Brillante Mendoza

Philippines
President of Jury

  • A self-described “late bloomer” in filmmaking, Mendoza started out in advertising before turning to directing his own films at the age of 45.
  • He first won Best Director in Cannes in 2009 for the gritty crime drama Kinatay.
  • In 2007, his film Foster Child was screened in the Directors’ Fortnight of the Cannes film festival.
  • In 2016, Ma Rosa, a drama about drugs and corruption, competed for the Palme d’Or and garnered a Best Actor award for lead actress Jaclyn Jose.
  • Today, he is one of the Philippines’ most celebrated filmmakers, his films often competing at the Cannes Film Festival.

Tran Anh Hung

Vietnam

  • Trần Anh Hung has been at the forefront of a wave of acclaimed overseas Vietnamese cinema over the past two decades.
  • In 1993, his first debut film The Scent of Green Papaya has made its world premiere and has won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The film is the only representative of Vietnamese cinema to be nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
  • With his other production in 1995, Cyclo won the Golden Lion at the 52nd Venice International Film Festival.
  • Tran Anh Hung does not have many production, but his career quietly racking up prizes at Cannes, Venice and the Césars, which proved his successfulness.

Patrick Tam

Hong Kong

  • Patrick Tam is a renowned director, served as an art director, script writer and film editor. Currently, Tam is a Visiting Professor in the Academy of Film, Hong Kong Baptist University.
  • He occasionally takes on editing for directors with whom he has rapport, such as for Wong Kar-wai’s Days of Being Wild and Ashes of Time as well as Johnnie To’s Election (2005).
  • Tam returned to directing, after a 17-year hiatus, with After This Our Exile in 2006. His comeback swept the 25th Hong Kong Film Awards with five wins, including the top three prizes—Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay.