Jurors

Eliška Cílková je hudební skladatelka a filmařka. Za film Pripyat Piano získala hlavní cenu Silver Eye Award, film Beautiful Solution vyhrál na MFDF Jihlava v roce 2021 experimentální sekci Exprmnt.cz. Kromě filmového vzdělání prošla Eliška Cílková i klasickým hudebním vzděláním, v rámci ročního Fulbrightova stipendia působila jako skladatelka na Columbia University in The City of New York. V roce 2024 uvedla Janáčkova Filhramonie Ostrava rozsáhlou orchestrální skladbu Odstíny Záře. www.eliskacilkova.com

Robert Sinnerbrink is Professor of Philosophy at Macquarie University and former Research Fellow at the Cinepoetics Center for Advanced Film Studies, Freie Universität, Berlin. He is the author of New Philosophies of Film (Second Edition): An Introduction to Cinema as a Way of Thinking (Bloomsbury, 2021), Terrence Malick: Filmmaker and Philosopher (Bloomsbury, 2019), Cinematic Ethics: Exploring Ethical Experience through Film (Routledge, 2016), New Philosophies of Film: Thinking Images (Continuum, 2011), and is co-editor of Contemporary Screen Ethics: Absences, Identities, Belonging, Looking Anew (Edinburgh UP, 2023).

As an auteur director, Wang Xiaoshuai was a pioneering figure in Chinese independent cinema in the 1990s and is one of the very few masters who remains true to his art despite rampant commercialism in nowadays Chinese film industry. Over three decades of his career, he has directed 15 feature films, including one documentary, CHINESE PORTRAIT (2018), which takes the rapid urbanization of China as its background and depicts the theoretical predicaments individuals face in everyday life. By virtue of strong personal style, deep concern for humanity, and diligent independent way of filmmaking, Wang's works have competed at Cannes Film Festival four times, three times in the Berlinale, and at Venice and San Sebastian film festivals. He was appointed Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2005 by the French Minister of Culture for his artistic accomplishments. Evoking the trauma of ordinary Chinese people caught in extraordinary times, his works span different eras, yet consistently reflect a strong social conscience. His latest title SO LONG, MY SON (DI JIU TIAN CHANG 2019) won two Silver Bears for Best Actor and Best Actress at the 69th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival, which is unprecedented for Asian film. This title has achieved numerous honours and prizes including ‘Best Director of the Year’ by the China Film Directors’ Guild at the 2019 Annual Commendation Ceremony, ‘Best Director’ at the 14th Asian Film Awards, Best Feature Film and Best Film Director at the 2nd Beijing Film Academy Awards, besides three Golden Roosters for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay of its 32nd version in 2019.

After mathematic high school he study directing at FAMU in Prague. His student films have been screened worldwide and his short film Retriever was presented in the Cinéfondation section of the Cannes Film Festival. He worked as the second director on The Wolf from the Royal Vineyard Street film, which he later finished after the legendary author Jan Němec passed away. The film was awarded with the Special Jury Award in the main competition of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and presented at the Rotterdam Film Festival. As director of photography he worked on film FREM by Viera Cakany which was entirely shot in Antarctica. Film was premiered in Forum Berlinale and Tomas received Czech critics award for best audiovisual achievement of the year. As his directing debut he did adaptation of a famous Jáchym Topol novel A Sensitive person which was premiered at Crystal Globe competition of 2023 Karlovy Vary film festival and film is being now screened at film festivals all around the world. He loves to do documentaries for both TV and cinema. He focuses on themes like mental health or human rights. Right now he is working on his second feature and also on documentary depicting research using psychedelics in psychoterapy for people suffering terminal diagnoses.

María Laura Ruggiero is an Argentine filmmaker and narrative designer specializing in transmedia storytelling and immersive media. Her work has garnered recognition in prestigious international programs, including Mutek, Power to the Pixel, TransmediaNext, Digital Jove, ONA, H2O, and more. As a professor and Ph.D. student, María Laura delves into the intricacies of immersive narratives, sharing her expertise as an international speaker at renowned events like SXSW, TEDx, MITODL, Mutek, Ji.Hlava, and America’s Cultural Summit.

Abby Sun (she/her) is IDA's Director of Artist Programs and Editor of Documentary magazine. She is currently researching policy recommendations to support independent documentary filmmaking as a Shorenstein Documentary Film Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. Before joining IDA, Abby was the Curator of the DocYard and edited MIT Open Documentary Lab's Immerse. She has bylines in Film Comment, Filmmaker, Film Quarterly, Notebook, Sight & Sound, and other publications. Abby has served on festival juries for Hot Docs, Dokufest, Palm Springs, New Orleans, and CAAMfest, as well as nominating committees for the Gotham Awards and Cinema Eye.

