The 2004 Jury Chair

Stewart Till is Chairman and CEO of United International Pictures (UIP), the world's leading distributor of feature length motion pictures to theatrical exhibitors. He is also currently Deputy Chairman of the Film Council and Vice Chairman of Skillset as well as Chairman of the Film Skills Strategy Committee.

From 2000-02 Stewart was President and CEO of Signpost Films. Previously, he was President of Universal Pictures International. Before then, at Polygram Filmed Entertainment, Stewart was responsible for all film acquisitions and oversaw international film, video and television marketing and distribution.

In June 2000 he was awarded the CBE for services to the UK film industry.

With an impressive career across film, television and stage, Christian Slater has established himself as one of the most talented and respected actors of his generation. He continues to demonstrate his range by adding the roles of director and producer to his long list of credits.
Slater's extensive film credits prove his versatility to excel in various genres. As an action hero, Slater was seen in John Woo's WINDTALKERS, opposite Nicolas Cage and BROKEN ARROW with John Travolta. Slater has gained a cult following in his portrayal characters like 'Clarence Worley' in TRUE ROMANCE, 'Robert Boyd' in VERY BAD THINGS and 'Jason Dean' in HEATHERS. Other film credits include INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, UNTAMED HEART, Jean-Jacques Annaud's THE NAME OF THE ROSE and Francis Ford Coppola's TUCKER: THE MAN AND HIS DREAM.
Slater has garnered critical acclaim for other theatre work, most notably his starring role in the Broadway production of SIDEMAN. Off-Broadway, Slater has been seen in such productions as LANDSCAPE OF THE BODY, DRY LAND and SOMEWHERE'S BETTER.
Together with Mary Jo Slater, he recently formed the production company Clean Slate Productions, developing both film and television projects. In 1996, Slater made his directorial debut with MUSEUM OF LOVE, a short film for Showtime.
Slater can currently be seen performing in the hit West End show, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST. Next year, Slater will be seen in Renny Harlin's MINDHUNTERS with Val Kilmer and Johnny Lee Miller. Also released next year is the political thriller THE DEAL with Selma Blair.

Just prior to leaving Wadham College, Oxford, where she studied English Literature, Rosamund shot her first film role in A RATHER ENGLISH MARRIAGE playing the part of Albert Finney's niece, Celia. She then took her first role for the BBC in their lavish production of WIVES AND DAUGHTERS and then shot LOVE IN A COLD CLIMATE, an adaptation of the Nancy Mitford books.

Rosamund's next incarnation was as Miranda Frost in DIE ANOTHER DAY. After Bond, Rosamund returned to theatre, as 'The Blonde' in Terry Johnson's highly-acclaimed Hitchcock Blonde. The Independent called her 'both stunningly beautiful and a haunting mix of the desperate and the determined as The Blonde' and The Observer described Rosamund as 'magnetically hard to take your eyes off'.

Rosamund took the lead role documentary-style thriller PROMISED LAND HOTEL and immediately started work on Laurence Dunmore's THE LIBERTINE, alongside Johnny Depp.

Mark Cousins is a film writer, producer and director. Despite a background in sciences and painting, he was drawn to cinema. Cousins' first good film was DEAR MR GORBACHEV, on which he was associate director. In 1991 he began a five year collaboration with the Edinburgh Film Festival. First as a programmer, then as Director - and together with a great team - he reworked the event, scrapping existing programme categories and inventing Scene by Scene.

Since then Cousins has worked in a range of contexts. He has presented BBC2's late night cult movie programme, MOVIEDROME. He co-edited, with Kevin Macdonald, Imagining Reality, a history of documentary film for Faber and Faber. SCENE BY SCENE on TV ran for five years. In 1997 Cousins co-founded the charity Scottish Kids Are Making Movies (SKAMM), to help talented teenagers to think creatively and gain access to film equipment. He is now its Chair. The following year he set up feature film making company 4Way Pictures with Antonia Bird, Robert Carlyle and - subsequently - Irvine Welsh. This is now his main work. (Although he is still exploring new directions - this year he has recorded a drum and bass dance track about the film LA MAMAN ET LE PUTAIN, for London group Wave.) Cousins is currently producing Irvine Welsh's first original screenplay MEAT TRADE, and executive producing Welsh's adaptation of Alan Warner's novel THE MAN WHO WALKS. Mark's new history of world cinema, The Story of Film, has sold 10,000 copies in its first weeks of publication.

Cate Blanchett graduated from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992 and in a little over a year had won both critical and popular acclaim, winning the 1993 Newcomer Award from the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle. More stage and small screen work followed until Cate made her feature film debut in PARADISE ROAD with Glenn Close and Frances McDormand. Her role in ELIZABETH won international recognition and numerous awards, including the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama. Cate was also nominated for an Academy Award for the role. Her credits include THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, THE GIFT, LORD OF THE RINGS, CHARLOTTE GRAY, VERONICA GUERIN and COFFEE AND CIGARETTES. Upcoming films include Wes Anderson's THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU and Scorsese's THE AVIATOR.

John Akomfrah is an award winning director whose list of credits include the mesmerising biography THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG and a celebratory portrait MARTIN LUTHER KING - DAYS OF HOPE. His first film HANDSWORTH SONGS was awarded the prestigious British Film Institute Grierson Award for Best Documentary Film in 1987.

He has produced a wide range of innovative work which is considered to be some of the most distinctive and exciting to be produced in British film culture over the last 20 years.

John's feature film work includes the critically acclaimed TESTAMENT, a film about African exile set in Ghana. This was followed by WHO NEEDS A HEART, a film set during London's swinging 1960s. In 1998 John made SPEAK LIKE A CHILD, a story of three old friends with a shared secret of a murderous past.

John Akomfrah is a Governor of the British Film Institute.