Festival 2012 pictures

THE JURIES

Feature films jury

Christophe Honoré PRESIDENT - filmaker - France
Christophe Honoré grew up in Brittany, where he studied literature and cinema. In 1995 he began contributing to reviews such as les Cahiers du Cinéma and wrote his first children’s book, Tout contre Léo (Close to Leo), which he went on to adapt for TV. He wrote several children’s books before writing for adults with L’Infamille and Scarborough. He also wrote for the stage, with Les Débutantes in 1998, and Le Pire du Troupeau 3 years later. After having co-written the screenplay of Les Filles ne savent pas nager (Girls Can’t Swim) he made his first short, Nous deux. In 2002, his first feature film, 17 fois Cécile Cassard (Seventeen Times Cecile Cassard) with Béatrice Dalle and Romain Duris, the screenplay of which won the Audience Award at Premiers Plans, was presented in Un Certain Regard. In 2004, Christophe Honoré made Ma Mère (My Mother), based on the novel by Georges Bataille, bringing together Isabelle Huppert and Louis Garrel. His next film Dans Paris (In Paris) with Romain Duris and Louis Garrel was in competition at the Directors’ Fortnight. For his first musical, Les Chansons d’Amour (Love Songs) which was in the Official Selection at Cannes in 2007, he once again worked with Alex Beaupain for the music. He then made a modern-day adaptation of the Princesse de Clèves, setting it in a Paris high school, with La Belle Personne (The Beautiful Person). Alongside this, Christophe Honoré continued writing and scriptwriting with Jean-Pierre Limosin, Gaël Morel, Diastème and Mikaël Buch. For the Avignon Festival he staged his essay Dionysos impuissant, and then Victor Hugo’s Angelo, tyran de Padoue in 2009. After Non ma fille tu n’iras pas danser (Making Plans for Lena) and L’Homme au bain (Man at Bath) he again worked with Chiara Mastroianni for Les Bien-aimés (The Beloved) with Catherine Deneuve and Ludivine Sagnier, which was the closing screened at the last Cannes Film Festival. Christophe Honoré is currently preparing a new play for the next Avignon Festival.

anne wiazemsky actress - writer - filmaker - France
Born in Berlin, Anne Wiazemsky started her acting career in 1966 in Robert Bresson’s Au hasard Balthazar. Jean-Luc Godard spotted her on the shoot and she played in a number of his films, incuding La Chinoise, Week-end et Tout va bien (Everything’s All Right). En 1968, she was directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini in Teorema then a year later in Porcile (Pigsty). She acted in Michèle Rosier’s George qui ? (George Who?) and Mon cœur est rouge, and Philippe Garrel’s L’enfant secret and Elle a passé tant d’heures sous les sunlights. She has also worked with Serge Moati, Pierre Granier-Deferre, Robert Enrico and André Téchiné. After a collection of short stories, Des filles bien élevées, in 1988, she wrote her first novel, Mon beau navire. In 1993, she won the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens for her book Canines, then the Grand Prix de l’Académie française and the Prix Renaudot des Lycéens for Une poignée de gens. She then worked with Jacques Fieschi to adapt Terence McNally’s Souvenirs avec piscine at the Théâtre de l’Atelier in Paris. Following the co-writing of Claire Denis’ film US Go home, in 2004 she started making documentaries on Nathalie Baye, Nicole Garcia and Danielle Darrieux for television. Her book Je m’appelle Elisabeth (Call Me Elizabeth) was adapted for the screen by Jean-Pierre Améris, Hymnes à l’amour was adapted by Jean-Paul Civeyrac under the title Toutes ces belles promesses (All the Beautiful Promises). After Jeune Fille and Mon enfant de Berlin, her new autobiographical novel Une année studieuse was published at the beginning of the year.

