Biennale College Cinema – International
Tutors
Group leaders
Michel Kammoun
Michel Kammoun studied filmmaking in Paris after architecture studies in Beirut. His short films have participated in prestigious international festivals and have been widely broadcasted. His debut feature film, Falafel, won top international awards, participated in major film festivals worldwide and earned international acclaim. His upcoming feature film, Beirut Hold’em, will be released in 2022. Michel teaches directing and screenwriting at the Lebanese University, Faculty of Fine Arts and at the Academie Libanaise des Beaux Arts, Beirut. He’s a frequent collaborator at the Ecole Superieure d’Etudes Cinematographiques, Paris. Michel is currently working on his third feature film, The Brother.
Michele Turnure Salleo
As Producer at Feracious Entertainment, Michele Turnure-Salleo develops, finances and produces independent films. Executive Producer/Co-Executive Producer credits include; FAREWELL AMOR (Sundance 2020), BEFORE YOU KNOW IT (Sundance 2019), THE SOUND OF SILENCE (Sundance 2019) and BUOYANCY (Berlinale 2019). BUOYANCY won Best Indie Film at The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards 2019 and was Australia’s submission for Best International Feature at the 2020 Oscars. Turnure-Salleo is also Executive Producer on BLUEBACK and STRANGER WITH A CAMERA both of which are in post-production. In addition to her work at Feracious Entertainment, Turnure-Salleo is also a Development Mentor for Biennale College Cinema and Attagirl Labs, an external Development Assessor for Film Victoria and Adjunct Film professor at CCA in San Francisco. Previously, whilst at S.F Film Society (now SFFilm) Turnure-Salleo was instrumental in developing filmmakers who are defining today’s generation of film and television storytellers including Ryan Coogler, Chloe Zhao, Boots Riley and Ben Zeitlin.
Meinolf Zurhorst
After studies of science of film and theatre, history of art, ethnology and philosophy, work as a film critic and author of several books about actors and cinema. Producer, writer and director of several documentaries mainly for German TV. Since 1992 commissioning editor for cinema at ARTE G.E.I.E., 1994 head of the cinema department. 2000 named as head of the cinema department at ZDF/arte, 2016-2019 head of fiction at ZDF/arte. For ZDF/arte co-, executive- or associate-producer of more than 100 movies by directors like Lars von Trier, Bent Hamer, Carlos Reygadas, Bela Tarr, Aki Kaurismäki, Yesim Ustaoglu, Michelangelo Frammartino, Jessica Hauser, Barbara Albert, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and many others. Since 2019 work as tutor and expert/consultant for drama series and movies. Developing a limited series.
Jury member at several festivals, member of the selection committee of the Luxembourg Film Fund.
Producer tutors
Amra Baksic Camo
Amra is one of the founders of SCCA/pro.ba, independent film, video
and TV production from Sarajevo. She has produced and coproduced awarded short films and art videos, documentaries, TV programs and feature films. For 17 years, she is head of the CineLink, regional co-production market, work in progress and project development workshop of Sarajevo Film Festival. She is a member of ACE and EAVE networks and member EFA. Since the beginning of 2019, she is one of curators of Torino Film Lab.Amra is working at the Academy of Preforming Arts in Sarajevo, Production Department as a lecturer.
Agustina Chiarino
Agustina Chiarino is a renowned Uruguayan producer with more than fifteen Latin American feature films released in the most prestigious film festivals worldwide, that have obtained more than 100 international prizes and have been released in over 30 territories. ABA in Communication Studies, with a Technical Degree in Political Sciences and an MFA in Creative Documentary, she has produced feature and shortfilms, music and corporate videos and documentaries in Mexico, Barcelona and Uruguay. She joined CONTROLZFILMS and laterco-founded MUTANTECINE with Fernando Epstein. She produced The Disciple of Speed directed by M. Calderón (RotterdamIFF); A. Bíniez’sGigante (threeawardsatBerlinalecompetition),El 5 (VeniceDays) andTheWaves (SanSebastiánIFF);P. toll’sHiroshima (TorontoIFF) and 3 (CannesFilmFestival,Quinzaine);A. GuevaraandL. Jorge’s SomuchWater (BerlinaleIFF) and Alelí (ChicagoIFF); the documentary feature Madness On Air, directed by A. Canoand L. Cuba as well as BOSCO (IDFA) by A.Cano. Sheco-producedB. Nahistat’sHistoryOfFear (BerlinaleCompetition),A. Katz’sMyFriendFromThePark (SundanceIFF,ScreenwritingJuryAward),G. Pizzi’sLoveling (SundanceIFF),M. Martinessi’sTheHeiresses (fourawardsatBerlinalecompetition) andA. Landes’sMonos (SundanceIFF,SpecialJuryAward). For 8 years she was in charge of developing new projects and co-productions at Uruguay’s TV Channel 10. Furthermore, she has taught coursesatvarious Uruguayan universities and EICTV in Cuba. In addition to tutoring workshops at BiennaleCollege, BrLab, BiobioLabandPUENTES–of which she is a co-organizer alongside EAVE international–, she has been a project evaluator at the Torino Scriptlab, INCAA’s Incubator, the Doha Film Institute, Sundance Instituteamongothers. Sheispartofthepre-selectioncommitteeatSanSebastián’sCo-productionForum. She has been ajury member at international film festivals such as San Sebastián, BAFICI, Miami, Málaga, Locarno and Cartagena.
