AFFF 2009: Celebrated Jury Members

Here's the list of celebrated jury that AFFF managed to invite for this year.

Ana Kokkinos, Filmmaker

Ana Kokkinos is a Melbourne-based filmmaker whose career spans film and television. Her recent film, Blessed which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2009 won her Golden Shell for Best Screenplay, the Contemporary World Cinema Section at the Toronto International Film Festival (2009) and the BFI Times London International Film Festival (2009). Blessed has also been nominated for 4 Australian Film Institute Awards including Best Film.

Her other multi-award winning films include Head On which she directed and co-wrote with Andrew Bovell and Mira Robertson, The Book of Revelation which she directed and co-wrote with Andrew Bovell and Only The Brave which she directed and co-wrote with Mira Robertson. Films such as The Secret Life of Us, Young Lions and Eugenie Sandler Pl were also directed by Ana.

She is currently a board member of Film Victoria and was an Industry Consultant and Mentor to MA Directing students at the Australia Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney, in 2007. Ana was also a participant in the Creative Stream of the 2020 Summit in Canberra in 2008.


Chris Lee, Producer

Chris Lee was formerly the head of Columbia/TriStar where he oversaw the production of films such as Jerry Maguire, As Good As It Gets and Philadelphia. After leaving Columbia, he went on to produce internationally-recognised films such as Valkyrie, Superman Returns and its sequel, Superman: Man of Steel. Lee is the founder of the University of Hawaii's Academy for Creative Media.

Other movies under his belt include:
· Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart (1985) (Assistant Director/Assistant Editor)
· Blood of the Samurai (2001) (very special thanks)
· Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) (Producer)
· Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002) (Producer)
· S.W.A.T. (2003) (Producer)
· Superman Returns (2006) (Executive Producer/Assistant Visual Effects Production Coordinator)
· One Foot Off the Ground (2006) (Executive Producer)
· Real Fiction (2008) (Executive Producer)
· Valkyrie (2008) (Executive Producer)
· The People I've Slept With (2009) (special thanks)
· Superman: Man of Steel (2011) (Executive Producer)


Kabir Khan, Director

Kabir Khan is a film graduate from Jamia, New Delhi and his film and documentary assignments have given him opportunities to travel extensively to over 60 countries. In 1998, he won the Grand Jury award at Film South Asia 2000 for his documentary, The Forgotten Arm. He moved on to direct a film, Two Assassinations and An Accident which won him Best National Film Award jointly with another film, Mechanics of Change at the Mumbai International Film Festival 2002. He was also awarded the National Critics Award.

His first feature film, Kabul Express premiered in the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival 2006 and then went on to the London, Pusan, Dubai, Singapore, Casablanca and Cairo Film Festivals. At the Asian Festival of First films in 2007, he received the Best Director’s Award and the Foreign Correspondents Association Purple Orchid Award for Best Film. His second feature film, New York, released worldwide in June 2009 to much critical acclaim and box office success. The film is set against the backdrop of post 9/11 New York and was shot in a single 100-day schedule in USA.

Other than filmmaking, he enjoys photography and this has won him several awards such as international photography awards at the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention in Switzerland in 1999 and the Nikon International Photo of the year in 2003.

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All the nominated films will be screened at Golden Village Marina and The Arts House from 28th November to 3rd December 2009. Tickets are available from the respective box offices and online (only Golden Village) at $10 each. Click here to see the schedule in full size.

For any other info, pls go to the official site: http://www.asianfirstfilms.com