Members of the FERA Executive Committee (Elected at the Copenhagen General Assembly June 2012)
Mr Piers Haggard Chairman and Vice-President, Board member Directors UK, United Kingdom
Having started in the theatre, Piers Haggard’s first job in film was with Michelangelo Antonioni on The Blowup (1966). His own first feature came in 1972, The Blood On Satan’s Claw, a cult classic recently released on DVD. The 70′s also saw his best known TV work, the Dennis Potter series Pennies from Heaven which won a BAFTA award. Piers’ other feature films include The Quatermass Conclusion, winner of a Trieste Festival Award, The Fiendish Plot of Dr Fu Manchu, Peter Sellers’ last film, Venom with Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed, and A Summer Story. He has made TV films in the US and Canada with stars such as Liza Minelli and Donald Sutherland. His last feature Conquest won ‘Best Canadian Feature’ at the Atlantic Film Festival. In development is an ecological thriller. Piers has spent virtually his whole career campaigning for directors’ rights. He was the Founder and first Chairman of both the Directors Guild of Great Britain (DGGB), and the Directors’ and Producers’ Rights Society (DPRS). He was active in the creation of Directors UK and is a member of the Board.
Ms Gabriel Baur Vice-President, Board member Swiss Filmmakers Association (ARF/ FDS), Switzerland
Gabriel Baur has been a freelance director/author since 1984. After completing her MA in Cultural Anthropology, Psychology and Mass Communication in 1982, she made her first short films at the Film school of the New York University. In-depth study of writing and directing with Krzysztof Kieslowsky (PL), Wojciech Marczewski (PL) and Frank Daniels (USA). Her films and scripts as director and author include: Cada Dia Historia (Every Day History, NIC/CH 1986/87); Die Ausnahme und Die Regel (CH/A, 1992); Die Bettkönigin (Queen of Bed, CH, 1994), Venus Boyz (CH/D/USA, International premiere at the Berlinale 2002, theatrical release in Europe and the USA as well as over 50 festivals worldwide) and Amour Fou in Process (CH/D, working title). Gabriel Baur received national and international awards for her films and is a member of the European Film Academy. She co-founded ONIX Filmproduction 1983 and ONFEATURES in 2008, and she is lecturer of the Arts ZHDK/ MA Film at the Zürich University. She lived between N.Y.C. and Central America from 1983 to 1987, today she is resident in Zurich, living and working between Zurich, Lisbon, Berlin and New York. Gabriel Baur has been delegate by the Swiss Filmmakers association ARF/FDS to the Federation of European Film Directors – FERA since 1990.
Mr Maurizio Sciarra Vice-President, Board member 100Autori, Italy
After over 10 years working as assistant director with the well known Italian director Luigi Comencini, Maurizio Sciarra made his first movie in 1997, The room of the desert wind, with the actor Giancarlo Giannini. He won the Annecy Film Festival; the Palmera de Plata at the Valencia film festival and the actor received a very important Italian Award, Silver Ribbon for the best performance. Then, in 2001, with Off to the revolution in a 2CV, he won the Golden Leopard in the Locarno Film Festival, among other three awards. In 2006, with What’s love? The Kreutzer sonata he was again in the Locarno film festival and invited to the Tokyo International Film Festival, as well as to the Shanghai International Film festival and Rabat Film Festival. He directed also many documentaries. The last one is Travelling with the Puppets (December 2008) based on the true story of Mimmo Cuticchio and his family, well known puppeteers in Palermo. From August 2006 to June 2008 Maurizio Sciarra was member of the board of Instituto Luce, the most important Italian public film company.
Mr Håkan Bjerking Honorary Treasurer, President Swedish Film Directors (SFR), Sweden
Håkan Bjerking has been working in the Film business since 1986. He started as a director assistant and directed his first short film in 1988. Since then he has both produced and directed feature films and series for TV. His latest feature film No Tears opened in theatres all over Sweden and Norway in 2007. He has also produced and directed some documentaries; the last one he produced was Ambres – Dead Man Talking about an Egyptian spirit that takes place inside the carpenter Sture Johansson.
Mr André F. Nebe, Board member Bundesverband Der Fernseh Und Filmregisseure in Deutschland (BVR), Germany
André studied law at the Humboldt-University in Berlin. He completed his law-degree in 2000. Between 2002-2004 he attended film-school in Hamburg under dean Hark Bohm and got his diploma summa cum laude. He set up his own production company to co-produce his international first feature “The Race” (Starring Colm Meaney and Susan Lynch) in 2005. The film was released in 2009 in Germany and other countries and attended many international kids-film-festivals (e.g. Giffoni, Italy / Cinekids, Amsterdam / Golden Sparrow, Erfurt). André is specialized in Copyright and trade-mark law and published a comparative study on the legal status of film producers in the EU.
Mr Christophe Andréi, Board member Groupe 25 IMAGES, France
Christophe Andréi was a director assistant for 18 years before becoming a director in 1988. He writes and directs both fictions and documentaries. He has directed numerous series for French TV, 26 mins and 52 mins, (Maguy, Marc and Sophie, Baie Ouest, C com ç@, les PPQS, les compagnons de l’aventure, etc.) and two series in English language (Cousin Williams and Deepwater Haven in co production with Australia and New-Zealand). He also directed a film for TV and around 20 documentaries, for most of which he was the author.Christophe has currently two scripts in development: one is a fiction for TV and the other is a fiction for screen release. He has worked for all the national French channels, except for Canal+.
