The Jury

Aure Atika

Aure Atika first appears on screen at the age of 9 in L’adolescente, by Jeanne Moreau. She then goes on to star in Sam’s Enough by Virginie Thévenet in 1992. She makes her breakthrough in 1997 thanks to the highly acclaimed feature Would I Lie to You ? After playing in Influence Peddling and Highway Melody, the character of Nassera (in Abdellatif Khechiche’s feature debut) really confirms her great talent. Jacques Audiard cast her in his 2005 masterpiece The Beat That My Heart Skipped. She is due back on the big screen later next year in Le Caire, nid d’espions, alongside Jean Dujardin (whom she already played with in Cash Truck). She directed her first short film, A quoi ça sert de voter écolo in 2004.

Bérénice Béjo

Bérénice Bejo started as a supporting actress in 1996, and made her breakthrough in Most Promising Young Actress, by Gérard Jugnot. She actually is nominated in that very same categorie at the Césars ! She then goes on to the US to play in A Knight’s Tale. When she gets back to France, she play in Marie-France Pisier’s Like an Airplane, and Laurent Bouhnik’s 24 heures de la vie d’une femme. Next, she is cast in two films by Steve Suissa : The Great Role, with Stéphane Freiss and Titoff ; and Cavalcade. She’ll be in Le Caire, nid d’espions, alongside Jean Dujardin later next year.

Isabelle Carré

Having played the daughter of Daniel Auteuil in Mama, There’s a Man in Your Bed, and of Catherine Deneuve in La Reine blanche, Isabelle Carré is offered her first role (and her first César nomination) in Set Fare, by Christian Vincent in 1992. Since then, she has been alternating work on stage and on screen. She was in The Horseman on the Roof, the Children of the Marshland, Season’s Beatings and Feelings. She was awarded the Romy Schneider Prize for her role in La Femme défendue. Both of her collaborations with Zabou Breitman were very successful : she receives her second Molière for the play L’Hiver sous la table, and her first César for the feature Beautiful Memories. Isabelle Carré also starred alongside Jacques Gamblin in Bertrand Tavernier’s last feature : Holy Lola. Out now : Entre ses mains, with Benoît Poelvoorde.

Simon Beaufoy

Simon Beaufoy wrote the screenplay for the world-famous The Full Monty (1997). The British-born screenwriter studied film at the Bournemouth Film School where he produced the TV documentary Release Me. All the while, Beaufoy was honing his craft as a writer. His first completed screenplay, Cello, earned its author the 1991 Euston Films Best Script Award. In addition, his play Saddam's Arms was a 1993 finalist for several radio play awards. Beaufoy's second script, Among Giants (1999), was another low-budget film. Beaufoy formed Footprint Films and developped his feature directorial debut, The Darkest Light (1999).

Samuel Le Bihan

Samuel Le Bihan’s acting career starts with a role in Summer Strolls, by René Feret. The filmmaker cast him again one year later in The Place of another. After A French Woman, by Régis Wargnier, he played the character of Norbert in Captain Conan (Bertrand Tavernier), and gets nominated at the Césars in the Most Promising Young Actor category. Le Bihan then plays in Le Cousin, Restons groupés, New Dawn and Venus beauty Salon but he really makes his breakthrough in Jet Set, and Brotherhood of the Wolf, by Christophe Gans. He next stars in He Loves Me…He Loves Me Not, Shooting Stars and The Code. In 2004, he is cast in two american productions : The Bridge of San Luis Rey and The Last Sign. He has just finished filming Florence Moncorgé-Gabin’s first feature, and is due to start working on Jacques Audiard’s next film.

John Lynch

John Lynch first lent his haunted charm to the title role of Pat O'Connor's Cal (1984), a young IRA recruit who falls in love with the widow of a man he has killed. He resurfaced in front of the camera in the mid '90s. He began working steadily, appearing in films ranging from Agneiszka Holland's The Secret Garden, to Jim Sheridan's In the Name of the Father, to John Sayles'The Secret of Roan Inish, which also featured Lynch's sister, Susan. Lynch also appeared in Peter Howitt's Sliding Doors and in John Deery’s Conspiracy of Silence. He plays one of the main characters in Isolation, a horror film premiering here in Dinard.

Tom Novembre

Tom Novembre started his career as a singer. In 1984, he gets involved in Signé Renard, in which he not only plays a character, but also composes the music. His career is well on track : in 20 years, he has worked on about 45 films : A Man and a Woman, 20 Years Later (by Claude Lelouch), The Man Who Loved Zoos, City For Sale (by Jean-Pierre Mocky), The Sheltering Sky (by Bernardo Bertolucci), Prêt-à-Porter (by Robert Altman). He also still sings and writes music. He released an album La Légende de St Nicolas in 1990, and works on La Légende de Jimmy, a musical show alongside Michel Berger and Luc Plamandon. He recently appeared in Espace Détente, Un Fil à la Patte and Ma Vie en l’Air.

Timothy Spall

Timothy Spall discovered a passion for drama from a very young age. He met Mike Leigh in 1982, and made his breakthrough thanks to Home Sweet Home, Life is Sweet, and Secrets and Lies (1996 Cannes Palme d’Or Winner), Topsy-Turvy and All or Nothing. He then played in Clint Eastwood’s White Hunter Black Heart, in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Sheltering Sky, and in French director Patrice Chéreau’s Intimité in 2001. He played opposite Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky (2002) and The Last Samourai (2003). He is currently known as Peter Pettigrew in the Harry Potter films.