This year, the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), comprising distinguished film critics, presents two awards: to the best film of the International Competition section and to the best Greek film that has its premiere at the Festival. This year’s jury members are Helen Barlow, Robbie Eksiel, and Alin Tasciyan.
Helen Barlow is a Paris-based Australian freelance critic and journalist who is a voting member for the Lumiere awards and a member of the UJC union of cinema journalists in France. A dedicated Europhile, she has covered the Cannes and Berlin Film Festivals for more than 30 years and has also long covered the Venice and Sundance Festivals. Her principal publications are The Australian, Australia’s only national newspaper, and the film website Filmink.
A journalist and a film critic, Robbie Eksiel was a film writer for the daily newspaper Ethnos (1993–2017) and its chief film reviewer (1998–2017), a writer at the Greek film magazine Cinema (1989–2017), and a contributor at several weekly or monthly variety magazines over the years. He has served as the artistic director at the Greek Film Center (2007–2009) and as a member of the governing council at the Greek Association of Film Critics (2006–2016). A FIPRESCI, European Film Academy and Hellenic Film Academy member, he has also served in several FIPRESCI juries (Toronto, Tromso, etc) and as a member of the Discovery Awards Nominations jury for the EFA for three consecutive years. He is a contributor at the film site www.flix.gr and the artistic director of the Larissa International Film Festival.
Alin Tasciyan was born in 1969 in Istanbul. She graduated from the University of Istanbul with a BA in journalism and public relations in 1991. She began working for the Milliyet Art Review and Milliyet daily newspaper the same year. During the 16-year period in this media group she has been a correspondent, film critic, and the editor of the Art Review. Meanwhile, she has prepared various cinema programs for various television channels. She is currently a film critic for the channel of culture&art TRT2 and writing for the culture&art website www.sanatatak.com. Tasciyan has been an advisor and programmer for many film festivals. She is a member of the European Film Academy. She had been the vice president and president of FIPRESCI, International Federation of Film Critics between 2009-2018. She is currently the Deputy Secretary of FIPRESCI.