Guests & JURYS
THIS LIST WILL BE REGULARLY UPDATED.
FILM & BEYOND
STEPHEN FREARS
FILM & BEYOND – DIRECTOR, PRODUCER – 07.11
At ist 31st edition, the GIFF is delighted to honor the magnificent career of one of the most influential directors of his generation: Stephen Frears. Having made his name with My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and Prick Up Your Ears (1987), Frears shook up the representation of minorities in British cinema. His unique adaptations propelled his career, and at the turn of the 2000s, he directed the iconic adaptation of the best-selling novel High Fidelity (2000). Stephen Frears focuses his camera on invisible realities, such as immigration in Dirty Pretty Things (2002) and behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace following the death of Lady Diana in The Queen (2006). On television, Sir Stephen Frears established himself as an exceptional creator with the TV movie The Deal (2003) and the series A Very English Scandal (2018) and Quiz (2020). He will receive the Film & Beyond Award in recognition of his prolific and varied work, which combines literature and real events to reveal the beating heart of society, and in a conference, he will reflect on his inspiring journey as well as his unique perspective on British politics and society.
FOCUS alan ball
© Paul Smith
ALAN BALL
FOCUS ALAN BALL – DIRECTOR, WRITER – 04.11
For its 31st edition, the GIFF is delighted to welcome a major figure from the golden age of prestige television. Winner of the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for American Beauty (1999), Alan Ball has made a name for himself with his bold, intimate, and often transgressive writing. With Six Feet Under (2001-2005), he redefined the family series by combining grief, the search for identity, and sensitive portrayals of human relationships. He followed this with True Blood (2008-2014), an adaptation of Charlaine Harris’ novels, where fantasy, horror, and social criticism combine to question otherness, sexuality, power, and norms.
With Banshee (2013–2016), Ball affirmed his ability to renew narrative codes. Finally, Uncle Frank (2020) reveals a more personal approach, delicately addressing the themes of exile, family, and homosexuality. Alan Ball will participate in a moderated conference on November 20, 2025, and his major works will be presented at GIFF and on CANAL+.
Tales of Swiss Innovation
NATHALIE NATH
TALES OF SWISS INNOVATION – PRODUCER – 02.11
This year, the GIFF pays tribute to one of the key figures in the media and cultural sector in French-speaking Switzerland: Nathalie Nath. In 1965, she joined Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR), where she created several programs aimed at young audiences, including Canal 18/25, an innovative magazine show that provoked strong reactions in political and media circles. The daring subjects of Nathalie Nath’s programs were perceived as subversive in the tense climate at TSR, and she was unfairly dismissed in 1971. However, she continued her career in the fields of communication, theater, and cinema before returning to TSR in 1994. Retired in 2006 but still passionate, Nathalie Nath continued to produce and direct until 2014. As part of the Festival, Nathalie Nath will give a lecture as well as a selection of programs highlighting her unique career and character.
La liste complète des Guests du GIFF 2021 sera annoncée dès le 26 octobre.
CEREMONIES
Claes Bang – L’Inconnu de la Grande Arche (actor) – Opening Ceremony, 31.10
Kent Jones – Late Fame (director) – Closing Ceremony, 08.11
COMPETITIONS
Carolina Cavalli –Il Rapimento di Arabella (director) – 07.11
Milagros Mumenthaler – Las Corrientes (director) – 02.11
Denis Lavant – Redoubt (actor) – 04.11
John Skoog – Redoubt (director) – 04.11
Sven Bresser – Reedland (director) – 04.11
Thomas Seeberg Torjussen – A Better Man (creator) – 02.11
Åse Kathrin Vuolab – A Sámi Wedding (creator) – 02.11
Bruno Merle – Extra-lucide (creator) – 01.11
Bernard Dansereau – L’Indétectable (creator) – 04.11
Annie Piérard – L’Indétectable (creator) – 04.11
Eva Crutzen – Messed Up (creator) – 05.11
Frederik Willem Daem – Putain (creator) – 08.11
Hörður Rúnarsson – Reykjavík Fusion (creator) – 04.11
Yu Li Chen – Tabloid (producer) – 04.11-07.11
Mélodie Mousset – Empathy Creatures (creator) – 01.11-09.11
Chloé Lee – Reflections of Little Red Dot (creator) – 31.10-09.11
