DEBUT FILM JURY - TAHAR CHERIAA PRIZE

Mariam Naoum is an Egyptian screenwriter and author who left her economics studies in France to pursue screenwriting at the Cairo Higher Institute of Cinema. She began her career in advertising before turning to film writing. Her debut film, One-Zero (2009), directed by Kamla Abu Zekry, won multiple Best Screenplay awards, including at the Dubai International Film Festival, the Brussels Independent Film Festival, and the National Egyptian Film Festival. Known for tackling complex social and women’s issues, Naoum founded Sard Writing Workshop in 2015, a space supporting emerging writers in developing film and TV projects, offering a screenplay development award in partnership with various film festivals.

Salam Zampaligré is a Burkinabè filmmaker and member of the Collectif Génération Films. From his early short films, Juste un peu d’amour, Une lettre au Président, and Exil, les voix des sans voix, he established a style blending fiction and documentary, serving a cinema of resistance that explores the social and political fractures of contemporary Africa.
His debut feature La République des corrompus (2018) and his award-winning film Le Taxi, le cinéma et moi (2023) reflect his vision of a lucid, political, and deeply human cinema.

After studying communication sciences at the University of Paris 1, Ibrahim Letaïef began his film career as a producer in 1994. A producer, director, and screenwriter, his short film Visa won 23 international awards, including the Golden Tanit at the Carthage Film Festival in 2004. He has directed five feature films, among them Cinecittà, Hezz Ya Wezz, Porto Farina, and Warning, a Hurricane!.