Bridgette Auger
Co-director/DP/Producer
Bridgette is an artist and filmmaker strongly committed to using art for social change who has lived and worked in the Middle East for over 12 years. Covering the Arab Spring in Egypt and Libya as well as the refugee crisis as a result of the war in Syria through photography and video, Bridgette sought out intimate stories to raise complex questions about sensitive issues. Credits include: The Guardian, New York Times, Die Zeit and short film This is not me هاد مو أنا: Enduring Syria’s War. She has a degree in Photography and Imaging from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and a Master of Social Documentation from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Bridgette co-filmed and co-directed her first feature, We Are Not Princesses, which premiered at DOC NYC in November 2018. She was a 2016 National MediaMaker Fellow at BAVC (Bay Area Video Coalition) and a fellow at IFP’s 2017 Doc Labs. She currently resides in Jackson, Mississippi.
Itab Azzam
Co-director/DP
Itab is a London-based Syrian filmmaker. She won a BAFTA in 2017 for her work producing the BBC Two series Exodus: Our Journey to Europe, also a winner of a British Broadcast award and a Liberty Human Rights award. She has extensive television experience including the BBC’s Syrian School; the series East West; and Bizarre Foods: Syria for the Travel Channel. She produced the award-nominated theatre piece Antigone of Syria, and is co-director of the film We Are Not Princesses, which premiered at DOC NYC in 2018. She co-founded Sabbara, a Syrian social enterprise empowering women through economic employment and psychological support, and also co-founded the Open Art Foundation, an arts charity that works with marginalised communities around the world. Her highly acclaimed cookery book Syria: Recipes from Home was released in the UK and US in 2017.
Hal Scardino
Producer
Hal began his career as a film actor in Los Angeles and New York in the 1990s. He settled in the UK in 2010 and began working as assistant producer at The Tricycle Theatre in London. Soon after leaving the Tricycle, Hal acted in and executive produced the film The Show. In 2013 he co-produced the play Syria: Trojan Women in Jordan, and in 2014 he co-founded the Open Art Foundation, a UK-based arts charity and the organisation behind the internationally-acclaimed theatre project in Beirut, Lebanon, Antigone of Syria. The film that was made during that time, We Are Not Princesses, premiered at DOC NYC in 2018. He assistant directed All the President's Men? in the West End and on Broadway, a verbatim theatre piece based on the senate confirmation hearings of Donald Trump's cabinet, and more recently acted in Myriam Cyr’s production of Saltonstall’s Trial in Beverly, Massachusetts. He lives in New York.
Sara Maamouri
Producer/Editor
Sara Maamouri is a documentary filmmaker and editor who has explored a diverse range of topics for almost 20 years. Her work has touched on social, educational and political issues, from former enemies bound together through loss and discovery (In This Waiting, 2011) to reinventing a country as the world watches (A Revolution in Four Seasons, Hot Docs 2016). Most recently, she edited and co-produced The Judge (TIFF 2017, Peabody Awardee 2019) and edited and produced We Are Not Princesses (DOC NYC 2018). She is currently editing Black Mothers and An Act of Worship. A multi-lingual Tunisian educated in New York and California, Maamouri brings international sensitivity to her editing, production and story development.
Kaveh Vares
Composer
Kaveh is a Persian composer born in Tehran. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in physics in 2006, he decided to travel to study classical music composition under the guidance of Artur Avanesov in Yerevan State Conservatory in Armenia. In search of a new and open-minded artistic environment, he traveled to the Netherlands in 2008. He studied classical music composition in the conservatorium van Amsterdam under the guidance of renowned teachers such as Willem Jeths, Richard Ayres and Wim Henderickx. After finishing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in classical music composition in 2014, he decided to start a second master’s degree in film music composition under the guidance of Jurre Haanstra. The combination of his studies in classical music composition and film music composition helped him to broaden his horizon to the multidisciplinary art form of music video. He uses mathematics as a source of inspiration for his artistic approach. He is interested in the subject of manipulation of the mind through art and the search for the limits and borders of perception.
NØRLUM
Animation Studio
Nørlum develops and produces original stories in diverse worlds through animated feature films and other media. We work with international partners, both as producers and co-producers, and our focus is on high story and artistic quality. Our co-productions of the Oscar-nominated ‘Song of the Sea’ and the recent award-winning ‘Longway North’ set the stage for the kind of projects we will continue to realize while expanding our vision and reach. While we are passionate about producing high-caliber family entertainment for the international market, we are equally committed to engaging locally, working with talent in our area. Nørlum also believes in community engagement outside our industry, using our skills to benefit others. Our charity initiative, Team Generous, donates short animated films and other creative works to charitable causes, including Save the Children, Medics Without Borders, World Wildlife Fund, Habitat for Humanity, and the Danish Children’s Foundation. We plan to continue growing and expanding Team Generous to make a greater impact.