Feature Competition

Robert Guédiguian had got a PhD in Social Sciences at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes when René Féret in 1977 offered him to write a script for Fernand. In 1980, director Robert Guédiguian directed his first film, Last Summer with Ariane Ascaride and Gérard Meylan, in which Marseille and its social reality are already present. After several films public learned about him in 1997 with the success of Marius and Jeannette, which won the Louis Delluc Prize and the Ariane Ascaride César for Best Actress. Then he directed In the Place of the Heart, The City is Quiet, and At the Attack. Robert Guédiguian is also one of the founders of the producers' collective Agat Films & Cie/Ex Nihilo. This independent company has produced more than 400 documentary and fiction films. He returns to his paternal roots with The Journey to Armenia in 2006, which won the Prix Henry Langlois and then creates a film noir Lady Jane, selected at Berlin IFF. His 17th film Snows of Kilimanjaro, has been in the official selection at the Cannes IFF 2011, Un Certain Regard. His new movie A Crazy Story will come out in a few months.

He instituted the Akira Kurosawa Lifetime Achievement Award. Has been invited to become Directeur Générale of the Cinémathèque Française, the oldest and most celebrated film archive in Europe. In 2003 leaves for the US to serve as Artistic Director of NYC’s Tribeca FF. Later Scarlet moved to the UAE to take the post of the Executive Director of Abu Dhabi FF. Also helped in creating SANAD, a groundbreaking development and postproduction fund. He has served on juries at many film festivals including Almaty, Cairo, Cannes, Dubai, Geneva Human Rights, Karlovy Vary, Los Angeles, and many others. Also he is a Board member of Parajanov-Vartanov Insitute, Beverly Hills, CA.

Graduate in Film Studies from the High Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow. As film critic he contributes to various film magazines, review outlets and newspapers. Lecturer of Film Distribution at the National Academy for Teatre and Film, Sofia, Film History at the SouthWest University in Blagoevgrad. Autor of many books, ralated to history of film, uncluding The Cinema in Bulgaria in 3 volumes. Founder and artistic director of the Love Is Folly IFF in Varna (1993). Executive Director of the Bulgarian National Film Centre (2004-2009). Member of the Union of the Bulgarian Filmmakers and the Bulgarian section of FIPRESCI. Jury member at numerous national and international film festivals.

Film Director, writer, producer. Chairman of The Union of Georgian Filmmakers, Academy Award & Golden Globes nominee. In 1982-1988, he studied film directing at Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgian State University. Zaza Urushadze is a known for the films Here Comes the Dawn (1998), Three Houses (2008), and Tangerines (2013). Tangerines has been nominates and awarded in various festivals of the world among which the Best Director Award in the International Competition and the Audience Poll at the Warsaw FF, as well as the Special Award of Mannheim-Heidelberg and the Audience Award at Mannheim-Heidelberg IFF 2013.

Born in 1969 in Istanbul. In 1991, graduated from the University of Istanbul, Department of Communications. She began working for the Milliyet Art Review and Milliyet Daily newspaper in 1992. During the 16 year period in this media group she has been a correspondent, film critic and the editor of the Art Review. Meanwhile she made various cinema programs with fellow critics for the cultural channel of the Turkish Radio and Television TRT 2. Programmed and presented the Thematic Films Ribbon for the news channel 24. She has been a critic and a columnist for the Star Daily newspaper, 2008-15. Alin Taşçiyan has been an advisor and programmer for all the major FFs in Turkey. She has served in many national and international FF juries. She is a member of the European Film Academy. After serving as the Vice President for four years, she has been elected the President of FIPRESCI, in 2014. She currently writes for the prominent culture and art portal of Turkey, www.sanatatak.com.