Adrienne Frejacques – Paris
Holder of a Master in Law and Administration of audiovisual rights and third cycles of international law and broadcasting rights Adrienne Fréjacques developed within the business constantly. Fréjacques not only enhanced the value of the programs within M5 but also increased the export of programs and developed the by-products of programs. With Ima Productions she developed the Department of Sales and Pre-Sales, while within Point du Jour she worked as Head of Sales and Development. Since Sep’ 99, Fréjacques became the Head of the Development of Arte France entrusted with the whole enhanced value of programs beyond the antenna including DVD Head of publishing cinema, documentaries, live entertainment, in addition to books publishing, setting up the catalog export of TV audiovisual rights and video and finally VOD heading the editorial.

Asantewa Olatunji – Los Angeles
Ms. Olatunji has practiced law in the Southern California area since 1975. She has diversified experiences in entertainment law, civil litigation, immigration and labor law. Besides managing a private practice, Ms. Olatunji has been on the legal staff of Paramount Picture Corporation and the Wausau Insurance Companies, and was General Counsel for the Black Employees Association where she currently sits on the Board of Directors. She has been involved in multiple community projects, including the Nelson Mandela Reception Committee, Les Ballets Africans de la République de Guinée performance at the 1984 Olympics Arts Festival, and the Youth Program for the South Central People’s Federal Credit Union and the South Central People’s Coilition. As one of the founders of the Pan African Film Festival, Ms Olatunji has been integrally involved with its programming since its inception in 1992. As a supporter of fine artists, she originated the annual fine arts show presented by PAFF.

As Director of Programming for the Pan African Film Festival, Ms Olatunji views hundreds of Black films each year and has extensive contacts within the Pan African film community. She has traveled extensively and attends film festivals throughout the world, many of which she has consulted on their programming for African/African American Films. She is a permanent member of the official jury for the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) in Nigeria.

Charles Asibah – Nairobi
Graduate of Art and Design at University of Kent, Rochester College, UK, Charles Peter Asiba is now the Director of Kenya International Film Festival (Kenya), the first and current CEO/Festival Director. He just finished the 4th edition in October 2009. He also established and own FilmAfrica which is a media and research consultancy firm with a bias to film industry especially in content development and distribution in Kenya. He has published the first issue of the annual “Audiovisual guide for Eastern Africa” which has been circulated in the Eastern Africa region and currently working on the second edition which will be published in December 2009.

Charles is also the Vice Chairman of the East Africa Filmmakers Forum, responsible of creation of forums for networking and lobbying for Government support for Eastern Africa Filmmakers and Coordinating film forums within the regional film Festival. He is currently working on the formation of a union for Eastern African Producer Association. As previous experience, Charles managed different African Television Programs in Kenya.

Flora Gomes – Guinea Bissau
One of the best-known filmmaker of Africa, Flora Gomez was first a TV reporter before studying cinema at the Cuban film institute.

Her first film, MORTU NEGA, got awards and recognition all over the world, from FESPACO in Ouagadougou, to Venice and international film festivals. In her 2nd film YONTA’S BLUE EYES, which was screened in Cannes film festival as part of the official selection. Later on Flora directed a musical by The Nam of Nha Fala - the voice - with tremendous success all over the world once more. The film was shot in Paris and Cape Verde.

Flora is currently working on different projects, a fiction feature concerning the life of the great leader Amilcar Cabral, and another film called The Children’s Republic, a futuristic tale and the story of a city ruled by children, the only inhabitants after a horrific and tragic civil war.

Enrico Chiesa - Italy
Enrico Chiesa is involved in the creation of 2 new channels devoted to the distribution of African films : a VOD store (AfricaFilms.tv) and a circuit of mobile cinemas in Africa (mobiCine). The objective of these Initiatives (both starting Spring 2010, and supported by ACP FILMS, the ACP-EU cooperation support programme for film) is to increase African filmmakers revenue, while piracy is stealing away most of it.

