Jury
International Feature Film Competition
Gabrielle Tana (Jury President)
British producer Gabrielle Tana is the founder of Magnolia Mae Films. She has produced PHILOMENA (2013) and THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (2013), both of which were Oscar-nominated. Other Magnolia Mae productions include Academy Award-winning THE DUCHESS (2008), CORIOLANUS (2011) and the documentary DANCER (2016). Most recently, Tana has produced THE WHITE CROW (2018), directed by Ralph Fiennes. It premiered at Telluride. MY ZOE, written and directed by Julie Delpy, is currently in post-production.
Ana Lily Amirpour
American director and screenwriter Ana Lily Amirpour has been making films since the age of twelve. Her first feature film A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT (2014) premiered at Sundance and won numerous international awards, including the Carnet Jove Jury Award and Citizen Kane Award for Best Directorial Revelation at Sitges. Her second feature film THE BAD BATCH (2016) won the Special Jury Prize at Venice. Amirpour is currently working on the film BLOOD MOON.
Ann Hui
Director and producer Ann Hui is one of Asia’s most renowned filmmakers. After studying at Hong Kong University, she graduated from the London Film School before working four years for TV. Since shooting her debut THE SECRET (1979), Hui has directed 26 feature films, including the multi-award-winning BOAT PEOPLE (1982), SUMMER SNOW (1995) and A SIMPLE LIFE. Her most recent film OUR TIME WILL COME (2017) garnered five Hong Kong Film Awards and is part of ZFF’s „Window“ section.
Max Irons
Max Irons is a renowned British actor. He recently played alongside Glenn Close in THE WIFE (2017) and starred in CROOKED HOUSE (2017). His filmography includes the internationally successful features RED RIDING HOOD (2011), THE HOST (2013), THE RIOT CLUB (2014) and WOMAN IN GOLD (2015), and such TV favourites as the BBC hit series THE WHITE QUEEN (2013). He currently stars in MGM’s new thriller series CONDOR, an adaptation of Sidney Pollack’s THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR.
International Documentary Film Competition
Dick Fontaine (Jury President)
Dick Fontaine is a highly acclaimed British filmmaker and the current Head of Documentary at the National Film and Television School. He directed over forty films for television and the independent media. He was the first filmmaker to introduce the techniques of Direct Cinema to UK Television in the Sixties. He developed the essay film, made award-winning experiments with the reflexive camera and many films with jazz musicians such as Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins and Art Blakey. His work is now part of the Film Archive at Harvard University and he has taught at The School of Visual Arts and NYU in New York and has run workshops and master classes across Europe and the USA.
Talal Derki
Talal Derki is an internationally renowned filmmaker from Syria. Born in Damascus, Derki studied film in Athens. He worked as a director for various Arab TV channels and as a freelance camera operator for CNN and Thomsom & Reuters. Derki’s documentary RETURN TO HOMS (2013) won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, and screened in ZFF’s „Border Lines“ section. His second film OF FATHERS AND SONS (2017) once again won the Grand Jury Prize at the most important American festival.
Camilla Nielsson
Camilla Nielsson is a multi award-winning Danish filmmaker. A graduate in film and visual anthropology of NYU, she has directed the short trilogy GOOD MORNING AFGHANISTAN (2003), DURGA (2004), and THE CHILDREN OF DARFUR (2005), and MUMBAI DISCONNECTED (2009). Her feature-length documentary DEMOCRATS (2014) screened at more than 80 festivals, including ZFF, and scooped more than 30 awards. She is currently working on a feature documentary about Zimbabwe’s presidential elections 2018.
Maya Zinshtein
Maya Zinshtein is an award-winning Israeli documentary filmmaker and journalist whose films have been selected for more than 100 international festivals. Her Emmy-nominated documentary FOREVER PURE (2016), which screened in competition at ZFF, won the award for best director at Jerusalem. Zinshtein worked for many years highlighting social problems in Israel as an investigative journalist for the Israeli newspaper „Haaretz“ or directing investigative stories for Israeli channels.
Focus Switzerland, Germany, Austria Competition
Barbara Albert (Jury President)
Barbara Albert is a successful Austrian director, producer and screenwriter, based in Berlin. The co-founder of the internationally renowned coop99 production company and partner of the German production company Cala Film gave her directorial debut in 1999 with the multi award-winning drama NORDRAND, which premiered at Venice. Her filmography also includes award-winning films such as FALLING (2006), THE DEAD AND THE LIVING (2012) and LICHT (2017).
Max Karli
Max Karli is one of Switzerland’s most renowned producers. Alongside Pauline Gygax, he founded Geneva based Rita Productions in 2003, and has since garnered international attention with films such as THE PRICE OF FAME (2014), THE GUARDIANS (2017) and WITH THE WIND (2018). His greatest coup was the Academy Award-nominated MA VIE DE COURGETTE (2016), which was selected to screen at countless festivals, from Cannes to Pyongyang. Karli is currently working on Ursula Meier’s and Lionel Baier’s next features.
Wolfgang Thaler
Wolfgang Thaler is one of Austria’s most prolific cinematographers. The graduate from Vienna Film Academy has shot most of Ulrich Seidl’s films since DOG DAYS in 2001, including IMPORT/EXPORT (2007) and the PARADISE trilogy (2012-2013). He has also worked in close collaboration with Michael Glawogger, and won the Austrian Film Award for his work on WHORE’S GLORY (2011). Thaler’s filmography further includes the award-winning productions VOR DER MORGENRÖTE (2016) and UGLY (2017).
Markus Welter
Germany-born Markus Welter has been a successful freelance director, post production supervisor and editor in Switzerland, Germany and the US for more than 20 years. His thriller IM SOG DER NACHT premiered in competition at ZFF in 2009. His 2012 tv-movie DAS ALTE HAUS premiered at Solothurn. Welter directed 7 episodes of the highly acclaimed, internationally aired Swiss series DER BESTATTER (2013-2018). His credits as director also include TATORT: KLEINE PRINZEN (2016) and the SRF-series SEITENTRIEBE (2018).
