Takeshi Kitano (Japan)

Born in Tokyo in 1947, Takeshi Kitano became involved in theater in the early 1970s. Under the pseudonym Beat Takeshi, he became one of Japan's most famous comedians. He became famous in the West with a role in Nagisa Oshima's Merry Xmas Mr Lawrence (1983). He made his directorial debut in 1989 with Violent Cop. His filmography includes Sonatine (1993), Kids Return (1996), Hana-Bi (1997), Kikujiro (1999) and the his first film shot outside of Japan, Brother (2000). Dolls was the closing film for PIFF 2002, and his later piece Zatoichi won the Special Director's Award at the Venice International Film Festival 2003.

Source: Cinemanila 2004 Catalogue

Amer Alwan (Iraq)

Born in 1957 in Babylonia, Iraq. After completing its diploma in the field of Audiovisual and dramatic arts, he began working in Iraqi television. Alwan left Iraq for France, and did post-graduate work in Film in Paris. He trained in documentary filmmaking.

Source: Cinemanila 2004 Catalogue

Yo Yuhang (Malaysia)

Yo Yuhang was trained and has worked as an engineer. He started shooting documentaries and short films after he quit his day job. He is also involved in photography and book design. He wrote and directed the telemovie Min, which has never been aired. It has since gone to a few festivals and won the Special Jury Award at the Festival of Three Continents in France.

Source: Cinemanila 2004 Catalogue

James Lee (Malaysia)

James Lee's debut digital film, an action drama in Cantonese and English entitled Snipers, premiered in 2001. The film was invited to the Sarawak Millennium Film Festival 2002, Singapore International Film Festival 2002, and Cinemanila 2002.In 2002, Room to Let - a Mandarin drama - enjoyed even more success, making appearances at the 5th Festival Du Film Asiatique de Deauville, 27th Hong Kong International Film Festival, 16th Singapore International Film Festival, 26th New York Asian American Film Festival, International Film Screening Festival Guangzhou in China, 5th Cinemaya Asian Film Festival in India, 5th Cinemanila Film Festival in the Philippines, 4th SeNef in Korea, 27th Montreal World Film Festival in Canada, Asian Film Symposium in Singapore amd 21st Torino Film Festival.

Source: Cinemanila 2004 Catalogue

Sanjay Leela Bhansali (India)

Graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Sanjay Leela Bhansali's first film Khamoshi, a touching narrative of a daughter's connection with her deaf-mute parents, silenced even the most hardened critics. His next film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam showcased another facet of the director. Eneveloping this simple story of relationships was visual splendor. His next extravaganza was based on the epic saga of Devdas - one that would be an ode to India's best known love story,a nd perhaps the world's greatest lover.

Source: Cinemanila 2004 Catalogue

Nir Bergman (Israel)

Nir Bergman graduated with distinction from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem in 1997. His graduate film Sea Horses (with Maya Maron who stars in Broken Wings) received 10 international awards, most notable of them: First Prize at the Lodz International Film Festival in Poland and Best Film at the Munich International Festival of Film Schools in Germany in 1999. In 2000 Bergman served as a juror at the Berlin Film Festival in the Kinderfest category. Broken Wings is Bergman's feature debut.

Source: Cinemanila 2004 Catalogue

Ekachai Uekrongtham (Thailand)

Thai-born Ekachai Uekrongtham is an award-winning theater director and founding artistic director of ACTION Theater, a Singapore-based professional theater company. A recipient of the Singapore Youth Award and the Culture Award presented by the JCCI Foundation in Singapore, Ekachai was named one of the 20 Leaders of the New Millennium for Society and Culture by AsiaWeek. He also created the Creative and Development Unit at GMM Pictures Thailand, and the SIngapore headwuarter of Sir Cameron MacKintosh, international producer of Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. Beautiful Boxer is Ekachai's feature film debut.

Source: Cinemanila 2004 Catalogue