Sylvia CHANG

One of Asia's most celebrated actresses and female directors, Sylvia Chang built her career for the past four decades as an actress, writer, producer, singer and director. Starring in over 100 films, she won numerous Taipei Golden Horse Awards and Best Actress award at the Hong Kong Film Awards. With her directorial debut in the 1980s, Chang has managed a total of 10 films including 20 30 40 (2004) nominated for the Golden Bear at the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival, and Murmur of the Hearts (2015), which screened as the opening film for the 2015 Hong Kong International Film Festival. Chang's films are characterized by their strong portrayals of women from various walks of life. She has helped introduce new filmmakers like Ann Hui and Edward Yang as a producer for debut features and continues to discover new talent.

Anurag KASHYAP

Anurag Kashyap made an early mark as a writer with the gritty, raw gangster film Satya (1998) directed by Ram Gopal Verma. In 1999, he wrote and directed a short film Last Train to Mahakali (1999) and made his directorial debut with Paanch (2000). This was followed by the acclaimed Black Friday, based on the 1993 Bombay bombings. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. His other works include Dev D which received widespread acclaim chiefly due to the film's fearless visual style, its experimental soundtrack and its innovative narrative structure, No Smoking (2007), Return of Hanuman (2007), Gulaal (2009), That Girl in Yellow Boots (2010) and Gangs of Wasseypur (I & II) (2012). He served as a jury member for the Venice International Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival, and the Marrakech International Film Festival. In 2013, he has been honored by the French government and been conferred the “Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) on the filmmaker at a ceremony held in the Palais des Festivals.

KIM Tae-yong

With his feature debut Memento Mori (1999), Director Kim Tae-yong opened new opportunities for Korean cinema. He received various awards including the Golden Alexander award at the 2006 Thessaloniki International Film Festival with Family Ties (2006), his second feature film with a unique story structure that captivated the audience. Late Autumn (2011) was also acknowledged for the subtle progress of portraying the two characters transcending a language barrier and opening up to each other. Moreover, Kim expanded his work in various fields including films, documentaries, and theater. He recently joined the restoration project of Crossroads of Youth (1934), recreating the oldest Korean silent film into a live variety show with live narration and musical accompaniment.

Nastassja KINSKI

Nastassja Kinski, a renowned German actress, began working as a model in her teen years and built her career as an actress since her role in director Wim Wenders’ The Wrong Move (1975). Her first major role in a popular German TV series Tatort (1977) and Stay as You Are (1978) announced her presence. Kinski received the Golden Globe Award with Tess (1979) by director Roman Polanski, and the film also won three awards out of six nominations at the 1981 Academy Awards. She extended her career to the United States and Europe with Maria’s Lovers (1984), Paris, Texas (1984), Faraway, So Close! (1993), Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), An American Rhapsody (2001) and most recently The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars (2012).

Stephanie ZACHAREK

Stephanie Zacharek is the chief film critic at the Village Voice. From 1999 to 2010, she was a writer and film critic for Salon.com, an online website offering in-depth criticisms on social, political and cultural issues in general. Her writing on books and pop culture has also appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Newsday, and Sight and Sound. She is a contributor to A New Literary History of America, published by Harvard University Press in 2009, and her essay on Paul Greengrass' United 93 was included in the 2008 anthology American Movie Critics: From the Silents Until Now, edited by Philip Lopate. She is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics, and was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

DU Haibin

Born in Xian, China, Du Haibin studied cinematography in the Beijing Film Academy followed by an interest in film, photography, and broadcasting. His most well-known work Along the Railway (2001) received Special Mention at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival and Stone Mountain (2006) that deals with the workers’ life in the quarry far from China was selected for the 2005 Busan International Film Festival’s AND Dongseo Asia Fund. A story about the survivors of the Sichuan earthquake, 1428 won the best documentary in the Orizzonti section of the 2009 Venice International Film Festival. Du is currently recognized as one of the most active documentary directors in China.

