CHAIRMAN

HONG-JOON KIM (Republic of Korea) - Professor, Department of Film, School of Film, TV and Multimedia, Korea National University of Arts

Hong-Joon Kim was Festival Director of the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival and Commissioner of the Korean Film Council from 2000-2005. His published books include I, a Filmmaker: Kim Hong-Joon’s Film Notes and Two or Three Things You Want to Know About Movies. Hong-Joon Kim is an award-winning director, and screenwriter of films including Jungle Story and La Vie En Rose. He hosted and co-wrote the television series Korean Classical Cinema Special.

Mohammad Atebbai is a film producer and distributor and Head of Iranian Independents, which markets and promotes Iranian films internationally. He was in charge of screening Iranian films at international festivals and events at Farabi Cinema Foundation for eight years before forming Iranian Independents in 1997. He acted as Director of International Affairs for Khaneh Cinema for two years; was Senior Editor of Film International from 1997–2001; and is a journalist and member of the Iranian Society of Film Critics and Writers. He is author of the book International Presentation of Iranian Cinema: 1979–2004; was producer and associate producer involved in the co-production and fundraising for Iranian films including The Circle (Jafar Panahi, 1999); is the Iranian member of the European Documentary Network (EDN0; and a representative of NETPAC (Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema) in Iran.

PHILIP CHEAH (Singapore) - Board Director, Singapore International Film Festival

Philip Cheah is a film critic and is the editor of BigO, Singapore's only independent pop culture publication. He is board director of the Singapore International Film Festival; Honorary Secretary of NETPAC; and is currently program consultant for the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival, Seoul Asian Digital Film Festival, Osian's Cinefan Asian-Arab Film Festival and the Dubai International Film Festival. He is co-editor of the books, Garin Nugroho: And the Moon Dances; Noel Vera: Critic After Dark and Ngo Phuong Lan: Modernity and Nationality in Vietnamese Cinema.

ANNE DÉMY-GEROE (Australia) - Executive Director, Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF)

Anne Démy-Geroe is the Executive Director of the Brisbane International Film Festival, where she began as the inaugural Artistic Director in 1991. Her interest in Asian cinema has led to the establishment of the sole Australian NETPAC jury at BIFF and a FIPRESCI jury for Asia-Pacific cinema. BIFF also boasts the only Australian Film Festival for Young people and a focus on indigenous film.
Anne was an organiser for the Queensland Images Film Festival in 1989, has worked on the annual Queensland New Filmmakers Awards for many years, silent film festivals, and Queensland regional film festivals. She is a judge on the prestigious Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and a past Council Member of the National Film and Sound Archive. She has served on international juries from Hawaii to Tehran for NETPAC and others. In 2003, Anne was awarded an Australian Centenary Medal for services to the film industry. In her leisure time, Anne also ‘tries to play’ Japanese end-blown flute, the Shakuhachi.

RUSSELL EDWARDS (Australia) - Film Critic for Variety  

Russell Edwards is a Sydney-based film critic reviewing Asian and Australian films for leading international trade publication Variety. He was president of The Film Critics Circle of Australia from 2004 to 2006; is a regular attendee of Asia’s film festival circuit; and has been a FIPRESCI juror at the Pusan International Film Festival twice, including Jury Chairman in 2003. Russell Edwards’ main area of expertise is Korean and Japanese cinema; and he is well-versed in Australian and American film history. A board member of the Sydney Film Festival from 1996 to 1999, Russell also advised the now defunct Sydney Asia Pacific Film Festival from 1999 to 2004. Russell has also directed short films. His most recent film The Agreement (2006) played at numerous major festivals around the world and was screened on SBS Television.

MAITHILI RAO (India) - Author, Film Critic

Maithili Rao is a Bombay based freelance film critic who has written extensively for Indian and international publications including Man’s World, Hindu, Frontline, Cinema In India, Film Comment, International Film Guide and the website for the British Film Institute. Ms Rao is a regular contributor to the South Asian Cinema Foundation and is a member of its editorial board which includes well-known film critics, historians, filmmakers and people from the world of cinema in South Asia and the west. Rao has contributed chapters to several books on Indian Cinema: “Rebels without a cause” for the Encyclopaedia Britannica India volume on Hindi cinema;  “Heart of the Hindi Film” for Bollywood, Dakini publications, London;  "To be a Woman" for Frames of Mind, Indian Council for Cultural Relations; "Images of Women"  for Rasa , vol ii, edited by  Chidananda Das Gupta. Maithili Rao has served as a Jury member at the International Children’s Film Festival (Hyderabad), the Bombay Documentary Film Festival and served on the FIPRESCI Jury at the Sochi International Film Festival.

YUKA SAKANO (Japan)  - Head of International Relations, Kawakita Memorial Film Institute

Yuka Sakano is the primary Japanese correspondent for the Cannes International Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival. Ms Sakano has also served on the NETPAC jury for international festivals such as Karlovy Vary, Hawaii International and Locarno.  Yuka Sakano is the Head of International Relations at the Kawakita Memorial Film Institute. The Institute houses an extensive collection of film archives and serves as the foremost resource on Japanese film for international festivals and organisations.

XIE FEI (People's Republic of China) - Professor, Beijing Film Academy; Film Director

AZIZE TAN (Turkey) - Director, International Istanbul Film Festival; Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts

Azize Tan began her career as Subtitling Co-ordinator at the International Istanbul Film Festival in 1996 and went on to become the Co-ordinator of the Festival from 2000 to 2002 and then Assistant Director. She was also the Coordinator of the 5th, 6th and 7th International Istanbul Biennials.

ARUNA VASUDEV (India) - Founder-President, Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema; Founder-Director OSIAN’S CINEFAN

Aruna Vasudev is the Founder-President of NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema), Founder-Director of Cinefan, Festival of Asian Cinema, (now Osian’s-Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema) and Founder-Editor of Cinemaya, The Asian Film Quarterly (now Osian’s-Cinemaya). She is a Trustee of the Public Service Broadcasting Trust, India and of the newly constituted Forum for Art Beyond Borders, India; was conferred France’s top cultural award, the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres; and the Star of Italian Solidarity. She is the author of two books on Indian Cinema; editor and co-editor of several books on cinema and television, including Being & Becoming: The Cinemas of Asia and co-editor of Modernity and Nationality in Vietnamese Cinema by Ngo Phuong Lan (2007); and has been a jury member in Cannes (Camera d’Or), Locarno, Thessaloniki, Singapore, Fajr (Tehran), Karlovy Vary, Istanbul, Antalya, Hawaii, Jeonju (Korea), Tallinn (Estonia) and many more.