Katerina Cizek is an influential figure in international media, with over 25 years of experience as a Peabody- and Emmy-winning documentarian, author, producer, and senior leader working with collective processes and emergent technologies. She is the co-founder, research scientist, and artistic director of the Co-Creation Studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab. She co-wrote the world’s first comprehensive book on co-creating media, Collective Wisdom, published by MIT Press in 2022.

Cheryl Maloney is an activist from the Mikmak indigenous group. She is the former National Environmental Coordinator of the Aboriginal Women's Association of Canada and former President of the Nova Scotia Aboriginal Women's Association, where she led the organisation's involvement in the investigation of missing and murdered Aboriginal women. She also served as a professor of political science at Cape Breton University, where she taught social justice and Mikmak studies.

Siri Aas Rustad is a Research Professor and Research Director at the Peace Research Institute Oslo. She has more than 20 years of experience with working with conflict data and quantitative analyses. She has for the past eight years led the PRIO Conflict Trends project, and a become a regularly used expert on conflict trends both in national and international media, as well both governmental and non-governmental organizations. She has worked extensively on both causes and consequences of conflict, including maternal and children’s health, natural resources and ceasefires.

Tereza Hadravová (1980) je editorka časopisu Estetika: The European Journal of Aesthetics a přednáší estetiku na Filozofické fakultě Univerzity Karlovy. Působila také jako redaktorka časopisu dok.revue. Ve své práci se zajímá o různá rozhraní filozofie a estetiky, mimo jiné o průniky filozofie a filmu a možnosti spolupráce mezi filozoficky a empiricky zaměřenými badateli a badatelkami v oblasti estetiky.

Pavlína Kalandrová graduated from Palacky University in Olomouc (Theatre Studies and Czech Language and Literature) and from Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU, Film and TV production). She co-founded the production company Duracfilm where she produced mainly documentaries (In Sight, 2010, The Tripoint, 2011, H*art On, 2016 – screened at FID Marseille, Jihlava IDFF, One World Prague, Shanghai IFF, Beijing IFF, Jaipur IFF, or AFO Olomouc), but also feature fiction (Children, SK/CZ) or animated and experimental films (Changing the Scene, 2010). She was one of the Emerging producers 2014. She worked as director of the Creative Europe Desk CZ – MEDIA between 2014–2017, where among other things, she was at the birth of the CEE Animation initiative, and as creative director of the Institute of Documentary Film between 2017–2018. She was a member of the expert committee for minority co-productions of the Slovak Audiovisual Fund and a member of the selection committee for the documentary films of the Finále Plzeň festival. She has been selective support board member of the Czech Film Fund.

Aleš Kauer, výtvarník, básník, performer, zakladatel bibliofilského nakladatelství Adolescent, několika avantgardních hudebních projektů, organizátor kulturních akcí a literárně-hudebního festivalu Kvílení. Graficky a výtvarně doprovodil mnoho knih a časopisů. Básně a texty publikuje v Glosolálii, Hostu, Tvaru, A2, Revue Prostoru, Deník Referendum. Jeho básně byly přeloženy do několika jazyků a publikovány v zahraničních literárních časopisech a antologiích. Vydal básnické sbírky VNĚ/MNĚ (2014), HappyEND (2020), Imagine Peace (2023).

Vladimír Merta je český písničkář, publicista, spisovatel, fotograf, architekt a filmový režisér. Vystudoval architekturu na ČVUT (absolvoval v roce 1971), poté v letech 1971–1976 studoval na FAMU, studium zde zakončil filmem Smrt krásných srnců podle knihy Oty Pavla. Na konci 60. let nahrál ve Francii písničkářské album Ballades de Prague. Byl členem folkového sdružení Šafrán. Během osmdesátých let psal a režíroval animované filmy. Je zakládajícím členem Evropského kulturního klubu a aktivním členem OSA. [zdroj: Wikipedie]

Narodil sa v Spišskej Sobote, žije v Košiciach. Absolvoval katedru Dokumentárnej réžie na FTF VŠMU v Bratislave. Spolu s Ivanom Ostrochovským nakrútil filmy Menšie zlo (2004), Vietor (2004), Karakorum (2005), Uli Blaho (2008) a Zamatoví teroristi (2013). Pracoval ako strihač a kameraman na filme Ivana Ostrochovského Ilja (2010), pomocný režisér na filme Martina Šulíka Cigán (2011) a koproducent, vedúci výroby a pomocný režisér filmu Ivety Grófovej Až do mesta Aš (2012). [zdroj: Filmtopia.sk]

