Karen Benainous

Editor

Karen Benainous studied editing at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion. During her Master’s degree at the Université Paris 8, she questioned the various cinematic forms of memory in documentaries. She has been editing features since 2011. Her filmography includes Emmanuel Gras’ Bovines, Emilie Brisavoine’s Oh La La Pauline!, Emmanuel Gras’ Makala, which won the 2017 Nespresso Grand Prize at La Semaine de la Critique, and Guillaume Brac’s Treasure Island. She is currently editing Emmanuel Gras’ next film about the French Yellow Vests movement.

Claire Maugendre

Director and scriptwriter

Claire Maugendre is a screenwriter, director and novelist. After studying playwriting and directing at the Université Paris X, which lead her to New York and Berlin, she became Raoul Peck’s assistant. She then cowrote several feature films, including Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms (Golden Bear 2019). In 2016, she won the SACD Award at La Semaine de la Critique along with Davy Chou for the screenplay of Diamond Island, which was screened and received several prizes from various international film festivals. Claire directed several short films (Le Cri de Viola and Phallus Malus). She is currently writing two features, including hers, and her second novel.

Jan Naszewski

Founder of New Europe Film Sales

Jan is the owner of the Warsaw-based boutique world sales company New Europe Film Sales, which sells feature films and shorts. The company’s feature films catalogue includes Rams by Grímur Hákonarson (Un Certain Regard 2015 Main Prize), the 2016 Silver Bear winner United States of Love by Tomasz Wasilewski and many successful films, such as The Here After by Magnus von Horn (Directors’ Fortnight 2015), Summer 1993 by Carla Simon (Best Debut Berlinale 2017), Winter Brothers by Hlynur Pálmason (Locarno 2017) and Hvítur, Hvítur Dagur (A White, White Day), Hlynur Pálmason’s second feature film, selected at the 58th Semaine de la Critique (Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award for actor Ingvar E. Sigurðsson). In 2018, Jan launched NEM Corp – a new production setup together with Ewa Puszczyńska (Oscar-winning producer of Ida and Cold War) and Klaudia Śmieja (producer of Claire Denis’ High Life and Agnieszka Holland’s Mr.Jones) and established New Europe Warsaw Sessions – an annual, exclusive meeting place for new talents and top film executives.