'Darbareye Elly' (About Elly) Islamic Republic of Iran
Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi
Asghar Farhadi was born in Isfahan, Iran in 1972. Whilst at school he became interested in writing, drama and the cinema, took courses at the Iranian Young Cinema Society and started his career as a filmmaker by making super 8mm and 16mm films. He graduated with a master's degree in film direction from Tehran University in 1998. During his studies, he not only wrote and directed student plays, but also wrote plays for national radio and directed for television with such shows as the hit series Tale of a City. In 2001, Farhadi wrote the screenplay for Ebrahim Hatamikia's box-office and critical success Low Heights. His directorial debut was with 2003's Dancing in the Dust. This film went on to participate in the Moscow Film Festival, where it won both the Best Leading Actor and Film Critics awards. Farhadi made his second feature film, Beautiful City, in 2004 which won the Best Feature Film award at the Warsaw Film Festival 2004, the India International Film Festival and Moscow's Faces of Love Film Festival. Fireworks Wednesday, his third feature, award winner at the Locarno International Film Festival 2006, has also been successful in other international festivals. The film has been released in both Europe and the USA. 2009's About Elly is his fourth feature film.
'Okuribito' (Departures) Japan
Screenplay: Kundo Koyama
Kundo Koyama is a Japanese author, screenwriter and radio personality. Born in 1964, Koyama began his career as a writer for many popular television programs including the Iron Chef series. In 2003 he wrote an International Emmy nominated program, The Perfect Manual. Koyama also hosts radio programs, writes articles for various international magazines and is the author of the highly acclaimed novel, ‘Film’. Departures is Koyama’s debut screenplay.
‘Jang-rye-sik-ui Member’ (Members of the Funeral) Republic of Korea
Screenplay: Baek Seung-bin
Baek Seung-bin was born in Daegu, South Korea in 1977. He is a graduate of the Korean Academy of Film Arts. His short films include Daytrippers (2004), Darling (2005) and The French Lieutenant’s Woman (2007) which is based on John Fowles’ novel and was invited to the 12th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF). Members of the Funeral was invited to the 13th PIFF in the ‘New Currents’ section where it received a special mention by the jury and won the NETPAC Award. Members of the Funeral is a selected feature film project for 'The Advanced Program' of the Korean Academy of Film Arts and is Baek Seung-bin’s feature film debut.
'Madeo' (Mother) Republic of Korea
Screenplay: Bong Joon-ho and Park Eun-kyo
Writer/Director Bong Joon-ho studied sociology at the Yonsei University and graduated from the Korean Film Academy. By 1995 he made three short films: Memories in My Frame, White Man and Incoherence. He wrote and directed his first feature, Barking Dogs Never Bite, which won a FIPRESCI Award at the Hong Kong Film Festival in 2001. His second feature, Memories of Murder, won the Silver Shell award for the best director in San Sebastian Film Festival in 2003. In 2006 his third feature film, The Host, achieved significant box office success both domestically and internationally and was selected for the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. Mother, which he co-wrote and directed, had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009. Also nominated, Park Eun-kyo graduated in 2004 from Korea National University of Arts, majoring in filmmaking. She adapted the screenplay for the feature film Kitchen (2006) and wrote Crush and Blush (2007). She also filmed The Making of Shaking Tokyo, a featurette about the making of the 2009 omnibus film, Shaking Tokyo. Bong Joon-ho was one of the directors in the project alongside Leo Carax and Michel Gondry.
'Mumbai Meri Jaan' (Mumbai My Life) India
Screenplay: Yogesh Vinayak Joshi and Upendra Sidhaye
Upendra Sidhaye studied at the University of Pune where he gained a commerce degree and a masters in communication studies. He worked as a screenwriter with UTV Motion Pictures as a member of its Script Cell in 2004 and 2005 and is the writer/director of two short Hindi films 3 Khwaab and Waiting Room. In addition to co-writing the screenplay for Mumbai My Life, Upendra was also the assistant director. His latest screenplay, Payback, is currently in production. Yogesh Vinayak Joshi is the co-writer of the highly acclaimed 2004 film, Hawa Aane Dey, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and went on to screen at several prestigious international festivals and was selected by the Global Film Initiative for the Global Lens 2008 lineup. He is the writer of Tendulkar Out which is currently in production. Together, they are the recipients of India’s 2008 Filmfare Award and the 2008 CineBlitz Award for Best Screenplay for Mumbai My Life.