Talal Derki

Jury Member

Born in 1977 in Damascus, Talal Derki is a Syrian film director, producer and screenwriter based in Berlin since 2014. He studied film directing in Athens at the Stavrako High Institute of Cinematographic Art and Television, and graduated in 2003. Between 2009 and 2012, Derki worked as an assistant director for several feature film productions, and directed a number of Arab television films and programs. He also worked as a freelance camera operator for CNN and Thomson Reuters. Derki’s short films and feature-length documentaries received many awards at a variety of festivals. His films Return to Homs (2013) and Of Fathers and Sons (2017) were granted the Grand Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014 and 2018 respectively. In 2014, he served as a member of the international jury at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. Nominated for an Academy Award in 2019 for Of Fathers and Sons, Derki is also a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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