NETPAC JURY
Ahmed El Saeed BIO
Dr. Ahmed El Saeed is the founder and chairman of the Wisdom House for Cultural Industries, a Chinese institution with branches in Egypt, the UAE, and Morocco. A writer, translator, and academic, he serves as a Visiting Professor at the Communication University of China and lectures at Badr University and Cairo University.
He has received the Chinese National Award for Excellence and Contribution in the Field of Books and the Chinese Friendship Award from Ningxia Province. As an advisor to the Chinese government’s global book promotion project, he was also named Reading Ambassador at the 2017 Beijing International Book Fair.
Dr. El Saeed holds a Master’s and Ph.D. in Ethnology from the School of Politics and Law in Ningxia and completed postdoctoral studies in the politics of soft power. He has organized numerous China–Arab cultural exchanges, published bilingual works, and translated over thirty Chinese literary titles into Arabic.
Bina Paul BIO
Bina Paul is an eminent film editor who has edited over 50 feature films and documentaries in collaboration with prominent filmmakers from across India. She has also directed and produced documentary films that have been screened internationally. She has received two National Film Awards and numerous state awards for her work.
Bina has served as the Artistic Director of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) and the International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) for over two decades. She is currently the Head of Programming at the Dharamshala International Film Festival and the Festival Director of the Asian Women’s Film Festival, organized by IAWRT. She is also the Joint President of NETPAC and one of the founding members of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC).
Celine Roustan BIO
Céline Roustan has worked in various capacities within the film industry for almost a decade. She is a senior curator at Short of the Week, where she writes about short films and coordinates several industry initiatives. Her festival programming experience includes SXSW, TIFF ShortCuts, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Aspen ShortFest, and the San Francisco, Dublin, and Leeds International Film Festivals. More recently, she has programmed for IDFA and the Short Films Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
After years as a programmer, she now serves as the Director of Programming at the Palm Springs ShortFest. She is also a coordinator at the SFC | Rendez-vous Industry, the four-day short film industry event held in Cannes; the acquisitions lead for the sales company OUAT Media; and a regular mentor for the Doha Film Institute.