INTERNATIONAL PRESS JURY

SERGEY LAVRENTIEV [Russia]
Sergey Lavrentiev was born in 1954 in Russia. He began his career as a theatre actor in the 1970’s. After graduating from prestigious VGIK, the Russian state film school, in 1982, he joined Gosfilmofond, the Russian state archive. He went on to become a leading film critic, known as one of the founders of the ”new wave” in Soviet film criticism. Sergey has written about central and Eastern European cinema for numerous publications including Sovietsky Ecran, Iskusstwo Kino, and Kultura. In the 1990s, he returned to the front of the camera as an anchorman for a number of television programs named “Kinomarafon” and devoted to the centenary of cinema. Since 1999, Program Director of two festivals – the IFF “Faces of Love” in Moscow and the Sochi IFF, and starting from 2001 the Program Director of Int’l Children FF “Kinotavrik” in Sochi. From 2002 he has been a member of Russian Oscar Committee.

ANDREA PICARD [Canada]
Andrea Picard is a Toronto-based writer and translator whose articles on film and art regularly appear in Cinema Scope magazine, Prefix Photo, Border Crossings and Canadian Art. She is Program Researcher at Cinematheque Ontario, the celebrated year-round screening program of the Toronto International Film Festival Group. Her work at TIFFG also includes guest hosting Talk Cinema and programming an Annual International Film Programmers Meeting. As of 2005, she is co-host of Frameline, a weekly radio show devoted to non-commercial cinema.

LUCY VIRGEN [Mexico]
Lucy Virgen is a film critic, the FIPRESCI member. From 1990 to 2003 film critic for newspapers El Informador, Siglo 21 Mural, Reforma y El occidental and magazines Cinemais (Brazil) and Luvina. From 1990 to 1995 Head Librarian of the Documentation Center od Centro de Investigacion y Ensenanza Cinemaografica, Universidad de Guadalajara. Co-author of “Cinema Mexicain” published by Centre Georges Pompidou (French) and the British Film Institute (English). Member of the selection committee of Muestra de Cine Mexicano en Guadalajara 2002-2005 (since 2005 International film Festival). At the moment, chief editor of the virtual magazine El ojo que piensa (English version The Thinking Eye) and a film reviewer for Radio Universidad de Guadalajara.