Société des Auteurs Audiovisuels
Society of Audiovisual Authors

Robert Alberdingk Thijm is a Dutch screenwriter for TV and cinema. After graduating in Law in 1991, Robert Alberdingk Thijm (1965) started his career writing scenarios for television:‘de Daltons’ 1999, ‘Dunya en Desie’ 2003, both nominated for an International Emmy Award and ‘Waltz’ 2006.  The feature film ‘Dunya and Desie’ was the Dutch entry for the Oscars in 2009. His serie 'A'dam – e.v.a' won the main Dutch television award in 2011 and also the French TV Drama Festival Award for the best international TV drama. His work has been broadcast in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany and Belgium.

Fred Breinersdorfer is a German screenwriter, director and producer. He studied law and worked as a lawyer before he debuted as an author of crime fiction in 1980. Since then he has written numerous screenplays for the Tatort TV crime fiction series and other TV productions. His first full-length cinema screenplay was for the 2005 production of “Sophie Scholl – The Final Days”, which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2006.

Stijn Coninx is a Belgian writer and director best known for the movie “Koko Flanel” (1990), one of the most successful Flemish films ever and “Daens” (1992) that was nominated for the Oscars. Besides films, he has also directed several television series, including “Het Peulengaleis”, the story of a fishers family from Heist, based on the book by Joseph Vantorre “De Kavijaks”. In 2008, Stijn Coninx wrote and directed “Soeur Sourire” (Sister Smile) with Cécile de France as leading actress.

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are a critically acclaimed Belgian filmmaking duo. They write, direct and produce their films together. They first came to international attention with “La Promesse” (The Promise) in 1996. They won the Golden Palm of the Cannes Film Festival with “Rosetta” in 1999. All their films since have played at the Cannes main competition and won one of the major prizes: Best Actor for Olivier Gourmet in “Le Fils” (The Son) in 2002, the Golden Palm a second time for “L’Enfant” (The Child) in 2005 and the best screenplay for “Le silence de Lorna” (The Silence of Lorna) in 2008.

Constantinos "Costa" Gavras is a Greek-born French filmmaker, best known for films with overt political themes, most famously the fast-paced thriller Z (1969). His filmography includes “L’aveu” (The Confession) in 1970, “Etat de siège” (State of Siege) in 1972, “Section spéciale” (Special Section) in 1975 (Best Director Award at the Cannes Film festival), “Missing” in1982 (Oscar and BAFTA awards for the screenplay), “Music Box” in 1989 (Golden Berlin Bear), “Amen” in 2002 and “Eden à l’Ouest” (Eden is West) in 2009.

Marco Tullio Giordana is an Italian screenwriter and director. In 2000 at the Venice film festival Giordana presented “I Cento Passi” (The Hundred Steps), which took the prize for best screenplay. In 2003 the director's TV film “La meglio gioventù” (The Best of Youth), won the "Un certain regard" section at Cannes. His film “Quando sei nato non puoi più nasconderti” (Once You're Born You Can No Longer Hide) entered the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. His last film “Sanguepazzo (Wild Blood) was released in 2008.

Jan Hřebejk is a Czech film writer and director who’s first film “Pelisky“ (Cosy Dens) from 1999 is dealing with the complex social implications of the Prague Spring in 1968 as an intelligent comedy and won two awards at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival . His second film "Musíme si pomáhat"  (Divided We Fall) in 2000 pictures the situation of a Czech couple hiding a Jew during World War II and equally combines a humoristic genre with serious contents. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and won audience awards in many festivals . His later works "Horem pádem" (Up and Down)in 2004, "Kráska v nesnázích" (Beauty in Trouble) in 2006 (award in Karlovy Vary Film Festival) and "Kawasakiho ruze" (Kawasaki's Rose) in 2009, which won two awards in the Berlin Film Festival, continue to illustrate the high quality of contemporary Czech cinema.

Agnès Jaoui is a French screenwriter, director and actress, best known for her acting (in “Un Air de famille”, “Le rôle de sa vie”) as well as for her writing and directing. Her debut as a director, “Le Goût des Autres” (The Taste of Others), was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2000. “Comme une Image” (Look at Me) won the best screenplay of the Cannes Film Festival in 2004. Her last film “Parlez-moi de la pluie” (Let It Rain) was released in 2008.

Carlo Lizzani is an Italian screenwriter and director working both for cinema and television.  Lizzani worked on such notable films of the late 1940s as Roberto Rossellini's “Germania anno zero” (Germany Year Zero) and Giuseppe De Santis' “Riso amaro” (Bitter Rice) in 1950, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Story.  After helming documentaries, he debuted as a feature director with “Achtung! Banditi!” (Attention! Bandits!) in 1951. His huge filmography includes “Chronache di poveri amanti” (Chronicle of Poor Lovers) in 1954 which won the International Prize of the Cannes Film Festival, genre films, notably westerns, crime films such as “Banditi a Milano” (The Violent Four) in 1968 and “Crazy Joe” (1974) or comedy “Roma Bene” (1971). He worked frequently for Italian television in the 1980s.  His film "Celluloide" in 1995 talks about the difficult making of Roberto Rossellini's masterpiece “Rome, Open City”.