anna mouglalis - actress - France

A student of the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique de Paris, Anna Mouglalis played alongside Jacques Dutronc and Isabelle Huppert in Claude Chabrol’s Merci pour le chocolat in 2000. She continued with De l’histoire ancienne by Orso Miret, Novo by Jean-Pierre Limosin, La vie nouvelle by Philippe Grandrieux and La compagnie des hommes by Arnaud Desplechin. She also acted in Italy in Roberto Ando’s Strange Name with Daniel Auteuil, and Michele Palcido’s Romanzo Criminale, and in Greece in Real Life by Panos H. Koutras and Icaros’ Dream by Costa Natsis. After stage roles in productions by Olivier Py and Louis Do de Lencquesaing, she acted in I Always Wanted to be a Gangster, directed by Samuel Benchetrit, with whom she worked again in Chez Gino alongside José Garcia and Sergi Lopez. In 2008, she played Coco Chanel in Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky by Jan Kounen, followed by Juliette Greco in Gainsbourg by Joann Sfar. After directing her first short film, Les filles, for the X-Filles collection for Canal +, she played in Mammuth with Gérard Depardieu and Yolande Moreau directed by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern. She is currently preparing her first feature as a director, and will soon be appearing in Xan Cassavetes’ Kiss of the Damned.

CELINE SALLETTE actress - France

Céline Sallette started her career in 1996 in the short film Les Trois manteaux by Bénédicte Mellac. She played her first stage roles under the direction of Laurent Laffargue before joining the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique in 2003. After Les Amants réguliers (Regular Lovers) by Philippe Garrel in 2005, she continued with Meurtrières (Murderers) by Patrick Grandperret, Marie-Antoinette by Sofia Coppola, La Chambre des morts by Alfred Lot, Le Grand alibi (The Great Alibi) by Pascal Bonitzer and La Grande vie (The High Life) by Emmanuel Salinger. She has also worked on television, notably in Le Père Amable, adapted from a Maupassant short story by Olivier Schatzky and Figaro by and with Jacques Weber. After Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter and Rapaël Jacoulot’s Avant l’aube (The Night Clerk), she again worked with Philippe Garrel in 2011 for Un été brûlant with Monica Bellucci and Louis Garrel. That same year, Céline Sallette played in L’Apollonide, Souvenirs de la Maison Close (House of Tolerance) directed by Bertrand Bonello, which was in the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival. She is currently on the bill of Christophe Ruggia’s Dans la tourmente, and Jean-Pierre Denis’ Ici-bas, and will soon be appearing alongside Marion Cotillard in Jacques Audiard’s De rouille et d’os (Rust and Bone), and Gad Elmaleh in Costa Gavras’s Le Capital. Céline Sallette will also be playing Simone Signoret in Christophe Ruggia’s biopic of her.

FAOUZI BENSAIDI actor - filmaker - Morocco

Born in Morocco, Faouzi Bensaïdi studied at the Institut d’Art Dramatique et d’Animation Culturelle in Rabat, before moving to Paris in 1995 to continue studying acting at the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique. After directing and performing in a number of plays, Nabil Ayouch offered him a role in his film Mektoub in 1997. Presented at the Biennale du Cinéma at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, his first short, La Falaise, won several awards. In 2000, his second short, Le Mur, was presented in the Directors’ Fortnight, and his next short, Trajets, won a special mention at the Venice Festival. After have co-written and played in André Téchiné’s Loin (Far), he made his first feature, Mille Mois (A Thousand Months), which won, among other awards, a prize in Un Certain Regard in Cannes. Three years later he directed WWW – What a Wonderful World, which was selected for the Venice Festival. Faouzi Bensaïdi plays in his own films, and has also appeared in Jillali Ferhati’s Tresses (Plaits), Daoud Aoulad-Syad’s Aoud rih (The Wind Horse) in 2002 and soon in Nadir Moknèche’s film Goodbye Morocco. In 2007 he returned to the theatre with his play Histoire d’amour en 12 chansons, 3 repas et un baiser which met with great success in Morocco, Spain and Algeria. His new film, Death for Sale, was presented at the Festivals of Toronto and Marrakech. The film is in the official selection of the next Berlin Festival, and will be released in France next year.

kamen kalev filmaker - Bulgaria

Kamen Kalev was born in Burgas, Bulgaria. After attending the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts, he went to La fémis in Paris, in the image department, graduating in 2002. His first shorts, Maltonius Olbren and Orphée won awards in Berlin, Clermont-Ferrand, New York, Locarno and Stockholm. After working as a director of photography on several shorts and features, he made a number of clips and commercials. His short film Get the Rabbit Back was selected for the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and the following one, Rabbit Troubles, was in the Critics’ Week in 2007. Two years later, Kamen Kalev wrote, directed and produced his first feature, Eastern Plays. It was selected at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes and received the Jury Grand Prix at Premiers Plans in 2010. Screened in a number of festivals, the film was released in the spring of the same year. His new film, The Island, with Laetitia Casta, presented last year in the Directors’ Fortnight, will be released in France in April 2012.

