Official Jury

The “King of Short Films” was born in Tunis and is now based in Rouen. Since 1974, Claude Duty has directed, at a steady pace, numerous short films across all cinematic genres (fiction, animation, documentary, experimental).
His passion for and expertise in this format led him to work on Canal+’s Short Film Programs. In addition, he moderates several debates and roundtables, particularly at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival (where 11 of his short films have been selected), the Off Courts Festival in Trouville (where he is a lifetime jury member!?), and the Arcs Film Festival (of which he is the president).
In 2002, Claude Duty directed and achieved commercial success with his first feature film, Filles perdues, cheveux gras (nominated twice for a César Award), followed shortly thereafter by his second, Bienvenue au gîte. His third feature film, Chez nous c’est trois!, was released in 2013. He directed his 30th short film in 2019: Le soir au fond des bois.

Evelyne is one of Quebec’s most renowned artists. Some of her standout television performances have earned her three Gémeaux Award nominations in the Best Supporting Actress category, as well as the award for Best Actress in a Television Series. On television, she has appeared in roles in shows such as Orphan Black, Trop, Chouchou, and In Memoriam, as well as in the French productions Paris Police (Canal+) and Dans l’ombre (France 2).

On stage, she has distinguished herself in several acclaimed productions, including Tom à la ferme, L’idiot, and Les trois soeurs. In film, she made a dazzling debut in Denis Villeneuve’s Polytechnique and Jean-Marc Vallée’s Café de flore.

In 2012, she played the lead role in Anaïs Barbeau Lavalette’s feature film Inch’allah, which won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin Film Festival. Her performance also earned her a nomination for the Canadian Screen Awards. The following year, she received another Canadian Screen Award nomination for her role in the film Tom à la ferme, directed by Xavier Dolan.

In 2022, she played the lead role in the feature film French Girl, alongside Zach Braff and Vanessa Hudgens. In 2023, she played Michelle in Jonathan Beaulieu-Cyr’s feature film Phénix. She will appear in 2026 in Jessica Huras’s Tides as well as Istvan Szabo’s Embers.

In addition to her acting talent, Evelyne is also a singer with two albums to her credit: Objets perdus in 2019 and Le danger in 2023. The album Le paon is set to be released in the spring of 2026.

© Photo : Shayne Laverdière

A trained musician, Théo Cholbi began his film career in the early 2010s with Nolwenn Lemesle’s film Des morceaux de moi.

But it was later, working with American photographer and filmmaker Larry Clark, that he quickly made a name for himself with his role as a skateboarder in The Smell of Us (2015). He went on to work with filmmakers such as Katell Quillévéré in Réparer les vivants (2016), Blandine Lenoir in Aurore (2017), Philippe Faucon in Les Harkis (2022), and most recently Ira Sachs in Passages (2022). That same year, he starred in Dominik Moll’s La Nuit du 12, which won the César Award for Best Film in 2023.

The actor recently played the lead role in Eat the Night by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, which was presented at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2024.

Alongside his acting career, Théo Cholbi is also a musician under the pseudonym “Süeür”. His musical project blends rock, rap, and electronic influences, bringing a fresh dynamic to the French music scene since 2019.

He recently appeared in Virginie Sauveur’s series Les disparues de la gare, as well as Gaël Morel’s Le rouge et le Noir.
He is currently finishing his first solo album and is slowly getting into screenwriting …

Niki Demiller is a French film composer based in Paris. Before devoting himself to composition, he was the lead singer of the garage rock band Les Brats. At age seventeen, he opened for Iggy Pop and The Stooges at the Zénith in Paris, before making his first foray into film by appearing in Yann Gonzalez’s Je vous hais petites filles, which was presented at the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.
From these experiences, he has retained an instinctive approach to music, which he continues today in compositions where the orchestra interacts with electric guitars and analog synthesizers.

Based on a distinctively thematic style, his music seeks not so much to underscore the imagery as to reveal its emotional subtext. For each film, he develops a unique musical identity that serves the narrative, exploring everything from social drama to genre cinema.
He has developed long-term collaborations with several filmmakers of the new generation. Notably, he composed the original scores for Langue maternelle by Mariame N’Diaye, Jusqu’au Bout by Xavier Demoulin—winner of the Grand Prix de Hlm at Court(s)—the musical Youssou et Malek by Simon Frenay, and Une arme à la main, j’ai traversé le désert by Laurence Garret and Juan Manuel Sepúlveda, which was presented in the official competition at Cinéma du Réel in 2026. His score for this film was nominated for the Sony Avant-Son Award at the Sœurs Jumelles festival in 2025.

In 2026, he also created the sound design for PhantasIA, the Arte series exploring the connections between artificial intelligence and contemporary creation.
In 2024, he received the Sacem Award for Best Original Music at the Paris Podcast Festival for Une Étoile Rouge Ne Meurt Jamais, a podcast dedicated to the Red Star as part of the Cultural Olympics, which he also co-wrote.
His music for Langue maternelle was selected for the “Talents” section at La Fête du Court Métrage, while the film won the Best Francophone Film Award at Dakar Court. He is represented by Raphaël Vinzant at Time Art.

©Nicolas Vidal

Okinawa Guérard has been a casting director for over twenty-five years. She works with filmmakers to find actors and actresses, with a particular focus on discovering new talent.
She has worked notably with Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, Karine Tardieu, Nadège Loiseau, Yohann Gloaguen, and Michel Hazanavicius. Her recent television projects include the Arte series L’Homme au manteau de singe and Paris Police 1910 for Canal+.

As co-president of ARDA (Association of Casting Directors), she is actively committed to promoting recognition of the casting director profession and to supporting new talent.