Jury

Our esteemed jury is tasked with selecting the winning film in the narrative short film competition for the Bermuda Shorts Award.

Jurors at previous festivals have included actors Carrie Fisher, Richard Dreyfuss, Willem Dafoe, Michael Clarke Duncan, Peter Riegert, Laura Harring, Judy Greer, Karen Allen and Jane Alexander, screenwriters Guillermo Arriaga, Carlos Cuaronand Jeff Arch, and film critics Richard Schickel, David Ansen and Robert Koehler.

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BIFF 2012 Jury

Nik Powell

The 2012 jury is headed by one of the U.K.'s top film producers, Nik Powell, responsible for bringing a slate of award-winning films to the screen including "Mona Lisa" (1986), "The Crying Game" (1992), "Little Voice" (1998) and "Ladies in Lavender" (2004). During his career, Nik has worked with a number of high-profile celebrities including Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith, Michael Caine, Ewan McGregor, Forest Whitaker and Jim Broadbent. Nik's films have garnered many awards and nominations, including an Oscar, several Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe. Nik is currently Director of the National Film and Television School in the U.K., while maintaining a number of additional non-executive positions including Chairman of Scala Productions, Vice-Chairman of the European Film Academy and a Member of the BAFTA Board of Trustees. Nik was one of the co-founders of Virgin Records with Richard Branson. Launched in 1972, it became one of the U.K.'s major recording labels until it was sold to EMI in 1992. Prior to BIFF, Nik has served on the jury for a number of film festivals including Sundance, Moscow and Locarno. This is Nik's first visit to Bermuda.

Michael Frith

Bermudian producer, performer, writer, illustrator and designer, Michael Frith, is also flying in from his home in New York to play the role of BIFF juror. Michael is perhaps most well-known for his role as Executive Vice President and Director of Creative Services at The Muppets/Jim Henson Productions, where he developed many of Henson's greatest successes. Michael conceived scores of the most popular characters from "Sesame Street," "The Muppet Show," and "Saturday Night Live." Michael was also co-creator of HBO's International Emmy Award-winning series "Fraggle Rock," inspired by Bermuda's Crystal Caves. Michael later became,with his wife, director,performer, writer, Kathryn Mullen, among others, Co-creator of "Between the Lions," a series for PBS designed to teach children to read. In its first two seasons, the series received 13 Emmy nominations, winning four. As a response to 9/11, Michael and his wife, with UK-based aid-worker Johnie McGlade, co-founded the charity, No Strings International, and are now donating their services to the creation of videos designed to help children at risk in the developing world.

Leslie Taubman

Alongside them is film academic, Leslie Taubman, Ph.D. Leslie was a Fulbright Scholar in Film Studies in Barbados in 2008/09. At the University of the West Indies in Barbados, Leslie helped develop the Film Studies programme. In addition to teaching Film History and Appreciation at U.W.I., she was President of the Jury for the Barbados International Film Festival. Leslie earned her M.A. in Cinema Studies from New York University and her Ph.D. in Communications-Cinema from the University of Southern California. She was a post-doctoral Visiting Fellow in International Film Studies at Harvard University in 2010. Leslie has lectured extensively - in India, Canada, Germany, Venezuela, El Salvador, Colombia and Vietnam. She has written for Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Films in Review and Magill's Survey of Cinema. In addition, Leslie serves as juror for the Brooklyn International Film Festival and is attached to Fordham University in New York as an Adjunct Associate Professor.

Keith Caesar

Local film aficionado, Keith Caesar, completes the BIFF 2012 jury lineup. Keith hails from Sandys, Bermuda. His love for this art form stems from the creation of a television show while in college. Since then he has been hooked on the craft of filmmaking. Currently he is the host of "Filmmakers' Corner" on Bermuda's CITV. The show has been introduction for many on local films and filmmakers through interviews with some of the island's up and coming film talent and more established veterans. Keith maintains that the future of filmmaking and filmmakers in Bermuda is only just beginning.