Past Editions

Mexican Documentary Section Jury

GIDEON LICHFIELD

Is an editorial director of The Economist Film Project (http://film.economist.com), an initiative in collaboration with PBS NewsHour that showcases the work of independent documentary filmmakers from around the world. The project selects films that provide new insights into world affairs on a broad range of subjects, and airs segments of them on the NewsHour, in order to bring them to a wider audience and stimulate debate. He has written for The Economist on global affairs, technology and science since 1996, as a staff correspondent in London, Mexico City, Moscow, Jerusalem and, currently, New York City. He has also been the paper's deputy digital editor, responsible for online innovation and strategy; the founding editorial director of its e-learning venture, Economist Education; and an adjunct professor of journalism at New York University.

LUCY WALKER

Has directed four award-winning feature documentaries: Devil's Playground (premiered at Sundance 2002), Blindsight (premiered Toronto 2006), Waste Land and Countdown to Zero (which both premiered at Sundance 2010). In 2011 Lucy was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary for directing Waste Land, the story of artist Vik Muniz's transformational project with recyclable materials-pickers in the largest landfill in the world, in Rio. The film won over 30 other awards including the Audience Awards at Sundance and Berlin and the IDA's Best Documentary Award. Recognition for Devil's Playground, about the struggles of Amish teenagers, included three Emmy nominations for Best Documentary, Best Editing, and Best Documentary. Blindsight, about blind mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer, blind educator Sabriye Tenberken and their expedition leading blind Tibetan students up Mount Everest won many festival awards and was shortlisted for the Academy Award. Lucy grew up in London, England, and studied language and literature at Oxford University, where she directed award-winning theatrical productions before winning a Fulbright Scholarship to attend the MFA graduate film program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She was also a DJ and previously directed Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues, for which she was twice nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Directing.

ALISSA SIMON

Es la Programadora Principal del Palm Springs International Film Festival. Ha sido curadora de cine por más de 25 años y trabaja como consultora de programación a través de su compañía Cinequanon. En 1999 obtuvo un reconocimiento por su labor como Directora Asociada de Programación en el Film Center de la School of the Art Institute, posición que ocupó por once años. Después de haber obtenido un M.A. en Estudios Británicos en la Universidad de Yale, un M.A. en Historia y Crítica de Cine en la Universidad de Iowa y un M.A. en Administración de Arte en la School of Business de la Universidad de Wisconsin-Madison, Alissa empezó su carrera como programadora en el Departamento de Cine del Walker Art Center. Prosiguió en el Museo Internacional de Foto en la George Eastman House. Fue jurado en varios festivales internacionales de cine, como Karlovy Vary, Ljubljana, Belgrado, Ámsterdam, San Francisco, Sarajevo, Sochi, Cluj, Turín, Montreal, Vancouver, Plzen y Trencianske Teplice. Es Miembro de FIPRESCI, la Asociación Internacional de Críticos de Cine, escribe sobre cine y festivales para Variety y coordina el programa de Variety "Diez realizadores europeos que se deben ver" en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Karlovy Vary.