Sameh Alaa

Sameh Alaa is an Egyptian filmmaker based between Egypt and Belgium. His first short film, "FIFTEEN," premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017, where it earned numerous international awards. His last short "I AM AFRAID TO FORGET YOUR FACE " became the first Egyptian film to win the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Competition. Currently, Sameh is developing his debut feature film, "When I Close My Eyes I See Your Eyes"

Julie Marková Žáčková

Julie Marková Žáčková is a producer and talent agent. She has worked in the film industry for more than ten years, graduated from the Producing Department at FAMU and English and American Studies at FFUK, and also studied at the Tisch Film School at New York University. For ten years she worked in the production company Unit and Sofa. Her first feature film, Occupation (directed by Michal Nohejl), won four awards at the Czech Film Critics Awards (including Best Film) and was nominated for thirteen Czech Lions. She currently produces films in her company NOCHI and runs a talent agency for cinematographers and photographers under the same name. She co-founded the Czech branch of the Girls in Film platform. She is a member of the European Film Academy.

Magdalena Żelasko

Magdalena Żelasko, originally from Cracow, has been living in Vienna for about 30 years now. The certified marketing and advertising expert studied Slavic studies, journalism and communication sciences at the University of Vienna, which she rounded up with a Ph.D. She has worked as a manager for several international companies, well-published journalist for various Austrian and Polish media and university lecturer with focus on culture and communication. The cinema enthusiast is co-founder and managing director of the Association LET'S CEE Filmfestival (with project such as LET’S CEE Film Festival 2012-2018, EU Youth Cinema: Green Deal since 2021 – and others). Magdalena is also charity activist for human rights and integration projects, actively taking part – as organiser and participant – in panel discussions and events across these areas.

Mathieu Janssen

Head of Jury

Mathieu Janssen, based in Nijmegen (the Netherlands) is artistic coordinator at Go Short - International Short Film Festival. After finishing his master in Sociology he focused on journalism as a freelance writer and as a programmer of public debates on social issues at the local art institution. Born from his love for films, in 2013 he co-founded the screening collective Deep End Film, and in 2018 Mathieu started his work at Go Short. As a driving force in the program department he is responsible for the competitive sections, part of the selection committee and out-of-competition programs. With Go Short he co-initiated the collaborative international platform This Is Short.

Veronika Kührová

Jury

Veronika Kührová is a film producer, economic expert of the Czech Film Fund, project consultant, lecturer and member of the European Film Academy. For her graduation film DAVID, which competed at more than 30 international festivals (including Karlovy Vary, Warsaw, Festival du Nouveau Cinema and Sao Paolo), she won the Producers Association Award for the best production of the year. In 2014-2016, she was part of the Program of Applied Research and Development of National and Cultural Identity (NAKI), where she worked on the Methodology of Digitization of the National Film Fund in the Czech Republic in a group at FAMU. She participated in several international workshops, including Berlinale Talents, EAVE Ties That Bind, Eurodoc and MidPoint Feature Launch. Under her supervision, films such as Asterión – a nominee for the European Film Award EFA, the award-winning and festival favourite short animated film Lights and the creative documentary Kiruna – A Brand New World were produced. Currently, her company has more than 20 projects in various stages of production, including international co-productions such as Ugly Tangerine (CZ-SVK-TW) or minority films such as Together Forever or DJ Ahmed.

Monika Lošťáková

Jury

Monika Lošťáková is a graduate of audiovisual studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. She has many years of experience in organizing various film events (Slovak Film Week, Art Film Fest, Fest Anča, Kamera, Slnko v sieti, Cena mladého publika). Currently, she works as a programme coordinator at the IFF FEBIOFEST Bratislava (since 2016) and 4 Živly (since 2018), as well as at the educational event Visegrad Film Forum (since 2014). In addition to organizing film events, she is also involved in film production (with the companies Super film and nutprodukcia), where she focuses primarily on the development and production of documentaries and minor co-productions, the creation of project financing and distribution strategies.