higher classes of cinema in University of Nantes (1988) - Script Writing and History of Cinema teacher (1988-2003)
Member of the Regional Council for Film production (1985-2000)
Script Doctor for script developments in Latin America and Middle East
Commissioned by the Cinema Bureau of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and French Embassies for informative and explorating missions in Latin America, Central Asia and Middle East (Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Oman, Gulf States, Saudi Arabia 2006)
Expert for the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and the City Hall of Paris for several missions
Foreign Guest lecturer in Universities, Film Schools, Cultural Centers and Festivals :
Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Astana (Kazakhstan), Dushanbe (Tadjikistan), Izmir (Turkey), Carthagena and Bogota (Colombia), Tehran (Iran), Panama
Founder of « Produire au Sud », Seminar-Workshop for young producers of the « South Countries » (2000)
Director/organizer of Script writing Seminar and Workshop : Lahore and Karachi University (Pakistan), Djeddah (Saudi Arabia), Algiers, Barhein.

VAHRAM MURATYAN

Armenia/France

Vahram Muratyan is a graphic artist, creative director and visual storyteller. Vahram has designed the 4 poster-series for this year's Golden Apricot Festival. He divides his time between commissioned work for brands, long-time collaborations for magazines and personal concepts. In love with cities and the way we live them, he’s the author of the bestseller Paris versus New York, a tally of two cities. His second book, About Time, a visual memoir around the clock, is a celebration of how we spend our fast & curious lives. After many years working with the french film industry — posters & opening credits — he is part of the Queer Palm jury at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. And this year, he has created a special workshop at Tumo Studios embracing the Armenian paths of glory. Vahram is always keen on new adventures, ready to spice up an elegant take on Parisian culture with a touch of irony and affectionate eccentricity, the artist is preparing his third visual book about his very special relationship with Japan, due in 2022.

FIPRESCI JURY

DOMINIC SCHMID

Switzerland

Dominic Schmid (born 1983 in Solothurn, Switzerland) graduated in Film and Japanese Studies from Universities Zurich and Berlin. Additional studies in Philosophy, Political Science and English literature. Freelance film, literature and music critic for various Swiss online and print outlets: WOZ–Die Wochenzeitung, filmexplorer.ch, NZZ, SDA/Keystone, Filmbulletin, and others. He lives in Biel, Switzerland and co-manages one of the last surviving Swiss video rental stores in Zurich and works as a programmer for the largest Swiss Ciné-club. He is a member of Swiss Association of Film Journalists and was part of the FICC-Jury at the Berlinale 2004.

MIKE NAAFS

Netherlands

Mike Naafs is a member of the Dutch Film Critic Association. He wrote reviews and columns for the biggest Dutch film journal De Filmkrant and currently is freelancing. He resides in Amsterdam where he works as a chef in a psychiatric hospital.

ALEXANDER MELYAN

Armenia