Juries

Stephen Woolley masters all the steps in the making of a film, from producing to releasing it. Actually, it is as an usher in a London theatre that he stepped into the film industry. He went on to buying his own cinema and then, with Nik Powell, he cofounded Palace Pictures, a company that became known for distributing foreign films in Great Britain, among them Diva, Evil Dead, Paris, Texas or Blood Simple by the Coen brothers, as well as highlighting British films directors as Mike Leigh, Ken Loach or Peter Greenaway.

He launched his career as a producer with the Company of Wolves, his first of many collaborations with Neil Jordan, others including The Crying Game (with one of the most famous twists in the history of cinema), Mona Lisa, Michael Collins, La fin d’une liaison, Interview with a vampire (starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Antonio Banderas) was nominated or awarded many times at the Oscars and in the most famous festivals around the world. Together they set up Company of Wolves, financed by Dreamworks.

As a talent scout, Stephen Woolley also revealed Michael Caton-Jones in Scandal and Richard Stanley in Hardware. In 2002 he created Number 9 Films along with his long-time partner, the producer Elizabeth Karlsen, and three years later he went behind the camera to direct Stoned about Brian Jones’s last days.

In 2010 he won the Hitchcock d’Or in the 21st edition of the British Film Festival in Dinard with Made in Dagenham.

In 2019 he was awarded a BAFTA in honour of his exceptional contribution to British cinema.

Thibault de Montalembert, a member of the Comédie-Française from 1994 to 1996, took classes at the Cours Florent under Francis Huster and later at the École des Amandiers with Pierre Romans and Patrice Chéreau. It was with the latter that he first appeared in cinema in Hôtel de France.

He acted in three films by Arnaud Desplechin (La Vie des morts, How I Got Into an Argument… (My Sexual Life), and La Sentinelle), and inspired directors such as James Ivory (Jefferson in Paris), Michel Hazanavicius (Mes Amis), Bertrand Bonello (The Pornographer), Rachid Bouchareb (Days of Glory and Outside the Law), Jérôme Salle (The Odyssey), David and Stéphane Foenkinos (Jalouse), and Roschdy Zem (Chocolat).

He also portrayed Lola in Miss by Ruben Alves, Marshal Foch in the critically acclaimed All Quiet on the Western Front by Edward Berger, and “The Grand Fromage” for Scarlett Johansson in My Mother’s Wedding by Kristin Scott Thomas. He took on the role of talent agent Mathias Barneville in all four seasons of the series Call My Agent!, which later became a cinematic event upon its release as a movie on Netflix.

Since Notting Hill, he has been the French voice of Hugh Grant, and has also dubbed Antonio Banderas, Tim Roth, Pierce Brosnan, and even Clint Eastwood in the restored version of the cult western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

In 2027, he will star alongside Isabelle Carré in Les Voeux by Léa Fazer, Ludivine Sagnier and Louise Bourgoin in Les Poisons by Marc Dugain, as well as Margot Robbie, Wagner Moura and Omar Sy in the Ocean’s Eleven prequel directed by Bradley Cooper.

© Céline Nieszawer

Ben Hardy is one of the top actors of his generation. A graduate of London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, he moves effortlessly between prestige theatre, studio tentpoles, and award-circuit independents.

Ben recently wrapped shooting opposite Felicity Jones and Vincent Cassel in Eleven Missing Days and is now filming the upcoming period drama series The Cadburys. Making his mark in many different genres across film and television, Ben was seen leading The Conjuring: Last Rites which debuted as the highestgrossing horror opening of all time, and previously starred in Vanessa Caswill’s Love at First Sight, Netflix’s most-watched romantic comedy of 2023. His versatility has also led him to co-star in thrillers (The Girl Before and The Voyeurs), and to take on roles in action films (X-Men: Apocalypse and 6 Underground).

Eager to take on ambitious projects, Ben co-starred opposite Rami Malek as Queen drummer Roger Taylor in the global phenomenon Bohemian Rhapsody. The film won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama and earned him a SAG Award nomination. Impressing audiences both on stage and on screen, his theatre credits include the Donmar Warehouse’s The Physicists and the West End’s Judas Kiss opposite Rupert Everett.

Ben is no stranger to Dinard, having headlined Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd’s Unicorns, which won both the Audience Award and the Barrière Jury Special Prize in 2024.

© Iona Wolff

The television event of the autumn 2026 season is undoubtedly the new adaptation of the classic The Red and the Black. Gaël Morel’s direction has brought together several generations of actors to breathe new life into Stendhal’s work, including Virginie Ledoyen, Victor Belmondo, Sophie Guillemin, Fred Testot, Patrick Timsit and Zoé Adjani, who will be a member of the jury for our 37th edition. She first came to prominence eleven years earlier in the lead role of Cerise for Jérôme Enrico, Zoé also played the role of Selma – whose mother is portrayed by our jury president, Amira Casar – in Honey Cigar (by Kamir Aïnouz) and as Annette, the last hope of a young musician caught up in the turmoil of the Second World War in Le Choix du pianiste (by Jacques Otmezguine).

She was directed by Sofia Coppola in the commercial The Chanel Iconic and by Nicolas Bary in the music video for Meet Me by the Gates, performed by The Penelopes and her aunt Isabelle Adjani. She later shared the same role with her aunt, portraying the character at two different ages in the play Opening Night, adapted from John Cassavetes’ film.

At the Comédie de Picardie and later at the Théâtre des Gémeaux in Paris, she starred in Alfred de Musset’s The Moods of Marianne, directed by Philippe Calvario.

She will soon appear alongside Sandrine Bonnaire in Pascal Plante’s Filles du Roy and alongside Néven Carron, Félix Moati and François Berléand in Jean- Pierre Améris’s mini-series Rimbaud-Verlaine, une saison en enfer.

© Thomas Babeau

 Multidisciplinary polyglot actress, Amira Casar grew up between England, Ireland, and France and studied at the Conservatoire national supérieur d’art dramatique. 

She has appeared in over 80 films. Following Would I Lie to You? (César nomination), she has worked with major directors including the Quay Brothers, Catherine Breillat (Anatomie de l’enfer), Carlos Saura, Bertrand Bonello (Saint Laurent), and Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name, winner of the Oscar for Best Screenplay). 

More recent projects include Sarah Bernhardt, la divine (2024), Honeyjoon (Tribeca Festival award winner, 2025), and La Fête sauvage (2026). A lover of the arts, she was named Best Actress at the La Rochelle Festival for her portrayal of Dora Maar in La femme qui pleure au chapeau rouge and has acted in several international series, including Versailles, Rebecca Zlotowski’s Les Sauvages, A Small Light (Disney+), and La Maison (Apple TV). 

In theater and opera, she has performed on major stages, notably taking on title roles such as Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher), Medea, Persephone, and Hedda Gabler. In 2015, she 

won the Académie Charles Cros Best Actress Award for the audiobook version of Alice Munro’s (Trop de bonheur), and in 2016, she was named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. 

Major festivals have invited her to serve on their juries—including the Critics’ Week at Cannes in 2019—or to present her films. 

In 2000, at Dinard, she presented the Golden Hitchcock award to Billy Elliot, and it is with great pleasure that we welcome her back to preside over the jury for this 37th edition. 

Photo © Richard Gianorio