Cannes Film Festival’s Christian Jeune will bring his prolific experience and expertise to this year’s Adelaide Film Festival as Jury President, it was announced today.

Mr Jeune is the Deputy General Delegate and Director of the Film Department at Cannes, where he joined the Festival team in 1983. He has managed the Film Department for the past 20 years and is responsible for scouting films for Competition, “Un Certain Regard” and the Short Films Competition.

Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) Director and CEO Amanda Duthie said she was thrilled to welcome Mr Jeune, who is travelling to Australia with assistance from Screen Australia.

Foxtel Movies will again sponsor the Best International Feature Film at this year’s AFF, with the winning director awarded a $25,000 cash prize.

Mr Jeune said today: “I am delighted to be part of the Adelaide Film Festival, a very unique festival which has invested in some of the strongest films coming from Australia, including Samson and Delilah by Warwick Thornton, Snowtown by Justin Kurzel and Charlie’s Country by Rolf de Heer and thus echoes all over the world of cinema.”

Mr Jeune leads a stellar Jury line-up for AFF 2015 – joining him will be:

• Annemarie Jacir, Director, Philistine Films – Palestinian-born Annemarie is one of the leading figures of the “Arab New Wave”, with two films premiering as official selections of the Cannes Film Festival, one in Venice, and most recently Berlin with When I Saw You, which won Best Asian Film.

• Maggie Lee, Chief Asia Film Critic, Variety – Formerly Chief Asia Film Critic for The Hollywood Reporter and editor for the Hong Kong Film Archive, Maggie has programmed for film festivals in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, and is currently Programming Consultant for Tokyo International Film Festival.

• Sophie Hyde, Director, Closer Productions – Sophie is a Director and Producer who makes provocative and intimate drama and documentary work. Her first feature drama 52 Tuesdays(co-writer, director and producer) has won many awards including the Directing Award for World Cinema Dramatic at Sundance Film Festival 2014 and the Crystal Bear for Best Film at The Berlin International Film Festival 2014.

“I look forward to welcoming the International Jury to Adelaide to feast on the delights of our 2015 line up,” Amanda Duthie said today. “This is a fabulous line up of creatives, all of whom contribute to screen culture across the globe.”

Ms Duthie today also announced submissions for AFF 2015 will now be accepted until next Monday June 9 – AFF is calling for films from all genres, including features, documentaries and short films.

Films can be submitted via Film Festival Life.

Foxtel Movies will also present this year’s Audience Awards – for Best Feature, Best Short and Best Documentary. These awards are the people’s choice awards, and the winners will reflect the most popular films and documentaries seen at the Festival, with audience members to be invited to rate them across the 10-day Festival.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Mark McGowan – 0419 695 487