Asian Jury

UTA HARTMANN-BETH (Chairperson)

Uta Hartmann-Beth, journalist, was born in 1941 in Graudenz and grew up in Lübeck and Hamburg. She studied German philology, dramaturgy, the history of art, sociology and psychology in Hamburg and Vienna. She was a copywriter for an agency for film-synchronization, as well as press-editor; and from 1981 to 1997 she worked at RIAS Berlin and was manager and producer for children's as well as adult radio-programmes. Since then, she has been working as a freelance journalist for various broadcasting networks, publishing companies and print media. One of her thematic priorities is in the field of children’s cinema, which she backs with critiques and interviews. She has earlier been a member of the international UNICEF Jury at the Berlinale-Kinderfilmfest. In 1991 she received an award for the best audio transmission dealing with Germany after and before the fall of the Berlin wall; in addition, she has received numerous awards for radio plays and feature programmes.

MRS. REVATHI

Revathy, born on July 8th, 1966 in Kochi, is a veteran Indian film actress, who has done several Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. She made her acting debut in 1982 with a Tamil movie named “Mann Vasanai. Since then, there was no looking back for her. Her career graph reached the peak during the 1980s and early 1990s, when she acted in some of the blockbusters of the period. Revathy was critically acclaimed for her acting prowess in the Malayalam movie “Kakkothikkavile Appoopppan Thadikal” (1988). “She has received a National Award, a State Award and several Filmfare awards for her outstanding performances in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam movies. Associated with the industry for over two decades, Revathy has recently joined the list of emerging female film directors, in the mainstream cinema with her debut directorial movie “ Mitr – My friend which was critically acclaimed and won significant box-office success.

GITANJALI RAO

Gitanjali graduated as an applied artist from Sir. J J Institute of Applied Art in Mumbai in 1994 where she won the gold medal and seven awards for her final year project campaign. A self taught animator, she learnt on the job during her association with many studios and film projects early on in her career. Her keen interest in narrative techniques got her into acting and stage crafts for a while. Painting, theatre, and folk arts of a culturally rich land finally synthesized into the art of making animation films. Her two independently produced, directed and animated short films ’Orange’ and ‘Printed Rainbow’ have won her 28 Awards, besides attending over 80 festivals all over the world and still travelling. Printed Rainbow has been the first ever Indian animation film to be selected at Cannes. It went on to win three Awards for the best Short film, ‘Critic’s Week’, Cannes 2006.

ASHISH VIDYARTHI

Though he graduated in History from Delhi University, Ashish has had a flair for acting from childhood. At the age of 10, he acted in a play called ‘Uttar Ram Charith’, directed by the noted theatre personality Habib Tanvir at Kalidas Samaroh in Ujjain. When 15, he started working with Sushma Seth for TV serials and plays for children and was associated with her for five years. The serial ‘Nanha Jasoos’ in which he featured was one of the first children’s TV programmes on Doordarshan. He also graduated from the National School of Drama in 1990 and shot into fame with a sterling performance in the film ‘Drohkaal’ for which he received the National Award in 1994. He has also received the Screen Award for ‘Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin’ and Filmfare Award for ‘Attaneyokkadu’ (Telugu). He has acted in over 130 films in 10 languages. He is also actively involved with theatre despite his busy schedule. Two of his running plays are ‘Ottayan’ with Kavalam Narayan Panikkar and ‘Dayashankar Ki Diary’ directed by Nadira Babbar.

GERT HERMANS

Gert Hermans (Belgium) works for Jekino-Films (Flemish Centre for Children & Youth Film), a distributor of quality films for children and youngsters. Jekino-Films is involved in every aspect of children’s film in Belgium: distribution, policymaking, production support, festival support, media education, publishing, national and international networking, etc.
Gert is working as a distributor, film-prospector, chief editor of the magazine Generiek and educational editor. He is involved in various national and international organizations like CIFEJ and European Youth Film Festival, Flanders, and promoting children’s films in Belgium and Europe. As a project manager for European countries, he co-founded the international renowned KidsForKids Festival, presenting films made by children. Today he is also chief editor of the international magazine ECFA Journal.