A closer look at the professional resume and biographical notes of the jurors of this year’s edition. In this section, a deeper look at the jury for Queer Lion 2017
BRIAN ROBINSON
president
Brian Robinson was born in Northern Ireland and was a member of the Belfast Gay Liberation Society while still at school. He studied Law at Sussex University and set up a Gay Film Society there. He has worked variously as a tour-guide and tourist information officer before joining the British Film Institute as a press officer in 1987. He was a founder member of Square Peg magazine and has written on queer cinema for many publications including Sight & Sound and The Guardian.
He developed a career as a programmer at the National Film Theatre (now BFI Southbank) curating retrospectives on William Klein,Henry James, the cinema of Disco, Dirk Bogarde and has hosted on-stage interviews with actors and film-makers including Leslie Caron, Julie Andrews and Mike Leigh.
Since 2000 he has been a programmer of the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (now BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival). He has produced two DVDs for the BFI: Pink Narcissus for which he interviewed director James Bidgood, and The Erotic Films of Peter de Rome. He has been a jury member for the Teddy Award Berlin, Queer Palm Cannes and Sunny Bunny Award Kyiv. Meeting Bette Davis was a career highlight.
ADRIANO VIRONE
Cultural promoter, entertainer, gay activist and dj. Founder and chairman, in Ivrea, of the first Arcigay Circle (dedicated to Ottavio Mai) in a non-county town, where he also created the cult night event “Nottalgia”. Collaborated with “Da Sodoma a Hollywood – Turin LGBT Film Festival”. Co-founder of Queever, the event of Turin nights that became a cultural and political landmark of the gay and lesbian community of Piedmont.
RICH CLINE
Is a London-based journalist who covers film weekly for a variety of outlets, from BBC Radio to Contactmusic to Boyz Magazine. His personal review site Shadows on the Wall was launched in 1995 as the UK’s first ezine. He is vice chair of the London Film Critics’ Circle, chair of the Critics’ Circle Film Awards, and a member of Galeca, Fipresci and the OFCS. He has served as a jury member at festivals in England, Wales, Germany, Italy, USA and UAE, and has covered events on every continent. Originally from Los Angeles, he grew up in Ecuador and has lived in Britain for nearly 25 years.
DANIEL N. CASAGRANDE
Founder of Queer Lion Award, journalist, member of the National Union of Italian Film Critics, teacher of History of Cinematographic Language, president of Queer Lion Association.
Rounding up the jury will be the VP of APS Queer Lion.
