Before directing feature films, Michel Hazanavicius began working in television, at Canal+, where he directed commercials until his first TV film, La Classe américaine (1993). In 1997, Hazanavicius directed his first short film, Echec au capital, followed by his first theatrically released feature, Mes amis. In 2006, his career reached a milestone with his hugely popular second feature, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, a spy parody that garnered success at the French box office. The sequel, OSS 117: Lost in Rio, followed in 2009 to an equally enthusiastic reception.
Michel Hazanavicius came to the attention of international audiences with The Artist, a black and white film without dialogue which takes place in Hollywood on the verge of the transition to sound. First screened at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, The Artist was eventually released to international acclaim. The film earned nominations for three Academy Awards, winning Best Director at the 84th Academy Awards in 2012 and the first French film to ever win Best Picture. In 2014, Hazanavicius directed The Search, a story of a westerner who helps a lost child during the Chechen War. Michel Hazanavicius is currently shooting a Paris-set comedy chronicling the tumultuous romance between iconic French-Russian actress (and princess) Anne Wiazemsky and director Jean-Luc Godard, set against the backdrop of May 1968 riots.
So far, Myanmar filmmaker Wyne has scripted and directed twelve features for the local market, including Adam, Eve & Dasa, Let Pan, Satan’s Dancer, At Your Command and New Rainbow, which were some of the top grossing films at the Myanmar box office at the time of their release.
Phway Phway is a Myanmar actress and model and recipient of two Myanmar Academy Awards: in 2012 for Let Pan and three years later for I am Rose Darling. Both film were directed by ‘Academy’ Wyne. Phway Phway graduated from the University of Foreign Languages, Yangon, with a Bachelor of Arts in Korean Studies in 2008, at which time she was already pursuing a modelling career, which opened the door to appearances in music videos, TV commercials, and an impressive number of direct-to-video films.
U Kyi Soe Tun is a five-time Myanmar Academy Award-winning film director, producer and screenwriter. From 2005 to 2007, he served as the chairman of the Myanmar Motion Picture Organization. After receiving a Bachelor in Science from Yangon University he began his film career in 1977, and directed his first film first film Chan Myay Pa Say in 1980. His other works include Sone Yay (Downstream, 1990) followed by San Yay (Upstream), a story about a boy who is raised in a monastery after he is abandoned by his parents. Searching for them, he discovers Buddhism. Thu Kyun Ma Khan Bi (Never Shall We Be Enslaved, 1997) is about the last king of Burma, Thibaw Min. The meddling of British and French colonialists in the affairs of the Burmese kingdom leads to its downfall and a subsequent uprising to regain independence. Sacrificial Heart (2004) is a historical drama set in the medieval Pagan Kingdom, while True Love (2005) tells the story of a Japanese man and a young Burmese woman. Most recently, Hexagon (2006) is a comedy about six pregnant women who share their optimism about the future of their children, and the future of the nation.
Isabelle Glachant is an independent producer based in Beijing. She is the founder and CEO of production and sales companies Chinese Shadows and Asian Shadows, which aim to represent new generations of Asian directors by introducing their work to the world. While Chinese Shadows works with Chinese directors, Asian Shadows has expanded beyond China’s mainland to produce and handle international sales for movies made in Taiwan and Indonesia.
« A generation of directors has emerged in Southeast Asian nations that are similar to the sixth-generation Chinese directors from 15 years ago » comments Glachant. Her role is often to establish a bridge between the Chinese and European film industries and professionals. She is the producer of the Chinese filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai whose Shanghai Dreams (2005) won the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival, In Love We Trust (2008) got Silver Bear Best Script at the Berlin Film Festival, and Chongqing Blues (2010) was selected for the official competition at Cannes Film Festival. Another important project was 11 Flowers (2011), the first French-Chinese co-production in recent years. Before being producer, she studied cinema in France and Chinese in Guangzhou (China), and was correspondent for Canal +, a French movie channel, and Audiovisual Attaché at the French embassy in Beijing.
Olivier Père, a native of Marseille (France), obtained an MA in Modern Literature from Paris IV–Sorbonne. Since 2012, he is executive director of TV Arte France Cinema and director of film acquisitions for Arte France. He was programmer at the French Cinematheque in Paris from 1996 to 2009 and print researcher for a series of retrospectives for the Belfort Entrevues Festival (France). Between 1996 and 2008, Père was Artistic Director of the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight (Quinzaine Des Réalisateurs), and in the period between 2004 and 2012 he was Artistic Director of several editions of the Festival des film Locarno (Switzerland). Père contributes regularly to the film section of the French weekly magazine Les Inrockuptibles and has co-written a book on Jaques Demy together with Marie Colmant.
Ron Halpern has been in charge of international productions and acquisitions for Studiocanal since 2007 (currently Executive Vice President), overseeing its growth in international production and contributing to making the studio a European major. His past productions include Bafta winning and Academy Award nominated Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis, awarded the Jury’s Grand Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and Non-Stop starring Liam Neeson.
Current productions include Legend starring Tom Hardy as both of the notorious Kray brothers, Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash with Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes and Matthias Schoenaerts, and last but not least, James Marsh’s upcoming film The Mercy starring Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz. Acquisitions have included Moonrise Kingdom, and The Imitation Game among others. Halpern also oversees the theatrical adaptations and productions of Studiocanal, notably “The Producers” by Mel Brooks, “The Graduate” and “The Ladykillers.” Before joining Studiocanal, Halpern worked for CBS SPORTS at 3 Winter Olympic Games. He holds a BA and an MBA from Columbia University.
Rachel Mathews is a British writer, director, and tutor in screenwriting & fiction directing at the Yangon Film School. Mathews has directed award-winning short films including Danny & His Amazing Teeth (Royal Television Society Award, 2002) and written scripts for BBC Radio 4 and TV. In 2010 she won a Wellcome Trust Award for her science-based feature script “Matrioska.” She was selected for a C4 Screenwriting course 2015 and is currently writing a BBC radio play and a series pilot for Channel 4.