Amos Poe (USA) President

Amos Poe, filmmaker and screenwriter, lives in New York City and Florence, Italy. He is one of the leading figures of the No Wave Cinema movement (1975-1985) that grew out of the bustling East Village music and art scene, and he is considered by many to be the father of the modern independent American cinema. His filmography includes: The Blank Generation  (1976), Unmade Beds  (1976), The Foreigner  (1978), Subway Riders  (1981), Alphabet City  (1984), Rocket Gibraltar  (1988), Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole  (1991), Dead Weekend  (1995), Frogs for Snakes  (1998), Empire II  (2007) and The Guitar  (2008). He teaches screenwriting and film production at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts; his latest plans include www.pianospecs.com, an online proactive ad platform for filmmakers, designers and artists.

Gianni Rondolino (Italy)

Gianni Rondolino was born in Turin in 1932. Previously professor in Cinema History and Criticism at Turin University, he is now an associate at Turin’s Academy of Science, vice president of the National Cinema Archive of the Resistance and a member of the review board for the Storia del cinema italiano – edited by the Foundation Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and the Federico Fellini Foundation. Furthermore, he is the founder, director and president of the Turin Film Festival. He is the author of several books, including: Storia del cinema d’animazione  (1974, 2003), Storia del cinema  (1977, various editions), Luchino Visconti  (1981, 2006), Roberto Rossellini  (1989, 2006), Cinema e musica  (1991, 1998). He is also a regular contributor to the Italian daily newspaper «La Stampa».

Joana Vicente (Portugal)

Joana Vicente has produced over thirty films by such acclaimed directors as Stephen Soderbergh, Jim Jarmusch and Brian De Palma. In 1996 she co-founded Open City Films in partnership with Jason Kliot as well as HDNet Films, Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner’s highdefinition production studio. Her films have garnered numerous awards, including an Oscar nomination for Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. Open City’s latest release, Awake, starring Jessica Alba and Hayden Christiansen, opened at number 5 in the US box office. With HDNet Films she produced features and documentaries shot digitally, all distributed by Magnolia Pictures. The most recent HDNet productions premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival are: Quid pro Quo  starring Vera Farmiga and Nick Stahl and Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, a documentary narrated by Johnny Depp. Other past HDNet Films releases include Redacted, Broken English  and Bubble. Prior to HDNet, Vicente and Kliot founded the US’s first digital production company, Blow Up Pictures, which enjoyed a successful run of low-budget digital films including Chuck & Buck, Lovely & Amazing and Series7.