Tahani Rached
Born in Egypt, TahaniRached kicked off her career in Canada where she studied at Montreal’s School of Fine Arts. After a brief hiatus, Tahanipresented her directorial debut, Pour Faire Changement, in 1972, a documentary produced by Le Vidéographe.
In 1979, she made her first feature debut, Les Voleurs de Jobs, which was about immigrants in Quebec, Canada. The film was produced independently, and was followed by a series of six half-hour documentaries for Radio-Quebec on Quebec's Arab community. In 1980, Tahani started working for the National Film Board of Canada, as a staff Filmmaker. Her first film there was La PhonieFurieuse in 1982, a short humorous film about the Walkman phenomenon and people's tendency to isolate themselves from the outside world.
This was followed by a series of films including Beyrouth! Not Enough Death to Go Round in 1983, Haiti, Québec in 1985. Tahani's films participated in several international and local film festivals including Cannes International Film Festival in 2006, theIsmailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts, Festival International du Cinema Mediterraneen de Tetouan in Morocco, and the Arab Screen Independent Film Festival, London.

Paul Baboudjian
Started his career as Editor/DOP and Producer, working mainly in the television industry. He produced short films and documentary projects in various countries of the Mediterranean area, developing an international experience and reputation. Baboudjian went on to set up his own business in the Gulf region, contributing to building a stronger local film production environment. He actively contributed to the setup of Screen Institute Beirut and is strongly committed to promoting and developing an Arab screen culture that reflects the views, issues and interests of audiences and communities in the Arab world and to foster international collaboration and networks. Paul produced the award wining film “Chatti ya dini” – Director Bahij Hojeij (2010). The film won many regional and international awards, including the Black Pearl award during the Abu Dhabi film festival 2010.

Safinaz Bousiba
Safinaz Bousiba entered the world of Filmmaking in 2003 after several years working as an Architect. In 2004, she founded Quidam Productions, a Dublin-based company dedicated to finding untold stories and bringing them to the screen. She directed and produced several short and documentary films including X-Kids and El Gusto, a 3.25 $ million feature-length musical documentary edited by the Academy Award winner Francoise Bonnot (Titus, Frida and The Tempest), and was released in French cinemas. The film won the FIPRESCI 2011, and the Audience Award at Arabian Sights Film Festival in Washington D.C.
She formed the El Gusto Orchestra and produced a series of concerts in legendary venues worldwide including the Barbican (London), Bercy (Paris), Théâtre du Gymnase (Marseille) and L'opéra d'Alger (Algeria). Safinaz reaped several awards including the Best New Director in the Arab World from the Abu Dhabi International Film Festival.

Kasim Abid
Kasim Abid is a Cameraman, Director and Producer of Iraqi origins and has been living in London since 1982. He holds a Diploma in Arts from the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, and MA from Moscow Film Institute VGIK. He worked as a cameraman for Channel 4, BBC and other British satellite stations. For five years, Abid worked first as Head of the Documentary programmes at Arab TV channel MBC, and then as the Head of the Camera Department at ANN TV. Kasim directed and produced several award-winning documentary films including Naji Al Ali:An Artist With Vision (London Arab Film Festival 2000), Surda Checkpoint (Iraqi Short Film Festival 2005) and Life After The Fall (Doc Fest Munich 2008).

In 2004, Kasim co-founded Independent Film and TV College in Baghdad, where he conducts media training for Iraqi film-makers. Recently, Kasim was a jury member at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2010. He was also appointed as the Festival Director of two festivals in Iraq; the Documentary Film Festival 2011 in Iraq and Baghdad Eye-Human Rights Film Festival in 2012.

Ahmad Abdullah
Born in 1979 in Egypt, Ahmad Abdaullah graduated from the Faculty of Music Education where he studied Classical Music in the nineties. Ahmad has been working as a Film Editor since 2003, editing a number of commercial Egyptian films. He directed Microphone and Heliopolis. Ahmed has recently established Mashroua, an independent film production company with other young Egyptian filmmakers. His films won several awards from numerous film festivals including Istanbul International Film Festival 2011, where his Microphone film won the Golden Tulip award, Cairo International Film Festival 2010, Carthage Film Festival 2010, Dubai International Film Festival 2010 and El Festival de Cine Africano de Tarifa 2011.

Michelle Driguez
Michèle Driguez- Jury President Born in 1953 in Algeria, Michèle studied Film, Theater and Spanish in Paul-Valéry University of Montpellier, France. She has been a team member of the International Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier since 1979. Ten years later, the event opened a Feature Film Competition, followed by a Short Film Competition in 1990. Since then, Michèle is in charge of the of Cinemed Short Section.
She combines her work with various activities, all of which are related to film and the Mediterranean: a Juror in many international film festivals, a Facilitator and Trainer for organizations and associations dealing with visual image education. She also worked as a Film Critic for different media outlets, a Programmer for other festivals and events, and a Lecturer at the Paul-Valéry University of Montpellier in the Performing Arts and Cinema Department.

Chadi Zeneddine
Chadi Zeneddine is a Resident Filmmaker and one of the main Programmers at the Doha Film Institute. As a Programmer, he is passionate about artists engaging in unique visual dialogues and recognizing undiscovered talent and courageous Filmmakers who continually push boundaries. Chadi directed his first feature, Falling from Earth, which has been selected for over 50 film festivals.
The development of another feature is one of his many projects currently underway including Disney's The Last of the Storytellers. Born and raised in Gabon, Africa, he received his Masters in Film Studies in Beirut, Lebanon. Subsequently, Zeneddine pursued, for 2 years, his PhD in Paris, France, and has been granted the Cultural Leader Fellowship by the Japan Foundation.

Sherif El Bendary
Born in Cairo, 1978, Sherif El Bendary graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts in 2001, and later in 2002 studied cinema directing at the Higher Institute for Cinema and received his diploma in 2007. Sherif has worked as an Assistant Director on several feature films and commercials. His directorial debut is 6 Girls, a documentary that was awarded Best Documentary at Student Film Festival - Goethe Institute 2006. The film has also participated in Dubai International Film Festival 2005.
This was followed by his first short fiction, Sabah El Fol (Rise and Shine), which is produced by the Egyptian Film Center. The film was officially selected in more than 75 film festivals in 33 countries and won 15 awards. El Bendary's second short was his graduation project At Day's End, which is produced by the Higher Institute for Cinema in 2008. Sherif directed Curfew, a chapter that was part of the collective feature 18 Days. The film was an official selection in Cannes 2011 and many other festivals. Sherif’s latest film is the documentary Fil Tarik Le West El Balad and he is recently selected as a jury member at the Shorts and Animations Competition within the Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts. In the meantime, he's working on the script of his first feature Two Rooms and a Parlor.