E.CHIESA is a film exhibition professional : he managed the Majestic chain (40 screens in France ) then led the CICAE, a network of 3000 art-house cinemas present in 29 countries. enrico.chiesa@laposte.net

June Givanni – London
June Givanni was born in Guyana, grew up in the UK and has worked in film and broadcasting for many years. She was co-coordinator of the ‘Third Eye’ festival of Third World Cinema in 1983 in London, the “Third Cinema Conference” in Edinburgh and ran the ‘African Caribbean Unit’. She is also the editor of the book Symbolic Narratives/African Cinema, published by the BFI.

More generally, June worked as a film and television programme consultant for over 20 years specializing in African and African Diaspora film internationally, working with festivals, and events and writing about film and television. She programmed the Planet Africa section of the Toronto International Film Festival for 4 years in the late 1990s, and has programmed African and African Diaspora cinema at festivals as far apart as Kerala in India and Images Caraibes in Martinique. June has worked in collaboration with African film festivals and served on film juries at FESPACO (from 1985); Zanzibar Festival of the Dhow Countries; All Africa Film Awards in South Africa; JCCarthage and others on the continent. June is an adviser on Africa First, the short film scheme from Focus Films, targeting African directors, launched in 2008. June continues her work as a curator of African and African Diaspora cinema internationally.

Newton Aduaka – Paris
Born in Eastern Nigeria, Newton Aduaka and his family moved to Lagos in 1970 at the end of the Biafran War. In 1985 he left for England to study engineering, but discovered cinema. He graduated from the London International Film School in 1990, and in 1997 established Granite Film Works. In 2001, Aduaka’s debut feature film, Rage, became the first wholly independently financed film by a black filmmaker in the history of British cinema to be released nationwide. It opened to critical acclaim. He has made many short films as well.

Between 2005 and 2007, he co-wrote, directed and executive-produced Ezra, his first non-independently funded film, for Arte France. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at several film festivals, including FESPACO, Durban, Amiens and Balafon, and was an official selection at Sundance and Cannes.

Peace Anyiam Osigwe - Nigeria
Peace Anyiam-Osigwe is one of the leading figures in the world of cinema in Sub-Saharan Africa. After graduating with a degree in Law and Political Science from Oxford Brookes University, this multi-faceted Nigerian from Lagos was soon attracted by the world of film and communications. A presenter of talk shows, writer and producer, the highlight of her various achievements is without a doubt the creation of the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) in 2005, of which she is currently President. The AMAA, - today extends to the entire continent, and its awards are now recognized as the African equivalent of the Hollywood Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Oscar. Anyiam-Fiberesima’s numerous productions include such notable titles as Blind Date, Fear of the Unknown, Sons of Thunder, Messenger of Doom, Preacher Daughter, Laviva.

In addition to her extensive work in film, she held positions as the national Vice President of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP) and Director of Finance for the Filmmakers cooperative of Nigeria. Her contribution to the African film industry is reflected in a documentary about her work, Peace Mission, directed by Dorothee Wenner, premiered at the prestigious Toronto film festival in 2009 Peace has served on numerous Juries but most notably the Berlin film Festival Short film jury and Cine Del Sur. A notable speaker at several panels on African Cinema, from Fespaco - to the Rio film festival, Peace is an Ardent believer that african cinema must celebrate Africa in its own words and it own way.

Wale Ojo – Nigeria
Wale Ojo began his acting career as a child actor with NTA Ibadan. He started acting in the United Kingdom at the age of 21. To date he has acted in most of the major theatres in the United Kingdom. He has worked with such legends as Wole Soyinka and the great Zulu Sofola. He has numerous film credits having worked with Guy Ritchie, award winning director Newton Aduaka and Jonas Pate. His latest film is a television movie by the American network NBC titled “The Philantropist” which airs in the United States in August. Wale has just launched his charity Virgo Foundation whose aim is to further promote the cultural heritage of Nigeria..