Project Market Juries

Elisa Fernanda Pirir was born in Guatemala and moved to Northern Norway in 2007. In 2016, her graduation film from the National Film School of Norway, “Generation Mars,” was nominated for the 43rd Academy Student Award.
She is a Berlinale Talents, Guadalajara Talents, EAVE, Rotterdam Lab, and EWA alumni. In 2023, she was selected as the Norwegian Producer on the Move in Cannes. That same year, she founded her own company, STÆR (Starling).
STÆR presented its first feature documentary, “Calls from Moscow,” at the Berlinale International Film Festival Forum, as well as at the Hot Docs and MoMA festivals. Their co-production, “The Hypnosis,” by Ernst De Geer, won three prizes at Karlovy Vary. In 2023, the short film “Almost Invisible” was nominated for Best Short Film at Bergen IFF, Tirana IFF, Tromsø IFF, and Morelia IFF.
STÆR is co-producing new films, including Nabil Ayouch’s “Everybody Loves Touda” (Cannes 2024), Inadelso Cossa’s “The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder” (Berlinale Forum 2024), Selma Cervantes’ “Yume,” Juan Andrés Arango’s “Where the River Begins,” Ester Martin’s “A Sweetness from Nowhere,” Levan Koguashvili’s “Guria,” Carlos Reygadas’ “A Wake of Umbra,” Vytautas Katkus’ “The Visitor,” and Annemarie Jacir’s next feature film, “All Before You.”

Founder and CEO of Abbout Productions, Georges Schoucair developed and produced critically acclaimed and award-winning independent movies and has actively contributed to the establishment of an attractive and globally acknowledged environment for film investments in Lebanon and to the development of Lebanese cinema.
As a producer, Georges was able to develop strong relationships with prominent Arab and international film professionals and closely worked with award-winning directors. His films have been screened at prestigious film festivals such as Cannes, Berlinale, Toronto, Venice, Locarno, and Karlovy Vary.
In parallel to Abbout Productions, Georges co-founded MC Distribution, which releases independent films in the Middle East and North Africa, and has served as the vice-president of Metropolis, the only art house cinema in Beirut, since 2008.
His most recent endeavor is founding Shortcut Films in 2016, which has co-produced many acclaimed films like “Félicité” (2017), “Wajib” (2017), “Rafiki” (2018), “Beauty & the Dogs” (2018), “It Must Be Heaven” (2019), and “A Son” (2019).
In 2019, Georges was invited as a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in the Executive Branch, representing the Middle East.

In 2015, Louise Bellicaud created In Vivo Films with Claire Charles-Gervais, an arthouse-driven film production company that supports and accompanies talents from all over the world. Louise Bellicaud has produced “Abou Leila” (2019) by Amin Sidi-Boumédiène, selected at Cannes Critics’ Week; “Dos Estaciones” (2022) by Juan Pablo Gonzales, selected at Sundance – World Narrative Competition; “Un Varon” (2022) by Fabian Hernandez, selected at the Director’s Fortnight; “Levante” (2023) by Lillah Halla, selected at Cannes Critics’ Week; and “Horizonte” (2024) by César Augusto Acevedo, selected at TIFF in the Discovery Program section.
Currently shooting “Hijo Mayor,” the debut feature film of Argentinean director Cecilia Kang, Louise Bellicaud will, in 2025, begin production on three other feature films, including the second feature films of French-Algerian director Amin Sidi-Boumediene, “The Last Days of RM,” and Moroccan director Alaa Edine Aljem, “Eldorado, The Taste of South,” as well as “Fagadaga,” the debut feature film of Senegalese director Yoro Mbaye.