Ava Cahen

Artistic Director

Ava Cahen is the Artistic Director of La Semaine de la Critique. Beforehand, she was a member of the feature film selection committee from 2016 to 2021. Since 2017, she has been running the website frenchMania.fr and the biannual film magazine FrenchMania. She is also a commentor for the TV programme "Le Cercle" on Canal + and "Le masque et la plume", a radio programme broadcast on France Inter. She has published several books on cinema and series and has participated in many juries such as the Jerusalem Int. Film Lab, Morelia IFF, Fifib, Champs-Elysées Film Festival to name a few.

Feature Films

Marilou Duponchel

Film journalist and critic for Les Inrockuptibles and for the magazine TroisCouleurs.

Damien Leblanc

A journalist and film critic for Première magazines and TroisCouleurs (and previously for Fluctuat.net), Damien Leblanc was also the programmer of the Couleurs de la Toile film club. Damien takes part of several festival juries and hosts debates and films presentations. Before joining the feature film selection committee, he has been member of the shorts films selection committee in 2022. In addition, he published an analytical book on the Mad Men TV serie published by Playlist Society.

Frédéric Mercier

Film critic and writer for Transfuge, Positif and FrenchMania magazines. He also contributes to Le Cercle on Canal+. Frédéric teaches film history and film criticism, has worked on many special features for the DVDs of newly restored films and has his own film club in the outskirts of Paris. In 2016, he published his first book, Les écrivains du 7ème art, published by Séguier then he collaborated on writing Joanna Hogg's monograph and worked on a collective book on Raoul Walsh.

Olivier Pélisson

Olivier Pelisson is journalist and critic of cinema, he writes for Bande à Part, Bref, French Mania and for Canal+ Grand Écran channel. He used to work for ZurbanDvdLive, Monsieur CinémaLe Cinéma dans les yeux and on Top of the Shorts show on Canal+ Cinema. Over the years, Pélisson has been artistic director (Paris Film Festival), scenario reader (France 2 Cinéma, CNC), he has hosted some film critic workshop (Paris, Cannes, Bakouriani, Ereva, Agence du court métrage), festivals meeting (La Ciotat, Moulins), and has been in international panel, and for the French Union of Film Critics, he is also a member of the board of directors. Olivier Pelisson is one of the contributor of Dictionnaire Eustache published by Léo Sheer editions. Since 2015, he is in La Semaine de la Critique selection committee. 

Perrine Quennesson

Perrine Quennesson is an independant journalist who writes for several magazines such as CinémaTeaser, Film Français and Trois couleurs. She created and hosts the 7e Science podcast where Science meets cinema (produced by Sorbonne University and Binge Audio). Perrine Quennesson participates in Tchi Tcha and Le Cercle Séries shows, collaborates with many festivals (Lumière, Séries Mania, Champs Elysées Film Festival...) and with VOD plateform (FilmoTV). Beside that, she is a professor at l’Ecole Supérieure d’Etudes Cinématographiques (ESEC) in Paris.

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), Cheforamala 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.

Marie Lou DUPONCHEL

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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.

Perrine QUENESSON

Short Films

Marie-Pauline Mollaret

Coordinator

Marie-Pauline Mollaret is a film critic for the magazines Bref, L'Avant-Scène Cinema and Ecran Noir. She works as programmer and is a member of the selection sommittees of Annecy International Animated Film Festival (End Studies Film) and the PIAFF - the Paris International Animation Film Festival (Young audience and experimental competition). In addition, she co-hosts Bulles de rêves program of Radio Libertaire dedicated to animation cinema and takes part of Les Couleurs de la toile movie club's organization at the parisian theater Les 3 Luxembourg. For the past 6 years, Marie-Pauline was on the short film selection committee of La Semaine de la Critique and became its coordinator in 2022.

Chloé Cavillier

Chloé Cavillier got a Literature and arts master degree and works with Critikat and Bref reviews. She has been a member of Pantin Côté Court festival’s selection committee for 3 years and she is now the artistic director of Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé and a university lecturer at Paris Nanterre. In 2020, she received the Young Critic Award from the French Union of Film Critics and became a member of the short film committee selection of La Semaine de la Critique in 2022.

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Thomas Fouet

A journalist for Les Fiches du cinéma, the co-host of the radio programme Longtemps je me suis couché de bonne heure, Thomas Fouet co-founded and was the chief editor of online magazine Cinématraque, the co-chief editor of Capsules, the co-writer of Les Sortilèges du blockbuster and is a member of the short film selection committee of La Semaine de la Critique (2017-2019 and 2022-2023).

Léo Ortuno

Léo Ortuno is a journalist and a film critic who works for Court-Circuit (Arte), Viva Cinéma (Ciné+) and Bande à Part. He also writes and produces a podcast about genre cinema for the Shadowz platform. He is a jury for several film festival, for the Syndicat de la Critique and is a member of programmation and selection committees (Festival de Contis, Poitiers Film Festival).

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.