The 2019 Official Jury
Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Actor
Known for his off-beat films and outstanding acting prowess, Nawazuddin Siddiqui is one of the most sought-after actors of the Hindi film industry. The story of his struggle has inspired millions across the country. and he has worked with the biggest superstars including Amitabh Bachchan and the Khans.
An alumnus of the National School of Drama, Siddiqui's breakthrough role was with Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday (2007), which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was a nominee for the Best Film (Golden Leopard) award at the Locarno Film Festival.
He is a four time filmfare award nominee, winning once. He earned three nominations for Best Supporting Actor and one nomination for Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor at the Filmfare Awards, winning once for Best Supporting Actor for The Lunchbox.
We are delighted to welcome him to our festival.
Norman J Warren
Director
Norman John Warren is an English film director best known for such 1970s horror films as Satan's Slave (1976), Prey (1977) and Terror (1978).[1] Warren is also known for sex comedies such as Spaced Out (also known as Outer Spaced and Outer Touch, 1979).
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Along with the films of Pete Walker, Warren's movies are sometimes dubbed "New Wave" British horror, on the basis that they upped the ante in terms of sexual explicitness and gore from that of the Hammer and Amicus productions that dominated the genre in UK cinema up to the early 1970s.
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Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya
Actress
Divyanka Tripathi is an Indian actress who is one of the most sought after actresses on Indian television.
She rose to fame by playing a dual role in Zee TV's Banoo Main Teri Dulhann. She is currently known for playing the character of Dr. Ishita Bhalla in Star Plus's Ye Hai Mohabbatein. In 2017, she won the dance reality show Nach Baliye.
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Joe Ferrara
Actor, Writer & Director
Joe is London- UK based and has worked continuously in theatre, television and film with some very talented individuals. He has also produced, written and directed a number of successful short and feature length films - he continues to act and direct and is a highly sought after acting coach.
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Professor of International Documentary Film
Florence Ayisi
Florence Ayisi Florence is Professor of International Documentary Film. She teaches film history, theory, creative documentary film practice, transnational cinemas, and cultural representations.
She is also an award winning documentary filmmaker, presenting rare insights and affirmative aspects of African people and their culture from a Woman-centred and Pan-African perspective. She has made films in Cameroon and Tanzania, including films such as Sisters in Law (co-directed with Kim Longinotto, 2005), Zanzibar Soccer Queens (2007), Zanzibar Soccer Dreams (co-directed with Catalin Brylla, 2016). Her films have won numerous prestigious film awards including PRIX ART ET ESSAI at Cannes film festival; Grierson Award for Best Documentary on a Contemporary Issue; Audience Award at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA); and Peabody Award in USA. Sisters in Law was long-listed for Oscar Nominations in 2006.
Florence’s films have been screened on major television channels and film festivals world-wide including Channel 4 Television, More4 TV, Canal+, TV5 Monde Afrique, RFO (France), PBS (USA) and Swedish Television (SVT), Qatar TV, Cannes film festival, Toronto Int’L film festival, Hawaii Int’l film festival, London Film festival, African Diaspora film festival, Canadian Sport film festival, Zanzibar Int’l film festival, Reel Sisters of the Diaspora festival, Goteborg Int’l film festival, Kenya Int’l film festival, FESPACO, and The Sunny Side of Doc.
Script Consultant & Video Conceptualist
Keith Williams
Keith Williams a writer from Neath in South Wales, has worked in London and Los Angeles on over fifty music videos, visualising songs for artists such as Olivia Newton-John, Elton John, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bonnie Tyler and directors including Taylor Hackford, Tobe Hooper, Russell Mulcahy and Ivan Reitman.
Now based back home in Wales, Keith continues writing original screenplays for shorts and feature films, working as script consultant on other producers’ projects and directing music videos for local rock bands. He also presents his stage show 'When Music Videos Ruled the World' at various venues around the World, most recently at the Voulmentin Lit Fest in Northern France. He has also just completed his memoirs, 'The Boy Who Went to Hollywood', detailing the five years spent working there as the world’s first ever video conceptualist in the early days of that industry.
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