Chen Xiang – The Journey to No End (director) – 04.11
Steye Hallema – Ancestors (creator) – 31.10-09.11
Esther van Kalken – Ancestors (key collaborator) – 31.10
HIGHLIGHTS
Yann Gozlan – Gourou (director) – 07.11
Nathan Ambrosioni – Les Enfants vont bien (director) – 01.11
Teona Strugar Mitevska – Mother (director) – 08.11
Lisa Langseth – The Dance Club (director) – 06.11
Cyril Metzger – Salut Betty (actor) – 07.11
Pierre Monnard – Salut Betty (director) – 07.11
Peter Reichenbach – Salut Betty (producer) – 07.11
Sarah Spale – Salut Betty (actor) – 07.11
Martin Vischer – Salut Betty (actor) – 07.11
Pascaline Sordet – En route pour Broadway (creator) – 05.11
Daniel Wyss – En route pour Broadway (creator) – 05.11
Sofia Essaidi – Intraçables (actor) – 01.11
Louis Farge – Intraçables (director) – 01.11
Irène Jabob – Intraçables (actor) – 01.11
Alexis Michalik – Intraçables (actor) – 01.11
Fulvio Bernasconi – La linea della palma (director) – 06.11
Mattia Lento – La linea della palma (créateur) – 06.11
Gaia Messerklinger – La linea della palma (actrice) – 06.11
Christof Neracher – La linea della palma (créateur) – 06.11
Thomas Ritter – La linea della palma (créateur) – 06.11
Maria Roselli – La linea della palma (créatrice) – 06.11
Timothée Hochet – Lost Media (creator) – 07.11
Benedikt Erlingsson – The Danish Woman (creator) – 03.11
PULSATION
Thomas Imbach – La Mise à nu (director) – 06.11
Tibor de Jong – Korstmos (creator) – 04.11-09.11
SWISS SERIES STORYTELLING AWARD
Delegations of the nominated Swiss series
GENEVA DIGITAL MARKET
Virginie Béjot (Interactive Commissioning Editor, ARTE France, FR) – Extended Realities – Adapting XR Works to High-Impact Film and TV Production – 04.11
Liz Rosenthal (Curator, Venice Immersive & Venice Immersive Market, Executive Producer & Founder Power to the Pixel, UK) – Extended Realities – Adapting XR Works to High-Impact Film and TV Production – 04.11
Prodromos Tsiavos (Head of Digital Development and Innovation, Onassis Foundation, GR) – Extended Realities – Immersive Exhibition Spaces : Which Co-Production Models for the Future? – 06.11
Pierre-Alain Giraud (Director, Producer & Co-founder, Novaya, FR) – Extended Realities – Immersive Music: Rethinking the Dialogue Between Image and Sound – 04.11
Karen Palmer (Storyteller from the Future, GB) – Gamification of Cinema – From Studios to Smartphones: Fiction in the Age of User Content – 04.11
Anil Brancaleoni (Youtuber & Content Creator, CH) – Gamification of Cinema – Youtube Turns 20 : How Creators Adapt to Platform Shifts – 03.11
Damien Couvreur (Co-founder, Abracadabra, FR) – Series – From Local Grounding to Global Reach – 06.11
Ami Cohen (Screenwriter and Creator, CH) – Series – Shaping Rights: Creators’ Challenges in Serial Production – 06.11
Judith Havas (Screenwriter, FR) – Series – Shaping Rights: Creators’ Challenges in Serial Production – 06.11
Raphaël Meyer (Screenwriter and Creator, CH) – Series – Shaping Rights: Creators’ Challenges in Serial Production – 06.11
Find the full list of GDM guests in the Who’s Who
JURYS
Jury international feature competition
Kantarama Gahigiri
President of the Jury
Kantarama Gahigiri is a Swiss artist, screenwriter, and director of Rwandan origin. She explores notions of sovereignty, identity, and resistance through the teachings of her multiple heritages. Her films delve into Afro-hybrid science fiction and address the links between colonization, capitalism, and climate change (Terra Mater), migration and belonging (Ethereality), and have been screened at the Berlinale, Locarno, FESPACO, and Sundance, among others.
Kantarama Gahigiri will be accompanied in this Jury by four film students:
- Raphaël Jaques, Université de Lausanne (Unil)
- Pepe Harder, Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK)
- Maha Benraïs, SAE Institue Genève
- Mariam Bitsadze, Master Cinéma (ECAL-HEAD)
Jury international Series Competition
Nicolas Dufour
Nicolas Dufour was born in Switzerland in 1971. One of the co-founders of Switzerland’s first campus radio station, Fréquence Banane in Lausanne, he joined the Journal de Genève and la Gazette de Lausanne. He has been a member of the editorial staff of Le Temps since its launch. For a long time, he followed education and science policy issues. He began covering TV series systematically, notably with a weekly column, in 2005. He wrote a chapter on series as descendants of soap operas in the collective work Séries TV: pourquoi on est tous fans.
