Fernando Lopes (Portugal)
Born in 1935, Fernando Lopes started his career as a technician with the Portuguese radio and television service in 1957. He got into directing through the cinema club movement in 1959. His first films «Belarmino» (1964), a medium-length film about the life of the boxer Belarmino Fragoso, and Uma Abelha na Chuva (A Bee in the Rain) (1971) are seminal oeuvres of Portuguese New Cinema. He was founder and director of Portugal’s second public service channel (RTP2). In the last decade, after leaving Television, he has directed both features and independent documentaries.

Hana Makhmalbaf (Iran)
Born in 1988, into a well known Iranian filmmaker’s family, Hana wasn’t even ten years old when her first short film was screened in Locarno «The Day my Aunt was Ill». In 2003 another of Hana’s films, «Joy of Madness», received three international awards. At the age of 18, she directed «Buddha Collapsed Out Of Shame», receiving many awards, including the Crystal Bear and the special Peace Award at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival, the Grand Jury Award at the 2007 San Sebastian Festival. Her latest film «Green Days», was premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

Jordi Balló (Spain)
Writer and film projects coordinator, a teacher at Pompeu Fabra University, director of exhibitions at the Centre for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona, Jordi Balló is also the editor of the Cultura/s supplement of the Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia. He has been a major force behind some projects that has changed the landscape of Spanish Documentary Cinema over recent years, namely «En Construcción» by José Luis Guerin, «El Cielo Gira» by Mercedez Alvarez, and « Mones com la Becky» and «De Nens» by Joaquin Jordá, amongst others.

Pierre Barouh (France)
French writer, composer and musician, he has a special place in the music scene of the 60s and 70s. He achieved fame for his work as an actor and musician in the Oscar-winning and Cannes Palme d’Or awarded «Un homme et une Femme» by Claude Lelouch in 1966. Barouh also directs and produces films such as «Ça va, Ça vient» and «Saravah», which eventually became cult films.

Želimir Žilnik (Serbia)
Born in 1942 in Serbia. From the late 60s, his socially engaged films and documentaries in former Yugoslavia and his unique visual style earned him critical accolades: «The Unemployed», 1968, Best Documentary at the Oberhausen; «Early Works»,1969, Best Film at Berlin Film Festival. Žilnik’s prolific career includes more than 50 titles. He has been developing his unique docu-drama language to portray the divided Balkans and to question, in his recent «Kenedi» trilogy, the tightening controls of European borders, delving into the heart of issues of refugees and migrants.

INTERNACIONAL COMPETITION
Medium and Short Feature Films

Isabel Ruth (Portugal)
Between 1958, when she started at the Royal Ballet School in London, and 1970, Isabel Ruth dedicated herself to classical dance. She later became l one of the biggest actresses of her generation and a true Icon of Portuguese Cinema. She has worked with directors such as Manoel de Oliveira, José Álvaro Morais, Pedro Costa and Teresa Villaverde, among others. Some of the characters she created are particularly outstanding such as in the film «Verd es Anos», by Paulo Rocha and «Pax» by Eduardo Guedes. Im 1999, Portuguese Cinemateca paid a special tribute to her, with full programming and a book.

Manuel Mozos (Portugal)
Born in 1959, Manuel Mozos studied history and Philosophy, before embracing cinema. He has worked as an editor on various films and in 1989 he directed for RTP «Um Passo, Outro Passo e Depois».(A step, another step and then). After his first feature «Xavier» (1992) he shared his time between fiction and documentary, where he created an important work of reflection about the history of Portuguese Cinema.
«Ruins» (2009), his last documentary-essay was awarded at IndieLisboa and at FID Marseille.
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Marie Clemence Blanc-Paes (Madagascar)
Born in 1959 in Madagascar, Marie-Clémence Paes has a Masters in Sociology.
In 1989 she created Laterit productions, where she works together with César Paes. Marie-Clémence is the producer and co-author of such works as «Mahaleo» (2005), «Saudade do Futuro» (2000), «Le Bouillon d’Awara» (1996), «Aux Guerriers du Silence» (1992) e «Angano, Angano» (1989).

INVESTIGATIONS

José Navarro (Portugal)
José Navarro was born in 1959. With a degree in Philosophy, he started as a programmer at the Portuguese Cinemateca in 1987, while he was working as film critic for the newspapers Independente, O Jornal and Público. Between 1997 and 2007 he worked for SIC television channel, first as Executive programmer and later as Director of foreign programs. At present he is the Director of the ZON Lusomundo cable channels.

Veton Nurkollari (Kosovo)
Born in Prizren (Kosovo) in 1962, Veton Nurkollari studied English language and literature at the University of Pristina. A professional photographer and producer, Veton is also a founder-member and, presently artistic director, programmer and coordinator of DokuFest, the biggest festival of documentaries and shorts in Kosovo and the principal cultural event of the country. He is also responsible for DokuPhoto – an annual show of documentary photography that runs in tandem with DokuFest.

Vibeke Bryld (Denmark)
Vibeke Bryld is the assistant editor of DOX Magazine. Her background is in Philosophy and Arts from the University of Copenhagen and she holds an MA in Screen Documentary from Goldsmith's College, London. Over recent years she has directed a series of documentaries for Al Jazeera English and produced and directed portraits of internationally acclaimed artists in New York, London, and Copenhagen. Her latest documentary was nominated for the New Vision Award at CPH:DOX 2007. She has also worked as a programmer for the Danish Cinematheque, DFI.

PORTUGUESE COMPETITION

Guy Knafo (France)
At the outset of his career, Guy Knafo was an actor, writer and stage manager. Since 1994, he has been devoting himself to TV distribution, or TV programs trade all around the world. In 1995, he took part in the creation of 10 Francs. In 1995, he took part in the creation of the company 10 Francs. 10 Francs catalogue presently offers to broadcasters around the world more than 1600 titles created by 300 international producers. Guy Knafo is a member of TV France International (TVFI), co-fonder of SEDPA and of ECAD (European Coordination of Audiovisual Distributors) where he’s a member of the board.

Raymond Walravens (Netherlands)
From 1989 Raymond Walravens has been the managing director and programmer of Rialto, an art cinema in Amsterdam specialized in independent cinema from Europe and the rest of the world. Apart from his work in Rialto, he has been active on the supervisory board of several Dutch film and art organisations and associations. During the last 20 years, Raymond Walravens has curated several festivals dedicated to recent cinematographic development in countries and regions such as ex-Yugoslavia, Portugal, Argentina, South Africa and Malaysia . He is presently an international consultant.

Rita Sá Marques (Portugal)
Born in 1961, with a degree in Anthropology from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, and a post-graduate degree in Communication, culture and new technologies, Rita Sá Marques has worked in Cultural promotion and divulgation since 1989. She already worked at The National Costume Museum at the National Ethnology Museum at the National Commission for the Commemorations of the Portuguese Discoveries and in the Portuguese Institute for Museums (Ministry of Culture).
Since 2004 she has been the Director of External Cultural Action services for the Camões Institute, which promotes the international production of Portuguese Cinema.