Doris HEGNER

Born in Germany, Doris Hegner majored in sociology, furthermore studies in psychology, political science and philosophy at Free University Berlin. Since 1991, she has worked as a program coordinator at the Department of Visual Arts / Film at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, a place for international contemporary arts and a forum for current developments and discourse. The cultural institution presents artistic productions from around the world, with a special focus on nonEuropean cultures and societies. And in 2008, as a director, she has curated African Screens, and in 2009, the annual retrospectives “Première Brasil”, “Korean Cinema Today” and more at HKW.

KIM Dong-ryung

Kim Dong-ryeong majored in English literature and graduated from the Korean Academy of Film Arts. Her first feature documentary American Alley (2008), a feature-length documentary about foreign women working as entertainers in the US military camp sites, was invited to the Busan International Film Festival and won the Ogawa Shinsuke Prize at the 2009 Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. Her second feature Tour of Duty (2012) co-directed by Park Gyeong-tae screened at the Busan International Film Festival, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMa), and also won the Special Prize for the International Competition section for the first time in Korea at the 2013 Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival.

Claudette GODFREY

Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Claudette graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in Film and began her career at SXSW in 2006 as an enthusiastic volunteer. She is currently responsible for the curation of the 10 short film programs that the festival screens each year, overseeing film submissions to the festival, and managing the big picture event. Godfrey previously worked as a Corporate Relations Coordinator at the CineVegas Film Festival and served as a Shorts Programmer for the Alamo Drafthouse's Fantastic Fest.

KIM Ho-jung

Kim Ho-jung, who recently stars actively in various platforms, is a well-established talented actress in theater. Her impressive performances on stage lead to various awards at the Baeksang Arts Awards. Kim’s breakthrough came with The Butterfly (2001) which was awarded the Bronze Leopard Award (Best Actress Award) with at the 2001 Locarno International Film Festival. In Revivre (2014), a film by Im Kwontaek which was invited to Venice, Toronto, Busan and other prestigious international film festivals, Kim gave an impassioned performance that included an extreme weight loss regime and a head shave. She won worldwide acclaim from critics and audience, and received the Best Supporting Actress at the Baeksang Arts Awards for this film,

SUWA Nobuhiro

Suwa Nobuhiro was born in Hiroshima, Japan and came to the forefront with his directorial debut, 2/Duo (1997) which received the NETPAC Awards at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and awarded in the Dragons & Tigers section at the Vancouver International Film Festival. His second film M/Other (1999) won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and Woosuk Award at Jeonju International Film Festival while A Perfect Couple (2005) received the Special Jury Prize and the C.I.C.A.E Award at the 2004 Locarno Film Festival. Under the influence of nouvelle vague, Suwa Nobuhiro produces innovative and unpredictable work that influences many cineastes.

PARK Joong-Hoon

After graduating from Department of theater and film of Chung-Ang University and receiving the Master’s degree in the graduate school of New York University, Park Joong-Hoon started his career as an actor in Kam-bo (1986), followed by numerous box office hits including Two Cops (1993) and How to Top My Wife (1994). He won the Best Actor at the 2000 Baeksang Arts Awards with Nowhere to Hide and the Best Leading Actor of Blue Dragon Film Awards with Radio Star (2006). Park Joong-Hoon was invited to the 2013 Busan International Film Festival with his directorial debut film Top Star in the Korean Cinema Today-Panorama section.

MOON Sori

Moon Sori began receiving attention with A Peppermint Candy (2000) by Lee Chang-dong and showed outstanding performance in Oasis (2002) by Lee Chang-dong, which earned her the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actress at the 2002 Venice Film Festival and Best New Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards. She also showed a shocking performance in Im Sangsoo's A Good Lawyer's Wife winning the Best Actress at the 2004 DAEJONG Film Awards. Her other works include Forever the Moment (2008), Hahaha (2010), The Spy: Undercover Operation (2012). Also she became the first Korean actress invited as a jury member of the Locarno International Film Festival. Moon Sori will attend the 20th Busan International Film Festival as a director with her third short film The Best Director.