Bio: 

Pauline Blanchet is a French-British award-winning film director and producer whose work explores nationalism, identity, and belonging through politically engaged storytelling. She runs Aral Sea Productions, where she develops films across documentary, animation, archive, and XR.

Her current feature project, Big in Gazi Baba, is a coming-of-age documentary co-produced with Al Jazeera Balkans. The film has been developed through EURODOC, East Doc Platform, and ESODoc GoEast, and has received several major awards including the Vanessa Redgrave Award at PriFest, the Cannes Docs Marché du Film Award and the IDF East Silver Caravan Award.

She is also directing What You Remember, an archive-led feature on historical erasure and memory politics in Skopje, currently in development with support from Sandbox Films (Special Mention Award, AFO 2024). Other recent projects include Hope is Lost, a short stop-motion animation, and Surviving a Demolition, a short documentary selected for the Jihlava New Visions Market. Her debut short documentary, Zuckerberg You Owe/Own Me, which explores digital power and personal data, has been screened internationally and received multiple awards.

Pauline’s storytelling extends to XR media, with recent collaborations with New Images Festival and Garage Stories on environmental narratives in the Arctic. She has produced over five podcasts, served as Senior Producer at World Radio Paris, and participated in talent programs at CPH:DOX Academy, Sheffield Doc Fest, Sundance Co//ab, Ateliers Médicis, and Dok Leipzig’s Short ‘n’ Sweet.

She holds an MA in Urban History and Culture (with distinction) and is completing a PhD at the School of Advanced Study on urban belonging in North Macedonia. Pauline is a Cumberland Lodge Fellow (2025–2027), a producer at HERProductions, and heads communications for European Short Pitch.

Notable Awards:

Best International Short Documentary, Zuckerberg You Owe/Own Me, KINOKI XVIII International University Film Festival, October 2024

Cannes Docs Marché du Film Award, Big in Gazi Baba, September 2024

IDF East Silver Caravan Award, Big in Gazi Baba, September 2024

EURODOC Award for Best Pitch, Big in Gazi Baba, September 2024

Al Jazeera Balkans Main Pitch Co-production Award, Big in Gazi Baba, September 2024

Olomouc, Czech Republic: Special Mention Award from Sandbox Films, What You Remember, April 2024

Prague, Czech Republic: East Doc Forum Docs Ireland Award, Big in Gazi Baba, March 2024 

Pristina, Kosovo: PriFest Vanessa Redgrave Award, Big in Gazi Baba, September 2023 

Best Pitch for Garage Stories #arcticstoriesResidency with Tvibit in Tromsø, March 2023

Best Experimental Film Award Winner: United Artist International Film Festival, Mumbai, India, January 2023, for 'Zuckerberg You Owe/Own Me'

Best Student Podcast Nomination: The Publishers Podcast Awards, UK, April 2022

Transat Grant Winner and Film Residency with Ateliers Médicis , France, July 2021 

Sundance Co//ab Course in Documentary Filmmaking Scholarship Grantee, September 2021

Nathan, Quinn and Esmond Scholarship Recipient: MA in Urban History and Culture, September 2020

Platforma 5 Art for Social Change Residency Invitation, October 2019

Student Development Fund Winner, SOAS, University of London, June 2019

Nominated for Social Activist of the Year, SOAS, University of London, March 2019

SLiice Grant Winner, SOAS, University of London, February 2018

Two 02 Think Big Grants Winner, 02 Think Big, February 2018

Lens in Development Photography Award Shortlisted, February 2018

London Photo Show Competition Shortlisted, February 2017