Short films jury

mATHIEU DEMY PRESIDENT - actor - filmaker - producer - France
Mathieu Demy appeared at a very young age in films by Jacques Demy and Agnès Varda, such as L’une chante, l’autre part, Documenteur or Trois places pour le 26. In 1993, he appeared in A la belle étoile by Antoine Desrosières, alongside Julie Gayet, with whom he worked again recently in L’Art de Séduire by Guy Mazarguil. Following his role in the musical Jeanne et le garçon formidable by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, he was in Mes amis by Michel Hazanavicius and Dieu est grand, je suis toute petite by Pascale Bailly. In 2000 he made his first short film Le Plafond, which won awards in several festivals including Premiers Plans. The same year he won the best actor award at the Paris Film Festival for his role in Quand on sera grand by Renaud Cohen. He can also be seen in Qui m’aime me suive and Nos enfants chéris by Benoît Cohen with Romane Bohringer, which later became a TV series. Following his second short, La Bourde, he played in Un fil à la patte by Michel Deville, Le Silence by Orso Miret, Quelques jours en septembre by Santiago Amigorena, Le Grand alibi by Pascal Bonitzer and La Fille du RER by André Téchiné. In 2011 has was in Tomboy by Céline Sciamma and directed his first feature, Americano with Salma Hayek and Chiara Mastroianni. Released last November, the film was presented at the Festivals of San Sebastian and Toronto.

FLORENCE MIAILHE painter - filmaker - France
Born in Paris, Florence Miailhe graduated in engraving from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in 1980. She started working as a compositor and illustrator for the press, and in parallel continued her activity as a painter, presenting her first exhibitions on the theme of hammams. In 1991 she made her first animated short, Hammam, which was nominated for the César for Best Short Film. Four years later, inspired by the 1001 Arabian Nights, she made Schéhérazade, followed in 1996 by Histoire d’un prince devenu borgne et mendiant. In 2000 she portrayed the atmosphere of a dance in the summer in Au premier dimanche d’août (A Summer Night Rendez-Vous), this time winning the César for Best Short Film. In 2002 she made Les Oiseaux noirs, les oiseaux blancs, based on an African tale of the same name, and went to the 2006 Cannes Film Festival with Conte de quartier, which won a Special Jury Mention in the Best Short Film category. In 2009 her film Matières à rêver was presented in competition in festivals, including the Montreal World Film Festival and the Seoul Animated Film Festival. She is currently preparing La Traversée, her first feature, co-written with Marie Desplechin, which won the Audience Award for First Feature Screenplay at Premiers Plans in 2011.

xu feng producer - filmaker - historian - teacher - critique - China

Born in Shanghai, Xu Feng graduated in the history of cinema from the University of Paris VIII in 2005. A permanent partner of the Service de Coopération et d’Action Culturelle of the French Embassy in China, he has organised since 1999 a dozen or so French cinema events in China, such as retrospectives on Robert Bresson, Olivier Assayas, Arnaud Desplechin or the New Wave, in various places including the Chinese Film Institute or the Shanghai International Festival. Since 1994 he has worked in France on programming activities, notably, the retrospective of contemporary Chinese cinema at the Jeu de Paume, the Paris Chinese Cinema Festival or the tribute to Tian Zhuangzhuang at the La Rochelle Film Festival. Xu Feng has published a large number of essays in Chinese on Chinese and French cinema, and has also written for Les Cahiers du cinema. He is a short film director, and has worked on producing documentary series for television and features such as Sun Beaten Path in 2010, the first film of the Tibetan director Sonthar Gyal. Xu Feng is also a senior lecturer on the history of cinema at the Institute for Dramatic Arts and also teaches at the Beijing Cinema Institute.