France

Suhaib Gasmelbari was born in 1979, in Sudan, where he lived until the age of 16. He attended Cinema Studies in France at the University of Paris VIII. He has written and directed several short films, both fiction and documentary. He is also a researcher and was able to find long-lost Sudanese films, and actively takes part in saving and digitizing the works of Sudanese cinema.

Rithy Panh is a Cambodian documentary film director and screenwriter. He was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He graduated from the university known as La Fémis in Paris. His ouvre focuses on the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. Rithy Panh co-founded the Bophana Center in Phnom Penh, an audiovisual center focusing on restoring and protecting the Cambodian audiovisual heritage.

Hubert Sauper was born in Austria and has been based in France. Sauper is known for his socio-political documentary films, which have garnered major international prizes, including at Berlin, Venice, Sundance, the European Film Academy Award, the Austrian Academy Award and the French “Cesar." He received an Academy Award nomination for Darwin's Nightmare (2004), a documentary spotlighting the environmental impact of the fishing industry in the fragile Tanzanian ecosystem. He received the Special Jury Award at Sundance with We Come as Friends (2014), which focuses on the war conflict among the Sudanese. Sauper has worked as a visiting professor at many film schools and universities around the world.

Nicolas Champeaux was Radio France Internationale’s special correspondent based in Johannesburg between 2007 and 2010. He was appointed reporter-at-large for the radio station’s Africa service. He left RFI in October 2017 to pursue a freelance career. Champeaux has written and produced several radio documentaries, and the web documentary, Sur les traces de Boko Haram.

Dea Gjinovci is a Swiss-Albanian director/producer with a background in economics and anthropology. She is a 2019 Sundance Talent Forum alumna and a 2019 Film Independent Fellow. Her documentary short Sans le Kosovo (2017) screened at several international festivals and won Best National Film at Dokufest International Film Festival. Her debut feature-length documentary, Wake Up on Mars (2020), received support from the Sundance Film Institute and Ford Foundation JustFilms, and won the “Perspectives d’un doc” pitch award at Visions du Réel 2018. In June 2018, she co-founded Amok Films with fellow filmmaker Antoine Goldet, in Paris.

A Jordanian director and producer with Palestinian roots, Dina Naser graduated with a BA in Art and Graphic Design. In 2013, she received the DocNomads scholarship to pursue a Master's Degree in Documentary Filmmaking. Naser’s devotion for documenting is inspired by seemingly ordinary people and stories that spring from her homeland in Palestine.

Born in Syria, Saeed Al Batal is a citizen journalist, photographer and filmmaker. He has led numerous trainings in photography and news reporting, and has worked as a reporter on current affairs in Syria for agencies, radio stations and institutions worldwide. He is one of the founders of the online gallery, Sam Lenses, and the Humans of Syria project.

Born in Syria, Saeed Al Batal is a citizen journalist, photographer and filmmaker. He has led numerous trainings in photography and news reporting, and has worked as a reporter on current affairs in Syria for agencies, radio stations and institutions worldwide. He is one of the founders of the online gallery, Sam Lenses, and the Humans of Syria project.

A Jordanian director and producer with Palestinian roots, Dina Naser graduated with a BA in Art and Graphic Design. In 2013, she received the DocNomads scholarship to pursue a Master's Degree in Documentary Filmmaking. Naser’s devotion for documenting is inspired by seemingly ordinary people and stories that spring from her homeland in Palestine.

Benoit Felici is a French-Italian filmmaker. He graduated from the Zelig Film School in Italy. His film, Unfinished Italy, is a journey into the remains of incomplete buildings and infrastructure scattered throughout rural Italy. In The Real Thing, Benoit focuses on architectural replicas, and explores the reality of life in fake surroundings.