ABOUT US

Andre became chairman of the Festival’s board of directors in 2007. He and his wife, Catherine, are long-time supporters of BIFF. He has more than 20 years of experience in insurance, reinsurance and alternative risk transfer, and is the founder of the Horseshoe Group. Andre is in charge of the Group’s advisory division, Horseshoe Insurance Advisory Group Ltd., as well as being responsible for the development of the insurance management activities of Horseshoe Management Ltd. Andre has a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Montreal, and is fluent in both English and French.

Jeff joined the Festival board in 2007. He is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Validus Holdings, Ltd., a specialised Bermuda-based provider of short-tail reinsurance and insurance through two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Validus Reinsurance, Ltd. and Talbot Holdings Ltd.  Prior to joining Validus in 2006, Mr. Consolino was a Managing Director of Merrill Lynch & Company’s financial institutions investment banking practice and has more than 15 years of experience providing investment banking services to the insurance industry. Jeff holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Duke University and an MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management.

Duncan became involved with BIFF in 1997, joined the Festival staff in 2000, and has served as Deputy Festival Director since 2002. He trained as an attorney, having obtained a Law degree at the University of Victoria. He was called to the Bar of Bermuda and British Columbia, and spent three years as an attorney at Appleby Spurling & Kempe (now Appleby). Prior to obtaining his law degree, Mr. Hall worked as a journalist for more than a decade. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Arts from the University of Toronto. 

Jo joined the Festival board in 2008. Now a Bermuda resident, she formerly worked at Tatler in the United Kingdom as a film critic and then worked on film development at Little Wing Films (working on Nine Dead Gay Guys, The Oyster Farmer and When Will I Be Loved amongst others). She subsequently worked at Buena Onda Films with legendary producer Don Ranvaud (Central Station, City of God, Constant Gardener. She was approached by Ron Rotholz to work as assistant producer on the Martha Fiennes film, Chromophobia, which closed the Cannes Film Festival in 2005.

Susanne has been part of the cultural and arts community in Bermuda for almost 30 years, as a volunteer and as a writer and journalist. She has been the editor of the souvenir programme for the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts, has co-edited, along with Tom Butterfield and the late Kevin Stevenson, the book 100 Years of Photography in Bermuda’, and has written numerous feature articles for The Bermudian magazine. Susanne joined the Management Committee of BIFF in 1998, is a Trustee and for five years was the Festival’s Director of Guest Relations.  

A founding member of BIFF, Aideen has served as Festival Director since 1997. Aideen trained as an urban planner, having obtained a Bachelor’s degree at McGill University and a Master’s at the University of Waterloo. She was formerly employed with the Bermuda Department of Planning as Assistant Director (Administration & Control). In addition to her film festival work, she is a member of the board of directors of the Centre on Philanthropy.  

Tammy joined the Festival’s board of directors in 2007. She is a partner at leading Bermuda law firm, Appleby, where she is a corporate attorney in the firm’s banking and asset finance practice area. Tammy is active in the charities sector in Bermuda – she is president of Raleigh International Bermuda, a board member with the Bermuda End to End charity walk, and a trustee of the Bermuda Civic Ballet. She has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Canada and earned her LL.B. Hons at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

Juan joined the Festival’s board of directors in 2008. He and his wife, Francoise, are long-time supporters of the Festival. Juan was appointed a Magistrate in 2005 and primarily sits in the Civil Court of the Magistrates’ Court in Bermuda. He formerly worked in the Department of Public Prosecutions and has also worked in private practice. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University in Toronto, and earned his LL.B. Hons from the University of Kent in the United Kingdom. Juan is presently the seminar leader for the criminal law course being conducted by the University of Kent through Bermuda College.