Géraldine Gonard
Géraldine Gonard graduated with a master’s degree in international management before starting to work in Spain for Variety and then for Sogepaq. In 2001, she joined Grupo and was appointed Managing Director in 2004. From 2007 to 2015, she managed Imagina International Sales, one of the most important national and international distribution platforms of the European audiovisual panorama. In 2016, she founded Inside Content, and from 2020 to 2022, with Luis Collar, she managed the international sales agency Feel Content, expanding distribution activities to European and Latin American film content. She is a member of the Spanish Academy of Television and Audiovisual Arts and Sciences and of the prestigious International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmy®). In 2025, she was appointed and decorated as a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture.
Adrian Illien
Screenwriter and Creative Producer, Adrian writes across a variety of formats in the GSA region, including Tatort, and was the head writer of Davos 1917 and season 7 of Der Bestatter. From 2013 to 2019 he was editor and co-producer at SRF, where he was responsible for numerous TV films and series. Before that, he earned a degree in International Relations at the University of St Gallen and spent several years in Munich as a producer at teamworx/UFA Fiction and a staff writer at Bavaria Fiction.
JURY FUTURE IS SENSIBLE
Thomas Imbach
As one of Switzerland’s most innovative and internationally renowned filmmakers, Thomas Imbach moves with virtuoso mastery between documentary and fiction. He has acquired a reputation for courageous experimentation both formally and as a storyteller. His early successes include Well Done (1994) and Ghetto (1997). The feature films Happiness Is a Warm Gun (2001), Lenz (2006) and I Was a Swiss Banker (2007) as well as the auto-fiction Day Is Done (2011) premiered at the Berlinale. His English-language period drama Mary Queen of Scots (2013) was selected for Toronto. His fiction feature My Brother My Love (2018) premiered at Locarno in Competition. With the documentary feature Nemesis he won the Award for Best Cinematography at IDFA 2020.
Tibor de Jong
Tibor de Jong creates poetic immersive works that merge 3D software, film, and digital scans. His practice explores the physical and visual possibilities of VR as a new form of storytelling. A recurring theme is humanity in times of polarization and digitalism. Together with his creative partner Doris Konings, he creates experiences that invite audiences to engage with their grotesque, confrontational, and at times beautiful virtual worlds.
Pascal Greco
A self-taught filmmaker and photographer, his filmography includes ten films, including Shadow (2018) with Asia Argento, and Place(s) Space(s) (2025), made using video games. His photographic research, spanning nine books, includes “in-game” photography, which questions our perception and construction of reality in the digital age.
His work has been shown in various venues, including FIFDH, GIFF, Photo Elysée, CPG, and Lieu Unique. Together with director Radhia Chapot-Habbes, he founded the ELAN collective, whose mission is to offer artistic experiences to vulnerable or isolated people. Together, they have created three stage productions at the Comédie de Genève.
JURY INTERNATIONAL IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE COMPETITION
Hayoun Kwon
Co-founder of Innerspace VR studio, fascinated by VR, a medium she uses for questioning the truth, she has been developing for several years now a work on heritage and memory. Her previous projects included one of the first VR documentaries: D.M.Z., Memories of a No Man’s Land and several immersive installations, such as Kubo Walks the City awarded at Tribeca Festival 2022 and Eternal Walkers awarded at Geneva International Film Festival 2023. In 2024, her latest installation, The Guardians of Jade Mountain, was presented in the official selection at the Venice Festival.
Margot Mottaz
Margot Mottaz is the Head of Curatorial at Superblue, a groundbreaking initiative dedicated to producing, presenting, and engaging the public with experiential art. Part of the founding team, she leads artist management and curatorial strategies for Superblue’s exhibitions and partnerships worldwide. With particular expertise on immersion in contemporary art, Margot is a regular speaker at major events including the Cannes Film Festival, REMIX and Sónar+D, and has been a recurring first-round judge for the Lumen Prize. Margot additionally acts as an independent advisor to artists and cultural organisations looking to expand their horizons beyond the confines of the traditional art world.
Karen Palmer
Karen Palmer, “Storyteller from the Future”, is an immersive futurist, a multi-award-winning XR filmmaker, and TED speaker. Creator of Consensus Gentium (winner SXSW Special Jury Award and Digital Dozen Breakthrough, Ars Electronica Hon. Mention,) she previously served on the STARZ Prize Jury at Ars Electronica. Her pioneering work has exhibited globally, from the Museum of Modern Art Peru to the Phi Centre Canada, enabling participants to experience the future today ND envision their role within it.