Na festival jsem se dostala spolu se synem, se kterým budu letos v porotě. Díky synově profesi vnímám film víc do hloubky a skrze náš společný koníček - hudbu, vnímám více i tu filmovou. Mám pocit, že by lidi spolu měli víc mluvit a film je vždy o příběhu a i když se ti moc nelíbí, tak o tom prostě mluvíš. Prostředí festivalu je právě o sdílení zážitků pod stejným nebem a na to se těším.

born in 1986 lives in Prague, Czechia Gajarský is an artist living in Prague. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (New Media Studio II/ School of Anna Daučíková) and spent a study internship at UdK in Berlin (Josephine Pryde studio) at the same time. Gajarský expresses himself primarily through the medium of text, sound and the moving image. Formally, he often refers to modernist models, but at the same time he looks critically at the canon and hegemony of western culture, among others with regard to socio-political themes. He regularly presents his work in solo and group exhibitions and shows in the Czech Republic and abroad, e.g. at Close-Up Cinema or greengrassi in London, Pioneer works in New York, the Czech Centre in Berlin and the National Gallery in Prague. In 2014 he was one of the finalists of the Leinemann Foundation Award and in 2017 a finalist of Jindřich Chalupecký Art Award. Gajarský uses all tools for editing moving and still digital images in his work. In addition to visual art, he is also an active musician. Under moniker Slowmotiondancer he is producing, mixing and mastering music on the Czech and international scene. He is the author of several soundtracks for performances, theatre shows, short films, documentaries and sound art installations for exhibitions. Together with Michal Pěchouček, he led the Studio of Fine Arts III (Intermedia) at the UMPRUM - Academy of Arts Architecture & Design in Prague where he finished his PhD studies in 2020.

Novinářka a moderátorka. Od roku 2013 do roku 2022 pracovala v České televizi. Začínala v zahraniční redakci, několik let reportovala například z unijních summitů. Od roku 2020 moderovala i Interview ČT24 a hlavní zpravodajské pořady. Vystudovala žurnalistiku na Fakultě sociálních věd Univerzity Karlovy. V roce 2020 se umístila v žebříčku mladých talentů časopisu Forbes 30 pod 30. V roce 2022 vydala knihu rozhovorů s ženami v českých médiích, Novinářky, a dokumentární podcastovou sérii Krása pro Český rozhlas Radio Wave. Během roku 2023 pracovala na Aktuálně.cz, kde vedla rozhovory v pořadu Spotlight, psala texty o kultuře a společnosti a zpracovala publicistická témata ve svém podcastu Safe space. Od konce roku 2023 je na volné noze, pracuje na nové podcastové sérii a nové knize, moderuje besedy, festivaly a akce, studuje obor Gender Studies na FHS UK.

Magdalena Dušková je redaktorka Alarmu a studentka politologie a antropologie na FF UK. Píše hlavně o politice – protože věří, že každý aspekt života je politický –, a to z intersekcionálně feministických pozic. Je spoluautorkou podcastu Hysterie a investigativní série Mezi Bohem a ultrapravicí: Po stopách českého antigenderu.

Danish author Brit Jensen has been living in the Czech Republic for a number of years. She is an audio documentary maker and producer. She has created dozens of documentaries for Czech, Danish, British and Australian radios. In collaboration with Magdalena Sodomková, she produced the first Czech true crime podcast, The Mathematics of Crime, and teamed up with Jiří Slavičínský and Radio Wave to create a documentary series called DokuVlna. Brit is currently working on an indie true-horror podcast, Anatomy of Fear and is the producer of the new series of short docs, Dokumoment, on Czech Radio Vltava.

Štěpán Pech vystudoval obor fotografie na Vysoké škole uměleckoprůmyslové v Praze a také obor režie na FAMU. Během studií pracoval jako asistent konceptuálního umělce Jana Mančušky a věnoval se jak fotografii, tak filmu. Dokumentární film Chybění o životě Jana Mančušky je Pechovým celovečerním dokumentárním debutem, který získal loni na MFDF Ji.hlava ocenění Opus Bonum pro nejlepší debut. V současné době pracuje jako režisér a studuje ekoarteterapii

Zeshawn Ali is a filmmaker based in New York. His feature film debut, TWO GODS was supported by ITVS, Ford Foundation, and Sundance Institute. It was released as a part of Independent Lens on PBS and The Short List on VICE internationally. He was named a Pillars Artist Fellow as well as a recipient of the HBO/ Gotham Documentary Development Fund and the winner of the 2024 BlackStar Pitch. He is currently the Artist Programs Manager for Points North Institute.

