PRESIDENT OF THE JURY

Born in 1945 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. After Catholic boarding school, he experimented with filmmaking and, in the absence of a film academy, taught himself the art. Made his debut as a film director in 1974 with “Mariken van Nieumegen”. The film was selected for the official Cannes competition in 1975. With this film, Stellings cinematographical position was set worldwide. Yet Stelling is an autodidact; he didn’t study on a film school. The director became famous after “The Pointsman” (1986), while “The Flying Dutchman” (1995) was named among the top 100 movies in world history. Has been the recipient of many national and international prizes for film/culture. His filmography include “Elkerlyc” (1975), “Rembrandt 1669” (1977), “The Pretenders” (1981), “The Illusionist” (1984), “The Waiting Room” (1995, short), “No Trains No Planes” (1999), “The Gas Station” (2000, short), “The Gallery” (2004, short), “Dushka” (2007), “The Girl and Death” (2012), etc. In 1981 he founded the Dutch Film Days. He continued to serve as chairman and director until the 1991 edition. Now known as the Netherlands Film Festival, this is now one of the largest film events in the Netherlands. In Utrecht he owns and runs the Springhaver art house cinema and cafe/restaurant. In September 2004 he opened the Louis Hartlooper Complex, a cultural centre for film and the visual arts. He was the “patron” of Cinedays, a European cinema project in London, Brussels and Rome. He has presented master classes in Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Poland. He was contributed a retrospective of his entire work in many countries.