Based in Rome Italy, Pezzuto works primarily as a film selector, specialising in festivals that are dedicated to the documentary. He is theDocumentary Consultant for Giornate degli Autori (Venice Days) at the Venice International Film Festival; member of the selection committee for Filmmaker film festival in Milan; and responsible for the selection and programming of the Salinadocfest in Salina, in Sicilian coast island . He is also a project selector for Milan’s Film Network Atelier, the first funding body of its kind in Italy to support feature
films in the post-production phase. Always within the field of documentary films, he acts as a consultant and collaborator both on projects in development by young filmmakers, with Italian production houses. He also writes for numerous film magazines, and has contributed essays to various publications.

Kamla Abou Zekry is an accomplished Egyptian director known for her outstanding work in both television and cinema. Her portfolio includes iconic productions such as «Bent Esmaha Zaat, Segn El Nisaa, Wahed Sefr and the widely acclaimed series Betloo El Room. Her films have garnered international acclaim, featuring prominently at festivals like Cannes, Venice, and Cairo.

Bahaa Trabelsi, a multifaceted talent, transitioned from economics to become a culture journalist and prolific writer. With seven published works including
novels and short stories, she has received prestigious awards like the Ivoire Prize for African Literature. Trabelsi’s contributions extend to the Cinematographic Aid Fund commission, where she served from 2019 to 2021, and she currently holds the position of president.

Christoph Thoke, a German producer and film impresario, transitioned from corporate management in a German film and TV studio to independent production in the early 2000s. As a producer, he has contributed to national and international movie productions, earning over 950 festival selections and 200 awards. Working with acclaimed directors like Rachid Bouchareb and Bruno Dumont, his films have competed in Cannes, Venice, and Berlin, and garnered nominations for major awards. With 36 titles produced across 44 countries, his work includes Cannes prizewinners like Lorna’s Silence and Tropical Malady, hailed by critics and listed among BBC’s «new classics» and Sight and Sound’s «100 Greatest Films of All Time.» Apart from producing, Thoke serves as an expert and consultant for international programs and evaluates for European media institutions. He’s also a regular jury member for FBW and an honorary professor at IAFM in Dhaka since 2022.

Born in Nazareth, Elia Suleiman is a renown palestinian film director. While living in New York from 1981 to 1993, he directed his first two short films: Introduction to the End of an Argument and Homage by Assassination, winning numerous awards. In 1994, he settled down in Jerusalem, where the European Commission had entrusted him with the mission of creating a Film and Media Department at Birzeit University. His first feature film, Chronicle of a Disappearance, won the Best First Film Prize at the 1996 Venice Film Festival. After a career full of success, fast forward to his last feature film titled It Must Be Heaven which won the Jury Special Mention in Cannes in 2019, and the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize of the Cannes Film Festival. Elia Suleiman received The European Achievement in World Cinema in 2022; an Honorary Doctorate from UcLouvain Belgium in February 2023, and is currently serving as artistic advisor for the Doha Film Institute.

Guslagie MALANDA debuted in the cinema in 2014, in the film “My friend Victoria” by Jean Paul CIVEYRAC, in which she played the main role of Victoria, alongside Pascal GREGGORY. The story is an adaptation of a short story “Victoria and the Staveneys” by British author Doris LESSING .
In 2021, she works under the direction of Alice DIOP, in her film “Saint Omer”, where she plays the role of Laurence Coly, accused of having killed her fifteen-month-old daughter by abandoning her on a beach in the north of France. For this role, she was nominated for the 2023 César in the Best Actress category and the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards in the 2023 Best Supporting Actress category.
In February 2023, she received the Best Actress award at the 20th International Cinephile Society Awards.
She will be starring in Bertrand BONELO’s next film, La Bête, alongside Léa SEYDOUX.

Simone Bitton is a Franco-Moroccan author and director of documentary films. She has directed several feature-length documentaries. ZIYARA (2020), MUR (2004), and RACHEL (2009). She has also directed numerous historical films and series for television such as Ben Barka, The Moroccan Equation; Mahmoud Darwich, The Earth Like The Language; Waited For Him; Palestine, History Of A Land; The Great Voices Of Arabic Song…. In different styles, ranging from archive editing to cinematic meditation through intimate investigation, essay, road movie, writer or musician portrait, these films demonstrate a human and professional commitment to a better understanding of current events, history and cultures of North Africa and the Middle East. His commitment is also that of formal rigor and an assumed personal perspective.

SILVIA SCOLA is an Italian Author and screenwriter. Daughter of the Italian director Ettore Scola, she was also his screenwriting student in his screenwriting course at the «Centro Studi Comunicazione» in Rome, she made her debut in 1985 with a short film directed by Francesca Archibugi “Il vestito più bello”. Since then she has written many radio dramas, theatrical comedies, TV movies, screenplays for cinema and narrative documentaries. Some of her works in scriptwriting are CHE STRANO CHIAMARSI FEDERICO by Ettore Scola (2013), SK by Nicola Ragone (2014), and Ritratto di un regista all’italiana by Paola and Silvia Scola (2015). She received many awards for her work such as Nastro d’argento «Best Documentary» to RIDENDO E SCHERZANDO Ritratto di un regista all’italiana di Paola and Silvia Scola (2016) and Nastri d’argento «Special Mention» to the docufilm IL SEGRETO DI OTELLO by Francesco Ranieri Martinotti (2016).

Born in Romania, Radu Mihaileanu fled his country in 1980 during the Ceausescu dictatorship to take refuge in France. In Paris, he studied cinema at IDHEC, then worked as an assistant director. In 1993, he released Trahir, his first feature film as a director and screenwriter. The film won several awards. Train de vie, his second feature film, was an international success. After meeting Ethiopian immigrants in Israel, he directed, co-wrote, and co-produced Va, vis et deviens in 2005, winning the César for best original screenplay the following year. Fast forward to 2016, L’Histoire de l’Amour was released on the screens, which he directed, co-wrote, and co-produced, based on the novel by Nicole Kraus. Radu Mihaileanu was made a knight, an officer in the Order of Arts and Letters in 2007 and 2014, and a knight of the Legion of Honor on July 14, 2011. From 2009 to 2011, he was President of the ARP and again re-elected from 2017 to 2019.

Chadia Khadir is a producer and TV presenter with over 26 years of experience in audiovisual media, including news, production, and presenting cultural and cinema programs.
Former director of the second national channel and currently responsible for the cultural programs of the first and second national channels of Tunisia.
She holds a master’s degree in cultural business administration from Dauphin University and a research master’s degree in media and communication sciences from the Institute of Journalism and News Sciences. She is also a member of the Tunisian Press Council.
She participated in many specialized forums in Tunisia and abroad and also published many writings.

Dr. Rachid Naim is a Moroccan film critic, and journalism professor at Cadi Ayyad University, Safi. He is the founder and artistic director of “Les Journées Cinématographiques de Safi” He is also a member of the Moroccan Association of Film Critics (AMCC), the African Federation of Film Critics (AFFC), and the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI).
Dr. Naim publishes periodically articles and books about topics linked to cinema, representation, and art. He also frequently participates as a lecturer in festivals and seminars around the world.