Anna Hoffmann was born in Hamburg, where she studied German literature and ethnology and finished a master's degree in archival sciences in Potsdam. She gained her first curatorial experience at the Hamburg municipal cinema Metropolis. From 1987 to 1990, she was a member of the selection committee of the European Low Budget Film Forum, a predecessor of the Hamburg Film Festival. After working as a freelance editor, critic, translator, subtitler and film production assistant, she headed the European Documentary Film Institute in Mülheim an der Ruhr from 1993 to 1996, where she co-founded the film magazine DOX. Since 2001, she has worked at the Berlinale Forum as program manager and member of the selection committee.

Yuliia Kovalenko is a program director at Docudays UA IHRDFF, a film critic and PhD in cultural Studies. Yuliia has an academic background. She worked as a lecturer at the universities of Odesa, teaching theory and history of culture. In 2019, she joined the program department at Docudays UA, where she has been curating the DOCU/ART non-competitive program and other special programs. In 2023 she became a program director at Docudays UA. As an independent curator, she co-curated the program of Ukrainian cinema "Perspectives of Ukrainian Cinema" for Deutsche Kinemathek in 2022. As a film critic, she has publications in Ukrainian and international journals (Kino Raksti, KINO-KOLO, etc.) and runs her blog about cinema Kinotabs.com. She is a member of Ukrainian Film Critics Union and National Union of Journalists. Member of the selection team of Berlinale Forum 2023 and 2024.

Andran Abramjan has graduated from Documentary filmmaking at Prague's FAMU. He has directed a number of short and medium length films, mostly documentaries, essays and experiments. His feature length docu-fiction Empire Builders (2018) received an award for the best Czech documentary debut at ElbeDock Film festival. His films were screened, among others, at Jihlava IDFF, One World, Cinéma du réel or Festival dei Popoli.

Katarína Mišíková is associate professor at the Film and Television Faculty at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. Her lectures include film history, narrative and cognitive film theory, and film analysis. Her research focuses on issues of realism and hybridisation techniques in Slovak cinema. She published numerous studies and articles as well as the monograph Mind and Story in Film Fiction (Mysl a příběh ve filmové fikci, 2009). She is the co-editor and co-author of collective volumes New Slovak Cinema (Nový slovenský film, 2015), Screen Industries in Eastern-Central Europe conference volume Transformation Processes and New Screen Media Technologies (2016) and Slovak Cinema in 2016 (Slovenský film v roku 2016. 2017) as well as a textbook Selected Chapters from the History of Cinema (Vybrané kapitoly z dejín filmu, 2015) and the author of textbook Academic competencies (Akademické kompetentnosti, forthcoming). Her professional activities include popularization of cinema among students and pupils.

Gwenola Wagon is artist and researcher. She teaches at the Sorbonne School of Arts and the University of Paris 1. Through installations, films and books, she imagines alternative and paradoxical narratives for thinking about the contemporary digital world. With her first films, Globodrome, she surveyed the virtual globe, investigating the space of hyperinformation and Internet infrastructures in collaboration with artist Stéphane Degoutin, with whom she co-produced World Brain and the book Psychoanalysis of the International Airport. Ashe realized the movie Chronicles of the Dark Sun, and Planète B an essay that blends investigation and fiction in order to apprehend a rapidly expanding monster. After Welcome to Erewhon, Virusland post-cybernetic fables with Pierre Cassou-Noguès, they will publish Postmodern Anarchives, Theory-fiction of generative AI in 2025.

Jsem studentka druhého ročníku oboru Produkce na Vyšší odborné školy publicistiky. Ve volném čase se věnuji reportážní a dokumentární fotografii, která mi pomáhá pochopit svět kolem nás.

Kirsten Johnson (born 1965) is an American documentary filmmaker and cinematographer. She is mostly known for her camera work on several well-known feature-length documentaries such as Citizenfour and The Oath. [zdroj: Wikipedia]

Liu is a Chinese independent film producer, founder of DongChun Films. The films she produced have been nominated and awarded at many international film festivals, including Venice, Berlinale, San Sabastian, IDFA, Toronto, Busan, Tokyo, Munich, and Asian Pacific Screen Award. She was honored as the Best Producer of the Decade (2010-2019) by the Youth Film Handbook Awards in 2019.

Galya Stepanova is a freelance film programmer and documentary film consultant. She is currently working with DAFilms on international programming and acquisitions, and has previously collaborated with institutions such as the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and the Institut Français in the UK, as well as the Institute of Documentary Film and Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic. In the past, Galya has held the roles of Programme and acquisitions manager for creative documentaries at Current Time TV (2022-2023), and of executive producer at HYPERMARKET Film (2017-2021) on projects including, Vitaly Mansky’s Putin’s Witnesses and Gorbachev. Heaven, and Dmitry Bogolyubov’s Town of Glory. Galya holds an MA in Film Programming and Curation from the National Film and Television School in the UK.