OUR 2016 PLYMOUTH FILM FESTIVAL JURY
John Sealey
Film Producer at Fabians Films
With a masters in European Cinema and PhD Film by Practice, Johns cinematic knowledge is unquestionable. His love of film has led him from lecturing to create his own production house where he aims to help talented young filmmakers realise their potential.
Jonny Kurzman
Award-Winning Screenwriter
An award winning screenwriter, Jonny has worked extensively in children’s television, including Wolfblood, The Sparticle Mystery and MI High. In 2011 his spec screenplay ‘Leonardo’ was picked up by Universal and was put into development with producer Lawrence Gordon (Die Hard, Tomb Raider). He has a number of TV and film projects in development in the UK and the US including Armorel, an adaptation of Jerrard Tickel’s Appointment with Venus, that is scheduled to shoot summer 2016.
Anna Navas
Plymouth Arts Centre Programmer
A film studies graduate with over 15 years experience as a Film Programmer for Plymouth Arts Centre, Anna's love for film and keen involvement in community projects has led to her founding and supporting numerous local initiatives promoting art house cinema, grassroots filmmaking and local artists.
Lucy Leake
Programme Leader for Film at Plymouth College of Art
Having taught at the Plymouth College of Art since 2004 Lucy leads the Contextual Practices modules, examining key theories and debates in visual culture, and guiding students towards combining theory and practice, in order to better their development as filmmakers. In addition, she is currently working on a project investigating how family stories are fabricated, gendered and collectively re-remembered in a digital age, and has had her research selected for inclusion at Making Futures, The Aesthetic of Renewal and CREST symposia.
Sarah McAdam
Senior Film Lecturer - University of St Mark and St John
Sarah has been a senior lecturer at The University of St Mark and St John in Plymouth since 2010 in which time she has taught various aspects of photography, film and wider contextual and visual culture on degrees in Media and journalism. In September the university has a new degree in Film in Bristol and Berlin aimed at the next generation of independent maker filmmakers. She is currently engaged in a practice-led PhD that examines the visual culture within domestic spaces.
Lauren Tenn
Film Festival Director
Lauren Tenn has a varied background in arts administration and management, and spent the last two years as the Programme Director for the Toronto Queer West Film Festival.