Mike Ryan
Mike S. Ryan is the bold independent producer behind such remarkable and ground-breaking art-house films as Todd Solondz’s Palindromes and Life During Wartime, Bela Tarr’s Turin Horse, Phil Morrison’s Junebug, Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy and Meek’s Cutoff, Rick Alverson’s The Comedy and Jake Mahaffy’s Free in Deed.
Mike S. Ryan is president of GREYSHACK FILMS and a veteran of the independent film community. He started out as a Location Manager in the industry’s 1990’s heyday with films like Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm and Todd Haynes’ Far from Heaven. As a producer and executive producer, he has helped realize many ground-breaking films in the last twenty years, most made for under $3 million. He was nominated for an Independent Spirit “Producer of the Year” Award, and was one of Variety’s 2007 “10 Producers to Watch.” His films have garnered nominations and prizes from the Academy Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards, and many more.
He has taught workshops and given lectures at universities and festivals including Columbia, Yale, NYU, Bard, Sacred Heart, Emerson, the Atlantic Film Festival, VIFF, Indie Memphis, the San Francisco Film Society, and for the past several years has mentored as a Producer Leader at the Venice Biennale College and participated as a producer/mentor at EAVE PLUS in Luxembourg. An avid film lover, he writes criticism for the online site Hammer to Nail, which he cofounded with Ted Hope, and is a regular contributor to Filmmaker Magazine. As an EU passport holder and Irish citizen, Mike is available as a production services provider in both the European Union and US.
In 2020, Mike released three new films that were shot before Covid: The Artist’s Wife, starring Bruce Dern and Lena Olin, had its world premiere at Hamptons 2019 and went to streamers in 2020. . Faith, starring Brian Geraghty and Nora-Jane Noone, premiered at Indie Memphis Film Festival in late 2019 and is distributed by Vertical. Reunion, a new Jake Mahaffy film, featuring Julia Ormond and shot in New Zealand is distributed by MPI Additionally, Stay at Condor Beach, shot in 35mm Panavision, will finish post in 2021. Mike Currently has a new film for Shudder, Here Comes the Night that will shoot Winter 2022.
Script tutors
Christina Kallas
Christina Kallas is the New York based writer-director of critically-acclaimed ensemble dramas THE RAINBOW EXPERIMENT (2018) and 42 SECONDS OF HAPPINESS (2016) and the writer and producer of the John Hurt starring, Golden Berlin Bear nominated political thriller THE COMMISSIONER. THE RAINBOW EXPERIMENT was lauded as a ’21st Century Rashomon’ and debuted at Slamdance and Moscow Int’l Film Festivals in 2018. It had an impressive run at festivals such as Cinequest, Cleveland, St. Louis and FIRST Int’l FF in China, winning several accolades. In 2016, Kallas scored on the international film festival circuit with her award-winning feature, 42 SECONDS OF HAPPINESS. Prior credits as a producer include BBC Films’ hooligan drama, I.D. and the feature film MOTHERS directed by Milcho Manchevski, in official selection in Toronto and Berlin 2012. Her prior credits as a writer include European TV series hits EDEL&STARCK and DANNI LOWINSKI. Kallas has taught in several distinctive film programs over the years—including the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin, Columbia University’s School of the Arts, Barnard College and the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema—and is also known as author of books such as ‘Creative Screenwriting: Understanding Emotional Structure’ and ‘Inside the Writers’ Room.’ She was the President of the FSE, the European equivalent of the Writers Guild of America for eight consecutive years and has served as chair of committees, funds and subsidies in several countries, including the German Federal Film Board FFA and the Balkan Fund. Most recently she was a narrative features programmer for Slamdance Int’l FF and Head of Jury for the Emerging Director Award at the St. Louis Int’l FF. In 2019 she was nominated for Film Threat’s inaugural Award This! in the category of ‘Best Directress’ alongside Debra Granik, Josephine Decker, Jen McGowan, Angie Wang, Chloe Zhao and Mimi Leder. Kallas is a member of the European Film Academy and of the German Film Academy.
