Feature Films
Charles Tesson
Artistic director
As film critic, Charles Tesson wrote several important books on cinema and he is a senior lecturer in Film History and Aesthetics at La Sorbonne Nouvelle (paris III). He has wrote for many years for Les Cahiers du Cinéma, where he was the editor-in-chief from 1998 to 2003. He entered the Selection Committee of La Semaine de la Critique for the 49th and 50th editions, before becoming its Artistic Director in April 2011. He is also the President of the Aide aux Cinéma du Monde commission (CNC, French Institute) from 2016.
Ava Cahen
A lecturer at Nanterre University for seven years, a commentator for the TV programme Le Cercle on Canal+ Cinéma and the radio programme Une Heure de séries on France Inter, Ava has written several books and essays [Woody Allen : profession cynique (Woody Allen: professional cynic), Cheforama, la gastronomie au cinéma (Cheforama, cuisine in films), Game of Thrones décodé (Game of Thrones decrypted)]. Former chief editor of Clap! (from 2014 to 2016) - a magazine about films and series -, she is one of the creators of the frenchmannia.fr website, and its co-chief editor. In 2020, Ava and her team wrote the first issue of FrenchMania, published by Le Rocher; a biannual publication that provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary French cinema.
Farah Clémentine Dramani-Issifou
Farah Clémentine Dramani-Issifou is an art ant film curator, a film critic and university lecturer (HEAD, Geneva). In 2020, she joined the team of the Yennenga Centre in Dakar and the Marrakech International Film Festival. She is a regular contributor for specialised publications - From Programming to Curating Film Festivals : la Semaine de la Critique and Marrakech International Film Festival in the Age of Covid 19, (ed. Palgrave MacMillan), Thousand Suns by Mati Diop, as Æsthetic of the Interstice (ed. Harmattan) and to FrenchMania magazine.
Photo © Elise Ortiou Campion
Miquel Escudero Diéguez
Journalist and cinema programmer, his articles have been published in magazines such SoFilm, Dirigido Por and Caimán Cuadernos de Cine. He is a programmer at the Belfort Entrevues Festival and at Chinechilex (Chilean film directors association), where he works with director Pamela Varela. He is also the representative and curator of the avant-garde film directors collective Obscuritads.
© photo : Laura Wencker
Pauline Mallet
Film and TV series critic. She has worked for various outlets such as Konbini, Rockyrama and CinéSéries. In 2018, she created Sorociné, a podcast in which she sheds light on women in film - both on screen and behind the camera. For the project, she’s also developed the concept as a print periodical whose first issue was published last summer in 2021.
Olivier Pélisson
Film critic and journalist, he is currently writing for Bande à Part and Bref. Olivier has collaborated with Zurban, Monsieurcinéma.com,
DvdLive and LeCinémadanslesyeux.com
and Canal+ Top of the Shorts. Over the years, he has worked as a festivalm programmer (Paris Film Festival), script reader (France 2 Cinema, CNC), criticism workshop facilitator (Paris, Cannes, Bakouriani, Erevan), and jury member at festivals and for the French Union of Film Critics. He is one of the contributors to the Dictionnaire Eustache, published by Léo Scheer publishing.
Clémentine DRAMANI-ISSIFOU
Short Films
Léo Soesanto
Coordinator
Journalist and film critic, Léo is a columnist for Libération, he was also published in Les Inrockuptibles, Grazia, Men’s Vogueand Premiere, to name but a few. He is also a commentator in Le CercleCinémaon Canal Plus Cinéma. He was the head programmer of the Bordeaux International Festival of Independent Films (FIFIB) between 2012 and 2018, and a feature film programmer for the Rotterdam Film Festival between 2016 and 2020. He also collaborated in programming for the Geneva, Utrecht and Valencia festivals. He was a member of the La Semaine de la Critique’s feature film selection committee for six years (2009-2011, 2013-2015). He has written a book on the depiction of airports in films that will be published in 2021.
Marilou Duponchel
Film journalist and critic for Les Inrockuptibles and for the magazine TroisCouleurs.
Marie-Pauline Mollaret
A journalist and a film critic, Marie-Pauline Mollaret is the editor-in-chief of the web magazine EcranNoir.fr and a columnist for several specialised magazines, such as the monthly magazine L'Avant-scène Cinéma, and Bref, dedicated to short films. Marie-Pauline also works as a programmer and is a member of the selection committees of various festivals, including the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and the PIAFF - the Paris International Animation Film Festival.
Nanako Tsukidate
Nakano Tsukidate is a film critic and journalist, working primarily for Japan’s Nobody Magazine. She is also a programmer for Hiroshima International Festival, where she deals specifically with European cinema. She has organised several retrospectives around French cinema, for instance screening films produced by Diagonale, Henri Langlois, Mai 68 and the Zanzibar group. She also collaborated with T-Mobile New Horizons International Festival for a Philippe Garrel retrospective in 2015.