HOU Hsiao Hsien

Hou Hsiao Hsien established himself as a leading feature of the Taiwan New Wave in the last decade. Born in Mainland China, he moved to Taiwan in 1948. Hou studied filmmaking at the National Taiwan Academy of Arts and made his directional debut with the film Cute Girls in 1980. His autobiographical film The Time to Live and The Time to Die (1985) won the International Critics’ Award at Berlin in 1985 and named the best film outside of Europe and America by the International Film Festival of Rotterdam. Through Dust in the Wind, Daughter of The Nile, he was gradually known as the most innovative filmmakers of the world. IN 1989, his A City of Sadness won the coveted Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. In 1993, his masterpiece The Puppetmaster won the Jury prize in Cannes. He has helped other directors to make their film as producer.

Nonzee NIMIBUTR

Nonzee Nimibutr earned a B.A in Visual Communication at Silpakorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. He started his career in the entertainment industry by directing music videos and television commercials in 1974. In 1997, he made his feature debut with the award-winning film, Dang Bireley’s & Young Gangster which earned him the Grand Prize from the 19th Festival International de Film Independent, Bruxelles. He later made the award-winning film, Nang Nak in 1999, and produced two Thai films. In 2001, he directed Jan Dara funded by Applause Pictures, a company based in Hong Kong.

Peter van BUEREN

Peter van Bueren was born in Amsterdam in 1942 and he is still living there. He studied political and social science and has written about film since 1963. Since 1974 he has been staff writer in De Volkskrant, the Dutch daily that among others is sponsoring the International Film Festival of Rotterdam. He is a co-founder and for many years president of the Dutch association of film critics, and for some years also a member of the board of FIPRESCI, the international organization of film critics. He has been a jury member at many festivals. .

Paul CLARK

Paul Clark teaches Chinese film, culture and language at the University of Aukland, New Zealand. A pioneer in the study of Chinese film history, his current research is on China’s Fifth-generation filmmakers and the cultural history of the Cultural Revolution. Clark is a program advisor to the New Zealand International Film Festival. For ten years at the Hawaii International Film Festival he helped introduce Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou and others to world audiences. His Harvard PhD (1983) was the first scholarly study of Chinese film after 1949 in English or Chinese. He is also author of a book in New Zealand Maori history.

YUN Chung-Hi

Yun Chung-Hi is one of the most important actresses of Korean cinema. Born in 1944, she graduated from Chung-Ang University and the University of Paris, 3(Master of Art). Yun made her screen debut in 1967 with Theatre of Youth and since then starred in more than 300 films including The Mist and Jar-Making Old Man. She received Best Actress Award at the Asian Film Festival. In addition, she received the Great Bell Award (Korean equivalent of the Oscar) three times, Blue Dragon Award seven times, and more. She was a junior at Montreal Film Festival and Deauville Film Festival. Yun is now living in Paris, France.