Turkey

Film director, cinematographer, photographer

Ceylan was born in Istanbul, Turkey on 26 January 1959. He graduated from Istanbul Boğaziçi University with a degree in Electrical Engineering, and later studied film at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. He also studied photography and directed several short films.

Throughout his career, he has won multiple awards at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2002, his film Distant won the Grand Prix and the Best Actor Award at Cannes. His next film, Climates (2006), received the FIPRESCI Prize. In 2008, he won the Best Director Award at Cannes for Three Monkeys. In 2011, Ceylan earned his second Grand Prix for Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. In 2014, he was awarded the Palme d’Or for Winter Sleep.

Uzbekistan 

Actress 

Born in 1979 in Samarkand, she is an Honored Actress of Uzbekistan. A winner of numerous international film awards, she received the Best Actress award at the XVI International Film Forum “Golden Knight” for her role in Motherland (Vatan), as well as prizes at the East-West International Film Festival (Azerbaijan), the SCO Film Festival (Mumbai, India), and the 15th International Tashkent Film Festival. She also won the Special Jury Prize at the 2nd Korkut Ata Turkish World Film Festival in Bursa, Turkey. Over the course of her career, she has portrayed more than 150 roles in films.

Kyrgyzstan

Director, screenwriter, actor

Born in 1947 in the Kyrgyz SSR, Artykpai Suyundukov graduated from the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in 1978. After graduation, he worked as a director at the Kyrgyzfilm Film Studio. He has made four feature films Among People (1978, co-directed with B. Shamshiev), Roads Converged (1987), The Mourner (1992), and Shambhala (2021), as well as more than 20 documentary films. Since 2000, he has been teaching at the university level. From 2004 to 2009, he served as the artistic director of the short films.

France

Film Critic

A Syrian-French critic primarily focused on Asian cinema. She regularly contributes to the prestigious Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat, published in London, and to the Al Jazeera Documentary website.

She is a member of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC), the Union des Journalistes de Cinéma in France (UJC), and the Académie des Lumières in France.

As a journalist, she covers film festivals and has been a member of several international juries. She also advises festivals in France and Asia on their Arabic cinema programming.

Kazakhstan

Director, Screenwriter

Born in 1974 in the Kazakh SSR, he graduated from the Kazakh National Academy of Arts named after T. Zhurgenev, where he majored in Screenwriting (2000) and completed his master’s degree in Art History and Directing (2002). Since 1999, he has been creating short films that have garnered awards and international recognition, including Sunday (1999), Friday (2000), and Kyz Urlau (Bride Kidnapping) (2001). His first feature film, The First Rains of Spring (2011, co-directed with Sano Shinju), won the Grand Prix at the VII Eurasia IFF (Kazakhstan) and the Grand Prix at the XXIII Innsbruck IFF (Austria).

His film The Walnut Tree (2015) won the Grand Prix in the New Currents section at the Busan IFF (South Korea), the Best Asian Film award at the Fajr IFF (Iran), and received Tulpar National Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences awards in two nominations: Best Film of the Year and Best Director of the Year (2016). In collaboration with Tokyo New Cinema, he directed Horse Thieves. Roads of Time (2018), which was the opening film at the Busan IFF (South Korea, 2019).

He currently teaches a directing workshop for feature films at the Kazakh National University of Arts named after K. Baiseitova in Astana. He is a member of the Union of Cinematographers and the National Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Chairman, Producer, Director of ShangBaoJiaYi International Film and Television Culture Media (Beijing) Co., Ltd. Member of the China Radio and Television Industry Association, Producer, and Presenter. Member of the China Performing Arts Cultural Agents Association.

The movie “Love + 100 Years”: won the outstanding movie of China Golden Rooster Hundred Flowers and the outstanding movie of Los Angeles New Concept Film Festival.

The movie “By Xingkai Lake”: listed as a key outstanding project in Heilongjiang, China.

Sweden

Film distributor, producer

Born in 1953 in Odessa. Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Management (Department of Economic Cybernetics, 1975). Since 1976 worked as a programmer at the Youth film festival. Since 1994 he has been living in Sweden. Since 2004, co-founder (with Sam Klebanov and Barry Appleby) of Maywin Films AB. Participated in the purchase of rights for arthouse films in the former Soviet Union. Currently co-owner of Multimeldia Promotion and consultant at Maywin Media AB (both in Sweden).

