For the type of journalist he is, Julien Hamelin is a man of surprising principles. With a fondness for talking about trains that arrive on time and the brighter things in life, he believes his sunny disposition was handed down by his grandmother, Gaëlle de Rauglaudre, a former journalist for France-Inter whose daily radio slots covered associations that help people. "Like her, I have a happy, positive personality with a clear idea of how lucky I am. I still work with her on a voluntary basis to record interviews broadcast by Radio Hôpital for sick people in Paris", he explains. Open to others and very inquisitive in nature, he realised during his A-levels that a journalistic career would meet his never-ending thirst for knowledge. He chose to study history at school and enrolled in the Institute of Political Studies in Lyon before entering the Paris-based Applied Journalism Institute to specialise in radio. During his studies, he spent his holidays in Brittany doing local media placements and ended up travelling to South America for four months. On his return, the production Doc en stock approached him to work with them on two films, Quand les filles pètent les plombs and La grande histoire du couple, broadcast on the Arte channel. This started him thinking about future reports and he learnt about editing projects. As part of his extensive research, he stumbled across the Nollywood phenomenon, Nigeria's emerging film industry. "It’s a little-known but very interesting subject for TV that finally portrays Africa in a positive light," he says. All in all, the perfect project to win Lagardère’s first documentary grant and kick start his chosen journey into the world of TV documentaries.

Age: 27 I Passions: Travelling and learning I Philosophy in life: Nothing is ever as bad or as good as it seems I Goals: To be a good person I Favourite documentaries: Donal MacIntyre’s A very British gangster; Sandrine Bonnaire’s Elle s’appelle Sabine; Stephen Frears’ The Deal.