Bob Coen – dir. Anthrax War
Guest of the TCFF

Bob Coen is a filmmaker, journalist and war correspondent whose work has always focused on uncovering hidden truths. He was based in Africa for 15 years and as correspondent for CNN International received the Bayeux Prize for best Television War Correspondent for his reporting from Liberia. His award winning films, which include, Mozambique – The Struggle for Survival, Angola – Triumph or Tragedy? and Blood and Memory have been broadcast on CNN International, National Geographic, PBS and Channel Four UK among others. He is also a consultant to the United Nations in conflict zones and humanitarian emergencies.

Claus Löser – curator The Fall of the Wall
Guest of the TCFF

Claus was born in 1962 in Karl-Marx- Stadt (Chemnitz). He has been working on music and films since 1980. Between 1990 – 1995, he studied film in Potsdam- Babelsberg. He has been a film critic (taz, Berliner Zeitung, film-dienst) and writer since 1992. He also works as a filmmaker, curator und lecturer in Berlin specializing in experimental / underground cinema and film culture.For the Berlinale 2009 he curated the special programme “Winter adé“ comprising of 15 films from the former East Block. He is currently working on a dissertation about East German underground films and a documentary about the independent art gallery „EIGEN+ART“in Leipzig between 1983 and 1989.

Hamid Rahmanian - dir. The Glass House
Guest of the TCFF

Hamid Rahmanian holds a BFA from the University of Tehran in Graphic Design and earned an MFA in Computer Animation in 1997 from Pratt Institute. He received “The First Place College Award” (a student Emmy) from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and was nominated for a Student Academy Award for his animation, The Seventh Day, among other awards in 1997. In 1998, he was hired by Disney Feature Animation Company as a Look Development Artist where he worked on Tarzan, The Emperors New Groove and Dinosaur. His first 35mm film, a 19 minute short, An I Within (1988) received Kodak’s Best Cinematography Award and Best American Short from the LA International Short Film Festival. He has made three documentaries on video: Breaking Bread (2000), Sir Alfred of Charles de Gaulle Airport (2001) and Shahbanoo (2002), all of which have been well received by the media and worldwide audiences. In 2003 he co-established the non-profit organization ARTEEAST – its mission statement to promote the arts and cultures of the Middle East in the US. He completed his first feature length fiction film, Day Break (2005) which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and has received a special prize at Fajr Film Fesival in Iran, the Jury Award at Annonay International Festival of First Films and the “Best of the Middle East” from the Indianapolis International Film Festival. He has recently completed his last feature length documentary in Iran, The Glass House.

Holly Lubbock – dir. Fezeka’s Voice
Guest of the TCFF

For almost a decade, Holly Lubbock has been working in the British television industry as a successful editor with some of the UKs top production companies. Having coproduced and edited the award-winning documentary Rave against the Machine about the effect of civil war on pop culture in Bosnia, in 2004, she has become committed to giving life to humanitarian documentaries. Fezeka’s Voice is Holly’s debut feature-length documentary.

Lucinda Broadbent – dir. Red Oil
Guest of the TCFF

Lucinda Broadbent is a founder member of the Scottish indie production company Media Co-op. Her filmmaking career began unexpectedly when she was living in Nicaragua in the 1980s and her involvement in the underground Nicaraguan lesbian and gay movement collided with Channel 4’s first gay TV slots: the result was Lucinda’s first film Sex and the Sandinistas. Since then, she’s worked as a researcher, AP, director and Executive Producer on TV and non broadcast documentaries; and served on the Board of the European Documentary Network. Lucinda’s awards include Houston International Film Festival 2009, Chicago International Film Festival 2007 and 2008, NUJ/Amnesty International Asylum Awards 2005, BAFTA Scotland nomination 2004 and Amnesty International Media Award 2004.

Pepita Ferrari – dir. Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary
Guest of the TCFF

Pepita Ferrari has been directing documentaries for over 15 years. Her films have received recognition from Le festival due cinema au feminine du Bordeaux, the Canadian Society of Cinematographers and the Columbus International Film and Video Awards. Previous documentaries include By Woman’s Hand, The Petticoat Expeditions, Joseph Giunta: A Silent Triumph and The Unsexing of Emma Edmonds.

Petr Lom – dir. Letters to the President

Petr Lom is an independent documentary director and producer. Entirely self-taught, he directs, shoots and edits his own films. He is a former academic with a Ph.D. in political philosophy from Harvard University. To anyone contemplating a career change, he says: do it as soon as possible. His previous films are: Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan (2004); On a Tightrope (2007); You Cannot Hide from Allah (2007)

Sean McAllister – dir. Japan, The Story of Love and Hate
Guest of the TCFF

After leaving school at 16 Sean worked in and out of factories before finding a camera and filming his way into the National Film School. He graduated in 1996.Over the past 12 years Sean McAllister has made films for both the BBC and Channel 4; working in the UK, Israel, Iraq, and most recently Japan. His films are intimate portraits of people from different parts of the world who are survivors; caught up in political and personal conflict struggling to make sense of the world we live in. From Working with the Enemy in 1997 to Japan: A Story of Love and Hate in 2008 his absorbing films have received prestigious nominations and awards - including from the Grierson Trust, the Sundance Film Festival, the Florence Film Festival and the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).Nominations for McAllister’s films include the Directors Guild of America