Bill Gerber

Producer

Academy Award & Emmy nominee Bill Gerber has spent over 40 years in the entertainment business in several positions including President of Production at Warner Bros. Pictures and as producer on such films as A Star is Born, Gran Torino (Winner of Best Foreign Film at the Japan Academy Prize), A Very Long Engagement, and Grudge Match.
He has had a hand in dozens of movies including: LA Confidential, JFK, Heat, You've Got Mail, The Perfect Storm, Three Kings, and the Harry Potter Series. He also executive produced the two-part HBO documentary "What's My Name Muhammad Ali", and TNT movie James Dean.
Before joining Warner Bros., Bill was a partner at Lookout Management, a premier music management company that has represented such classic rock artists as Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Tom Petty, The Cars and Devo. Bill serves on the boards of the Environmental Media Association, Center for Early Education, and Los Angeles 2028. He is the father of three girls.

Julie Gayet

Actor / Producer

After taking both drama and opera singing classes as a child, she obtained her breakout role at 23 in Les Cent et Une Nuits de Simon Cinéma by Agnès Varda. She then went on to dedicate her acting career to various types of film genres, firmly believing in the points of view and perspectives they gave voice to. As a director, she co-directed the documentary Cinéast(e)s in 2013, in which she interviewed over 20 female directors on the place and work of women in the film industry, a token of her commitment towards the evolution of gender inequalities. In 2007, she launched her own film production company, Rouge International, with the movie 8 Fois Debout by Xabi Molia for which she received the Best Actress Award during the TIFF 2009 edition. Over the years, Rouge International has become a privileged partner for emerging auteurs in independent cinema, allowing them to gain recognition in prestigious International Festivals such as Cannes or Sundance.

Michael Noer

Director

Michael Noer graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2003, and has since then marked himself as a significant voice in Scandinavia, with his intimate documentaries and ultra-realistic feature films.
Noer's international breakthrough came with his debut feature film, the prison drama R (2010), which was co-directed and written with Tobias Lindholm. R won top honors such as the award for Best Nordic Film at Gothenburg International Film Festival and the Jury Grand Prize at Mumbai International Film Festival in 2010. R was followed by a number of award-winning Danish feature films such as Northwest (2013) and Key House Mirror (2015).
In 2017 Noer directed the remake of Papillon starring Hollywood actor Charlie Hunnam and Academy Award winner Rami Malek.
Noer's latest film Before the Frost (2018) was, amongst other prestigious prizes, awarded the Special Jury Prize at Tokyo International Film Festival in 2018.

Ryuichi Hiroki

Director

Born 1954 in Fukushima.
Hiroki won the Grand Prix at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival Video section with Sadistic City in 1993, and moved to the US, receiving a grant from Sundance. After returning to Japan, his youth film 800 Two Lap Runners won the Bunka-cho Film Award and the New Face Award of Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts. His straightforward style was popular among young people. His 2003 film Vibrator, starring Shinobu Terajima and Nao Omori, depicted a woman's fluctuating emotions, stirring up a huge sensation among adult women and others. The film was ranked the third-best film on the 2003 Kinema Jumpo Best Ten list, as well as receiving international acclaim, winning a number of awards, and being screened at more than 40 international film festivals including Hong Kong and Nantes Three Continents. His filmography also includes box-office hit April Bride, Kabukicho Love Hotel, Strobe Edge, Wolf Girl and Black Prince, Policeman and Me, and Marmalade Boy. Miracles of the Namiya General Store won the Japan Academy Prize Director Award. In 2015, Hiroki published his first novel, "Side Job", set in his hometown in Fukushima, and adapted it into a film. His latest directorial work is It’s Boring Here, Pick Me Up.

Elena Pollacchi

Venice International Film Festival / Programmer

Elena Pollacchi has contributed to the programming of East Asian cinema at the Venice International Film Festival in the years 2004-05 and since 2012. She has curated programs on Asian cinema in Italy, Sweden and Norway. She holds a PhD from the Cambridge University (UK) and currently teaches Chinese and Asian cinema at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy). She has published extensively on Chinese cinema, Asian cinema, and film festivals.

Pimpaka Towira

Director / Programme Director

Pimpaka Towira has been a pioneer among female film directors in the Thai independent film scene since the early 1990s. She received international acclaim for her first feature One Night Husband which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. Her second feature The Island Funeral won Best Asian Future Film Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival. She has been a professional film programmer more than 15 years. Since 2015, she has been the Program Director for the Bangkok ASEAN Film Festival. In 2017-2018, she was the Program Director for Singapore International Film Festival.

Yoshihiro Nakamura

Film Director

Yoshihiro Nakamura made his directorial debut with Local News in 1999. His notable works include The Foreign Duck, the Native Duck, and God in a Coin Locker, The Glorious Team Batista, Fish Story, Golden Slumber, See You Tomorrow, Everyone, The Snow White Murder Case, The Inerasable, The Magnificent Nine and Mumon: The Land of Stealth. His latest film The 47 Rōnin in Debt will be released on November 22, 2019.

Christian Jeune

Festival de Cannes / Deputy General Delegate

Christian Jeune has been with the Cannes Film Festival for more than 20 years and is in charge of the Official Selection. He has served on many juries: Cinemanila, Pusan, Dubai, Bangkok, Mumbai and Hong Kong..

Nam Dong-chul

Busan International Film Festival / Program Director

Worked as a film journalist at Cine21 then joined the Busan International Film Festival as General Manager of Asian Film Market. From 2013 to 2018, worked as programmer in charge of Korean Cinema section and is now program director of BIFF.