Marietta Von Hausswolff Von Baumgarten
Marietta is a Swedish screenwriter for film and TV, and an international script consultant whose work over the last 14 years includes Sundance Labs, Torino Film Lab, Binger (Amsterdam), Biennale College Venice (international and national), Feature Expanded (Manchester, Florens), Hezaya (Doha), Tiff Studio Toronto FF, Cinelink Drama Sarajevo, Bridging the Dragon, Talent Campus, Midpoint, Fly Film lab (Philippines, Korea), Locarno open doors and Myanmar Script Fund (Yangon). She has done script development in Russia, China, Mongolia, Nepal and with Pakistan. She’s been in international juries, such as CPH Dox (Denmark) and San Miguel (Mexico) main competitions. Marietta studied at Tisch School of Arts NYC and is a voting member of the European film Academy and longtime member of the Swedish Writers Guild. She has worked extensively with development and writing of TV-series. She was for example in the writer’s room and as episode writer for Adam Price’s (Borgen) new Netflix series Ragnarok. The films Marietta has consulted on have competed in film festivals all around the world – such as The Babadook, Nancy, Hunting Season, H, Diamond island, The Fits, Le Quattro Volte, Svinalängorna, Too late to die young, Children of Sarajevo, The Heiresses, Jesus, The Load, Mediterranea, Sole, Litigante, Pari, Costa Brava and others. Her feature film Call Girl won the Fipresci award in Toronto, competed in places like Torino, Palm Springs, Stockholm, Buenos Aires, and Taipei. Together with Anthea Devotta she founded the Write Retreat, the right place to write.
Françoise von Roy
Based in Berlin, Françoise von Roy works internationally as a script advisor on diverse projects, including genre, experimental, documentary and art film. Apart from consulting on individual productions, she has tutored for various initiatives, including Torino Film Lab, Venice Biennale Cinema College, Cinelink Sarajevo and consults regularly on projects selected by the German Ministry of Culture and Media (BKM) and Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film. She is an Affiliate Professor at the University of Malta and lectures and mentors at film and art academies: Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Dutch Film Academy, German Film and Television Academy in Berlin (dffb) and the International Film School in Cologne (ifs).Together with Franz Rodenkirchen she holds the bimonthly script development workshop Script Circle for writers and filmmakers and the yearly intensive workshop 6 Days of Practice for producers, development executives and others involved in script development. In 2020, she designed and lead a three part seminar Writing Cinema Today for filmmakers at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.
Françoise has worked in the film and television industry since the mid 90’s, in several areas of production and development. She holds an MA in Media Production and a BA in Film and Philosophy from the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.
Today, she is particularly interested in supporting writers and directors to deeply discover what and how they are seeking to express in their work and accompanying them in finding ways to capture this as clearly as possible in text before it migrates to the screen.
Visual Advisor
Alec Von Bargen
Alec Von Bargen (USA): Born in New York City, Alec Von Bargen studied Dramatic Arts, Art History and Photography. He has worked as an actor in productions screened at the Cannes, Berlin and Sundance film festivals, helmed by the likes of Robert de Niro, Francis Ford Coppola, Gary Walkow, Salim Nayar and Gabriel Beristain, among others. He has participated in television productions for both the US and the Latin markets, working fluently in both English and Spanish. He has produced, directed and written for the stage, film and television. He studied dramaturgy in Mexico City under renowned Mexican playwright Hugo Argüelles and at Oxford University, UK. He adapted the award-winning stage production of Closet Land (winner of Mexico’s FONCA grant) and wrote ‘Tarantata’ (Onassis Playwriting Competition Finalist, Greece).
Von Bargen is also a well-established visual artist, most recently exhibiting at the 54th and 56th editions of the Venice Biennale, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the OCAT Museum, Shanghai and Les Rencontres D’Arles Festival, France. His work has won numerous awards, the latest being the Aesthetica Art Prize, the BBA Photography Award, the International Fine Art Photographer Award in Paris, the IPA’s, the Terry O’Neill Award and the Pollux Awards, amongst others. His work is included in pubic and private collections worldwide.Alec is also a published author having had three of his photographic series published and a play for the theatre. His latest series ‘So.lil.o.quy’ saw him travel to 23 Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) missions around the globe.
