AFIA NATHANIEL - WRITER/DIRECTOR

“Film audiences are not passive recipients but active catalysts of change in societies,” says Afia Nathaniel, Founder of Zambeel Films, an indie production company for socially conscious films in Pakistan. Filmmaker-scientist-activist, Afia graduated from Columbia University with an MFA in Film Directing and Writing. Afia’s short films have garnered critical acclaim at various international and Asian-American festivals including Rotterdam, ReelWorld-Toronto, and Montreal. Her directorial debut Nadah, was nominated for the Golden Reel Award in Los Angeles together with her screenwriting debut of Butterfly. Butterfly went on to secure the Best Film at Napa Valley, Ivy League, and Lyon film festivals. Afia has won several awards for her films and screenplays including the Ezra Litwak Distinction in Screenwriting, IFP Market Best Screenplay, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association award. In addition to filmmaking, Afia has considerable working experience in the advertising and non-profit sectors in Pakistan and Switzerland. Afia is in development with three film projects. www.zambeelfilms.com

RENE BASTIAN AND LINDA MORAN – PRODUCERS, PRINCIPALS OF BELLADONNA PRODUCTIONS

René Bastian and Linda Moran of Belladonna Productions have been active on the highest level of feature film and commercial production since the company was founded in 1997. Linda and René are two-time Independent Spirit Award nominees with L.I.E. (“Best Picture”/2002) and Transamerica (“Best First Film”/2006) and won the prestigious Motorola Producer of the Year Award in 2002. Transamerica received two Academy Award nominations- Best Actress (Felicity Huffman) and Best Song (Travelin’ Thru by Dolly Parton), and Felicity Huffman won a Golden Globe for her performance. Other Belladonna credits include An Englishman in New York, Funny Games US, Mulberry Street, and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. Linda and René were named among “10 Producers to Watch” by Variety during the 2005 Toronto Film Festival, and appeared in V Magazine among 10 international production companies, deemed “Power Houses” by the publication. Belladonna continues to develop and produce high-quality independent films with international perspective and commercial appeal.

ILANN GIRARD- PRODUCER, ARSAM INTERNATIONAL

Former Senior Vice President, Legal & Business Affairs of Pandora Cinema, an international sales and financing company, Ilann Girard created consulting firm ARSAM in 2002, and his production company ARSAM INTERNATIONAL in 2004 through which he produced films such as Academy Award winner March of the Penguins, as well as Goodbye Bafana, Renaissance, and most recently Lebannon which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2009, and sold to Sony Pictures Classics.

Ilann Girard has a degree from the Political Studies Institute, Paris (IEP), a law degree from the University of Paris (Pantheon-Sorbonne), and a degree in Television and Telecommunication Management from the University of Paris-Dauphine.

After working for government agencies and the European cultural sector, and after producing high-end animation series, in 1990 Ilann joined Pandora where he was responsible for the negotiation of all aspects of the financial and legal aspects of development, co-production, finance and sales. During his time at Pandora more than 60 features were produced all over the world, as well as several international TV series.

CORDELIA STEPHENS - PRODUCER, BELLADONNA PRODUCTIONS

Cordelia Stephens has ten years of experience developing and producing projects in the UK and the US, and has been working as Head of Development at Belladonna Productions, NY since 2003. Belladonna’s credits include An Englishman in New York, Funny Games US, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Transamerica, and L.I.E. among many others. In 2002 Cordelia completed an eight-month International Secondment, financed by the British Government, at finance consultants/sales agent Cinetic Media and production company Open City Films, having completed the prestigious EAVE European Co-production course in 2001. She has strong links with production initiatives in the UK, having Executive Produced 14 shorts for the Cineworks program financed by the UK Film Council, Scottish Screen, and BBC Scotland, six of which have won New Talent BAFTAs. Cordelia has an M.A. in Fine Art from the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh College of Art.

ABHAY DEOL - EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Abhay Deol is celebrated as the new face of independent Indian cinema, and represents the quintessential director's actor. Throughout his career he has championed first-time directors and inspired the more seasoned in challenging the bastions of Bollywood. Abhay has embodied characters who have ranged from a small-town engineer and aspiring writer who turns amateur detective in Manorama-Six Feet Under, a thief who disarms his victims with boy-next-door charm in Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye! and most recently, a man who collects a motley band of followers on his way to deliver an old movie projector in the Ross Katz & Dev Benegal film Road Movie.

In his critically acclaimed box office hit, Dev D, Abhay conceptualized a modern retelling of the classic novel Devdas, in which he descends into darkness as the tragic hero who loses his childhood love, Paro, and subsequently, commits emotional suicide. Dev finds shelter in the arms of a call-girl, Chanda, who hooks him to the pleasures of her flesh, and the solace of drugs & alcohol. Abhay has also decided to adopt the mantle of producer through his own production company, Forbidden Films, and you can next find him on screen, winning over his heroine and audiences as the charming but understated Mr. Knightley in the Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire) produced adaptation of Emma. Not a far cry from the real-life man himself.