Johanna ter Steege, actress
Belongs to the leading European actresses. She studied at the academy of dramatic art in Kampen and at the school of acting in Arnhem. Her acting experience in theatre ranges from Shakespeare, Strindberg and Chekhov to improvised clown acts. In 1988 she played in the film Spoorloos (The Vanishing) and this role won her the “Felix Award” (Best Supporting Actress). She has been working with renowned international directors, such as Robert Altman - Vincent & Theo (1990) or István Szabó - Meeting Venus (1990) and Sweet Emma, Dear Bobe (1992), which received the Special Jury Prize in Berlin. She acted three times in the films of the French “auteur” director Philippe Garrel: J’entends plus la guitare (I Don’t Hear the Guitar Anymore, 1991), La naissance de l’amour (The Birth of Love, 1993) and Le coeur fantôme (The Phantom Heart, 1996). For her role in the film Tot Ziens (Goodbye, 1995) directed by Heddy Honigmann she received the Best Actress Prize, The Bronze Leopard at the International Film Festival in Locarno. She cooperated with the director Bruce Beresford on his film Paradise Road (1997). In Czech Republic she could have been seen in the biographical drama Immortal Beloved (1994). Her last film Guernsey (directed by Nanouk Leopold) was screened this year in Cannes.
Cornelia Klauss, member, Oberhausen International Short Film Festival programming committee
Cornelia Klauss is from Dresden. After graduating from the Academy of Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg, she worked as a reporter in DEFA studios and in television while also starting on her first Super-8 films. In 1989, she briefly worked for SFB and RIAS radio and founded a media seminar at the Free University of Berlin. Since 1990, she has put most of her energy into her job as programming director for Filmkunsthaus Babylon in Berlin. She has produced two documentary films for NDR TV. Aside from a two-year break, she has been a member of the selection commission for the German film competition for the International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen since 1995. At present, she works as an author for the company Zero Film.
Skúli Malmquist, producer
Skúli Malmquist was born in 1973 in Iceand but brought up in various places in the US. He studied in France and in London. In 1995 he co-founded together with Thor S. Sigurjonsson the production company Zik Zak Filmworks, that produced the successful Icelandic films as f.e. Noi Albinoi (2003) directed by Dagur Kari or Niceland (2004) by Fridrik Thór Fridriksson. This film was selected for competition at the 39th IFF Karlovy Vary in 2004. He co-produced also the last film of Dagur Kari, Dark Horse, and prepares also the new Kari’s film, The Good Heart. At the moment he also post-produces two short films by the directors Oskar Axelsson and Benedikt Erlingsson. Skúli Fr. Malmquist is the vice-president of the Icelandic Film Producers Guild.
Ola Simonsson, director, composer
Ola Simonsson created together with J. S. Nilsson the author’s duo, that belongs to the most interesting filmmakers’ subjects of the contemporary short film scene. He was born in 1969 in the Swedish town Lund and studied music in Malmö. He is a singer and musician and has worked with opera, musical and pop music. Since 1990 he has made together with J.S. Nilsson over 20 shorts and documentaries, that are receiving prizes and acclaim all over the world. At the moment they prepare their feature debut.
Jan Svěrák, director, producer
Jan Svěrák, the most prominent Czech director of the post-revolution era, holds two Oscars: the first for his student film Ropáci (Oilgobblers) and the second for best foreign film for his widely acclaimed Kolya. He also received a nomination for his feature-length debut, Obecná škola (Elementary School).
A graduate of FAMU, Jan Svěrák initially studied documentary film and first attracted attention with his short film Space Odyssey II. He then cemented his reputation with the “sci-fi ecology” documentary Ropáci (Oilgobblers). His first feature work, Obecná škola (Elementary School), was based on a screenplay by his father Zdeňek. Next came the action fantasy Accumulator 1, which he co-wrote with Jan Slovák. His low-budget film Jízda (The Ride) became a cult hit. In 1995, he founded his own production company, Biograf Jan Svěrák, s. r. o. and produced his fourth feature-length film Kolya, which was went to wide release in more than 40 countries. Svěrák’s last movie, Tmavomodrý svět (Dark Blue World), was also based on a screenplay by his father Tatínek (Daddy), a feature-length documentary about his father, which Svěrák made with Martin Dostál, was released to theatres in 2004.