Visualizer
Paul Tyler
2012 Paul Tyler (UK) set-up Handling Ideas to provide online & in-person story consultancy for writers, directors and producers around the world. His unique method for handling stories draws out the relationship between story, theme and audience. He brings years of experience developing & creating concepts, strategies & projects within the cultural, public & corporate sectors that all started with four years in theatre production and touring, followed by twelve years at the BBC, ending up as a TV producer and studio gallery director. Paul applies a highly developed analytical, creative & often humorous approach to reveal the complex ecosystems in which we work, rest and play. Paul is based in Copenhagen.
Pitch Trainer
Stefano Tealdi
Born in South Africa in 1955, he graduated in Architecture at the Politecnico di Torino in Italy. He co-founded Stefilm in 1985 where he develops, produces and at times directs, feature length films and documentary series. Stefilm’s internationally acclaimed films include MY HOME, IN LIBYA by Martina Melilli (Locarno FF 2018, Chicago IFF 2018, DOK Leipzig 2018). THE STRANGE SOUND OF HAPPINESS by Diego Pascal Pannarello (Special Mention DOK Leipzig Next Masters, 2017, Bergamo Film Meeting, CPH:Dox, HOT DOCS 2018, Premio della Critica, Festival Terra di Siena 2018, Special mention In-Edit Barcelona, Chile 2018); WONDERFUL LOSERS. A DIFFERENT WORLD by Arunas Matelis (a Lithuania, Italy, Belgium, Swiss, Latvia co-production – Best Doc Warsaw FF and, Minsk FF 2017, Best Doc Trieste FF 2018, Lithuanian candidate to the Academy Awards 2019); THE QUEEN OF SILENCE (Poland /Germany/ Italy, IDFA 2014, Docpoint 2014, best Doc Krakow FF 2015); CHAR, NO MAN’S ISLAND (India/ Japan/Italy/Denmark, Berlinale Forum 2013 + 30 awards); MOSTAR UNITED (IDFA 2009); VINYLMANIA (Goteburg IFF 2012, Sarajevo FF and IFF Rotterdam 2013); CITIZEN BERLUSCONI, nom. German Grimme Award 2004. EAVE graduate in 1992, he chaired the European Documentary Network EDN. He tutors for Fabrique Cinema, Ouaga Film Lab, Esodoc, Med Film Factory, Scuola Holden, Festival de 3 Continents, Zelig Film School and others.
Mary Stephen – editor
Born in Hong Kong, graduated from Communications Arts at Concordia University in Canada, Mary is based in Paris and was French New Wave director Eric Rohmer’s film editor and music co-composer, from « Winter’s Tale » to his last feature « The Romance of Astrea and Celadon ». She also worked extensively with fiction and documentary filmmakers from several continents as film editor, associate-producer or script advisor. A partial list of these include Yoïchiro Okutani’s “Nude at Heart” Japan-French (Arte) coproduction; Ann Hui’s « Love After Love » (Venice Biennale 2020 Life Achievement Award), « Our Time Will Come », “Septet, a story of Hong Kong” (Cannes 2020); Nicole Shafer’s « Buddha In Africa » (NHK Best Film and Youth Film Awards); Tiffany Hsiung’s « The Apology » (Peabody Award); Seren Yüce’s « Majority »(Venice Lion of the Future); Du Haibin’s «Umbrella», «1428» (Venice Orizzonti Doc Award), and « A Young Patriot »; Lixin Fan’s« Last Train Home »(IDFA Grand Prize); Joan Chen’s « Shanghaï Strangers »(China Golden Rooster Web-film award); Li Yang’s « Blind Mountain »(Cannes Un Certain Regard) ; Hüseyin Karabey’s « My Marlon and Brando »(Tribeca Best New Director), and « Do Not Forget Me Istanbul » omnibus film with directors from the Baltic region : Hany Abou-Assad (Palestine), Aida Begic (Bosnia), Stefan Arsenijevic (Serbia), Stergios Niziris (Greece), Eric Nazarian (Armenia). She has been nominated for her editing for the Golden Horse, the Independent Eye, the Turkish Yeşilçam, the Hong Kong Film and Asian Film Awards. She is in juries and training workshops at IDFA, Venice Biennale, Yamagata Documentary Dojo, Asia Pacific Screen Academy, Hong Kong, Kerala, Busan, Salaya (Bangkok,Thailand), Wathann (Yangon, Myanmar), Singapore etc, Mary is also editing-consultant with filmmakers on works-in-progress and guest-teaches with universities and film institutions. Her directorial films include “The Memory of Water” (fiction short) and “Vision From The Edge: Breyten Breytenbach Painting The Lines”(documentary). She is currently in pre-production of her new documentary “Palimpsest: Re-writing the Self from Wuhan to Bloomsbury”. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.