FIPRESCI Jury
Film Critic, Egypt
He is a film critic and a member of the Egyptian Film Critics Association. He writes for various print and online media outlets, including Chroum.com and EL Film magazine published by Jesuit in Cairo. Additionally, he contributes to the daily bulletins of both the Cairo International Film Festival and the Luxor African Film Festival. He has also served as a member of the film selection committee for the Ismailia International Film Festival and the El Gouna Film Festival in their last three editions.
Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi works as film critic and journalist for international outlets, radio and television networks, taking part in juries of festivals and award ceremonies, such as the 80th Golden Globe Awards. She has worked with US productions as an associate producer and collaborates with environmental filmmaking initiatives.
As a visual artist she has exhibited her ‘Material Puns’ worldwide and is Professor of Phenomenology of Contemporary Arts.
She recently wrote the collection of poems Silent Women, using terza rima, which has become a podcast and is inspired by 21 female directors of the silent era, that include Egyptian filmmaker Aziza Amir.
Schayan Riaz is a freelance journalist from Berlin, Germany and currently residing in Hamburg. His work has appeared in various international publications such as the Berliner Zeitung, Berliner Zeitung am Wochenende, Qantara.de, i-D Germany, VICE Germany, The Express Tribune, Dawn Pakistan, and others. He is the film editor at kohero Magazin in Hamburg.
In his articles, reviews, and interviews he has mainly focused on film and literature. As a junior producer, he has also worked for the German film production company Schiwago Film and helped produce several TV films for the German channel ZDF. He has been a VDFK and FIPRESCI member since 2018.