Roger Michell is an English theatre, television and film director. He started as assistant director to noted British playwright John Osborne and Irish playwright Samuel Beckett. In 1985, Michell joined the Royal Shakespeare Company where, over six years, he was an assistant director and then a resident director. As a film director, he made “Persuasion” (1995) which won the BAFTA for Best Single Drama. In 1999, Michell directed “Notting Hill”, one of the highest grossing British movies of all time, and in 2002 box office hit “Changing Lanes”. He directed “The Mother” in 2003, “Enduring Love” in 2004 and “Venus” in 2006. His last film “Morning Glory” will be released at the end of 2010 in the USA.

Radu Mihăileanu is a Romanian-born French screenwriter and director. His second feature “Train de Vie” (Train of Life) in1998 launched his international career. The film won the Audience Award for best foreign film at the Sundance Film Festival and two awards at the Venice Film Festival. “Va, Vis et Deviens“ (Live and Become) in 2005 won three prizes at the Berlin Film Festival and secured his position as one of the most renowned European directors today. His last film “Le Concert” (The Concert) has been released all around the world since last year.

Manuel Ríos San Martìn is a Spanish screenwriter, director and producer. He started his carrier in the mid-nineties working on a number of series for Spanish television including the award-winning “Compañeros” and “Médico De Familia”.  His first feature film was “No te fallaré” (I Won’t Let You Down) released in 2001 and he was also a co-writer on “Maradona” (directed by Marco Rissi) released in 2007.  He has also taught a variety of courses at a number of Spanish universities.

Volker Schlöndorff is a German director and screenwriter. He studied filmmaking in Paris and worked for ten years in France before he founded his own production company in Berlin in 1973. He won an Oscar as well as the Golden Palm at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival for “The Tin Drum”, based on the novel by Günter Grass. This film launched his international carrier which continued with many selections at international film festivals such as the Berlin Film Festival for “The Handmaid’s Tale” (1990) and “Legend of Rita” (2000) or the Venise Film Festival for “Der Unhold” (1996). One aspect of Volker Schlöndorff's films is their strong literary inspiration: many of his films are adaptations of famous literary works by Arthur Miller, Günter Grass, Marcel Proust, Michel Tournier, and others. Schlöndorff teaches film and literature at the European Graduate School in Switzerland.

Paolo Sorrentino is an Italian screenwriter and director. He achieved international recognition in 2004 with “Le conseguenze dell'amore” (The Consequences of Love) which was nominated for the Golden Palm at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. “L'amico di famiglia” (The Family Friend) in 2006 was also nominated for the Golden Palm of the Cannes Film Festival. Sorrentino's latest film, “Il Divo”, a dramatised biopic of Giulio Andreotti, the controversial Italian politician, won the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival in 2008.

Bertrand Tavernier is a French screenwriter, director and producer. He started his career as a press agent, fighting for films and directors he believed in. His first film “L’horloger de Saint-Paul” (The Clockmaker) in 1974 won the Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival. He came back to Berlin in 1980 with “La mort en direct” (Death Watch). “Coup de torchon” (Clean Slate) was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1981 and Tavernier won the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984 with “Un dimanche à la campagne” (A Sunday in the Country). His biography also includes “Round Midnight” in 1986, “La vie et rien d’autre” (Life and Nothing But) in 1989, “L’appât” (The Bait) in 1995, “Capitaine Conan” in 1996, “Ca commence aujourd’hui” (All Starts Today) in 1999, “Laissez-passez” (Safe Conduct) in 2002, “Holy Lola” in 2004, “In The Electric Mist” in 2009. His last film “La Princesse de Montpensier” (The Princess of Montpensier) was selected at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

Enrique Urbizu is a Spanish screenwriter and director. He directed his first film “Tu novia está loca” (Your Girlfriend is Crazy) in 1987 and was praised by the audience and the critic for “La Caja 507 (Box 507) in 2002 and “La vida mancha” in 2003. He adapted Perez-Reverte's novel “The Club Dumas” which under the title “The Ninth Gate” was directed by Roman Polanski in 1999. He is currently working on “ No habrá paz para los malvados” which will be released in 2010 in Spain. He has served as Vice President of the Spanish Film Academy and currently combines his work as director with the Chair of DAMA (Copyright Audiovisual Media).

Jaco Van Dormael is a Belgian screenwriter and director. He made his feature-length debut in 1991 with “Toto le Héros” (Toto the Hero) which won the Golden Camera at the Cannes Film Festival. He came back to Cannes in 1996 with “Le huitième jour” (The Eighth Day) where his actors won the Best Actor award. His last film, “Mr. Nobody” won two awards at the Venice Film Festival in 2009 and is being released all around the world since the beginning of the year.

Susanna White is a British film and TV director. She attended Oxford University and studied Film and Television production at the University of California. White began her career making documentaries, including “The Gypsies Are Coming” and “Volvo City” for the BBC and Channel 4 respectively. Winning a BAFTA nomination for Best Documentary in 1996 for “The Museum”, White turned to drama and in 1997 directed “Bicycle Thieves”. She returned to the documentary format in 2000 in “Tell Me the Truth about Love”, which won an Emmy Awards nomination. In 2005, she directed the BBC’s acclaimed drama series, “Bleak House” based on Charles Dickens’ novel. The series won a host of international broadcast awards including the BAFTA. From this success White went on to another highly-regarded drama series “Jane Eyre” which was equally lauded. In 2007 White directed HBO’s series “Generation Kill”.  In 2010 she directed the family film written by and starring Emma Thompson: ‘Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang’ for Working Title/Universal. She has been on the board of Directors UK, the collective management society and campaigning body for British directors.