Mohsen MAKHMALBAF

Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf is one of the world’s most influential filmmakers and a founder of the Iranian New Wave Cinema. He has received over 50 awards at international film festivals for his work, including Gabbeh (1996), A Moment of Innocence (1996), The Silence (1998), Kandahar (2001), and The President (2014). His film Kandahar was chosen as one of “All-TIME 100 Movies” by TIME magazine, and A Moment of Innocence (1996) was selected as one of 10 best films of the 1990s amongst directors of international film festivals. As a filmmaker with great influence over Iranian cinema, Makhmalbaf has dedicated the last decade working towards the growth of Afghan and Tajikistani cinema and continues to do so tirelessly.

FUJIOKA Asako

Fujioka Asako has worked at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival since 1993. After working as a programmer, she became the director of the Tokyo office and is now serving as the vice-chair of the board. Since 2009, Fujioka began organizing film workshops around Asia as the head of Documentary Dream Center (DD Center), and in 2018 launched a filmmakers’ residency program called Yamagata Documentary Dojo. As a producer, Fujioka Asako has worked on multiple documentaries including Nude at Heart (2021), and continues to support documentary filmmaking practices, global conversations around Japanese films, and audience outreach.

Jéro YUN

Born in Busan, Jéro Yun studied art, photography, and film at the Fine Arts School in Nancy, the National Decorative Arts School in Paris, and Le Fresnoy in Tourcoing, France. In 2011, he directed Promise (2011), a short film, and won a Grand Prize at the Asiana International Short Film Festival 2011. He then participated in the Cannes Film Festival’s residence program and wrote screenplays for feature films. His documentary film Mrs. B., A North Korean Woman (2016) and short film Hitchhiker (2016) were invited to Cannes Film Festival 2016, and his debut feature Beautiful Days (2018) was selected as the opening film of Busan International Film Festival 2018. His second feature film Fighter (2020) was invited to Berlin International Film Festival 2021. He also directed Song Hae 1927 (2021), a documentary film about the late entertainer Song Hae, which was invited to Busan International Film Festival 2020.