Morocco

Director, screenwriter and film critic

Born on 1964 in Fes, Morocco. He holds a doctorate in cinema on the topic Space in Cinema through Moroccan Film Models. He has a collection of critical writings, including the book Ouarzazate, a Space for Cinema and Cinema of Developing Countries. He wrote and directed many feature films and documentaries. Through which he won many awards at national and international festivals. His most famous films are The Dancer (2013), Raja’s Bant Al-Mallah (2014), Water and Blood (2015), The State of the Soul (2018), Hala Madrid Visca Barca (2020), and others.  

Professor at the Higher institute of Audiovisual and Film Professions (Morocco, Rabat) & President of Union of Moroccan Authors-Directors.

Russia

Producer, Director, Screenwriter

Born in 1974 in Leningrad, Alexey Telnov graduated from the St. Petersburg State Academy of Culture in 1996. Since 2008, he has served as the General Director of CPO St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio, PC. He is the author and producer of more than 100 films, including Gold of Umalta (2024), The Time Guardians (2020), Sea Buckthorn Summer (2018), Stanislavsky: Lust for Life (2020), Archipelago (2021), and others.

Telnov is a member of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia and the Board of Directors of Film Studios of the CIS and Georgia.

Kazakhstan

She was born in 1958 in Alma-Ata. In 1972 she played in her first film "Rain," directed by Serik Raybayev. Since 1975, she started to play in Kazakhfilm film studio movies. In 1983 she graduated from the philological faculty of KazNU named after Kirov. A member of the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR since 1981. Member of the expert council of the Kazakhfilm film studio. Head of the creative department "Film actor" of the film studio "Kazakhfilm" named after Sh. Aimanov.

Honored Artist of the Kazakh SSR (1990). She was awarded the Order “Kurmet” (2001), the Order “Parasat” (2008).

Russia

Documentary Film Producer

Ph.D. in History, Laureate of the Russian Federation Governmental Award in Education (2021)

Member of selection committee of Moscow International Film Festival responsible for Asian-Pacific and MENA regions, program director of Kazan International Festival ‘Altyn Minbar’, Open Competition of Russian films ‘Intertwined Parallels’, Orenburg International Film Festival ‘East & West. Classic and Avant-guard’, Yalta International Film Festival ‘Eurasian Bridge’, and others.

Author of more than 150 articles dedicated to cultural policy, art and film history. Author and editor of several collective monographs on the history of Russian and world cinema.

France

Festival Director, Programmer, Talent Agent, Producer

André Raphaël Ivanov is a producer and international talent agent with significant experience in the fields of cinema and the audiovisual arts. His career has involved collaborations with recognized artists such as Kevin Spacey, Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Samy Naceri, and Samal Yeslyamova. As the founder and artistic director of the Kazakh International Film Festival and a member of the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC), Mr. Ivanov is dedicated to advancing cinema as a medium for cultural exchange and mutual understanding.

In addition to his work in production and talent representation, Mr. Ivanov advises on programming for international festivals including Univerciné in Nantes, Cap à l’Est in Montpellier, and the Le Festival International du Film Transsaharien de Zagora. His role in these festivals involves selecting films that convey a range of artistic voices and perspectives. He has also served on juries for the Maghreb International Film Festival in Oujda (Morocco), the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema (France), and the Venice International Film Festival (Italy), where he has assisted in recognizing films that exemplify artistic and cultural significance.

Mr. Ivanov’s work reflects a sustained commitment to fostering an appreciation for cinema across diverse cultural contexts.

Kyrgyzstan

Film critic

She was born in Bishkek. She is a graduate of VGIK, Moscow. An honored Worker of Culture of Kyrgyzstan, member of FIPRESCI and NETPAC. Specialist of the Bishkek House of Cinema named after Ch. Aitmatov. Program Director of the Forum of Young Cinema of the CIS countries "Umut." Editor and author of the Cinema Development Fund website - kyrgyzcinema.com. Author of the “Forum Plus” magazine (IFGS publication, Moscow). Author of an online newsreel Kinokultura.com