Mirjana Karanović is a Serbian actress known for many important roles in former Yugoslav films. World fame came with the role of the mother in Emir Kusturica’s WHEN FATHER WAS AWAY ON BUSINESS (nominated for the Oskar award for the best foreign movie). One of her most memorable roles was the one of Esma in GRBAVICA, directed by Jasmila Žbanić (Golden Bear Award for Best Film at the Berlinale). For this performance, Mirjana Karanović has won a number of awards at festivals and a nomination for the European Film Academy Award 2006. She appeared in Andrea Štaka’s film DAS FRAULEIN (Grand Prix at Locarno Film Festival, Heart of Sarajevo Award) and Darko Lungulov’s film HERE AND THERE (The Best New York Narrative at Tribeca film festival). In 2008 she won the Winning Freedom Award, an award presented to a woman whose work promotes and affirms the principles of human rights, rule of law, democracy, and tolerance in society. A GOOD WIFE was Mirjana’s directing debut premiered at Sundance in 2016. She is a member of the European Film Academy.

Producer Morten Kaufmann and partner Signe Leick Jensen established TOOLBOX FILM in Copenhagen in March 2011. Their credit lists include several of the most prominent films and directors in Danish cinema in recent years. Titles include: SHORTA, DANIEL, WORD OF GOD, THE COMMUNE, THE HUNT, SUBMARINO, DARK HORSE, MIRACLE and more…

Born on October 30, 1960 in San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines. Director, producer, cinematographer, writer, and film literacy advocate, he has competed and received major awards in top film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Venice and is the first Filipino filmmaker to win Cannes’ Best Director award for his 2009 film Kinatay (Butchered: The Execution of P).
Brillante Mendoza is a living natural treasure. He is one of the most prominent and important Filipino filmmakers today. His debut film, Masahista (The Masseur) immediately won the Golden Leopard Award in the 2005 Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland. In the same year, he founded Center Stage Productions (CSP), an independent film production outfit that aims to rebrand Filipino cinema by producing meaningful and relevant films. He is the first Filipino to compete and won in 3 major international film festivals. His film, Captive, competed in the coveted Berlin International Film Festival in 2012, while Tirador (Slingshot) won the Caligari Film Award in 2007. Thy Womb, on the other hand, won the La Navicella Venezia Cinema Award in the equally prestigious Venice Film Festival in 2012, while Lola was nominated for the Golden Lion in 2009.
But his most notable achievement is when he won the elusive Best Director in the well renowned Cannes Film Festival for the film, Kinatay in 2009. The year before, his film, Serbis (Service) was nominated for the acclaimed Palme d’Or Award thus earning him France’s most prestigious cultural award — the “Chevalier dans|’ Ordre des Arts et Lettres” (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters). In 2016, his film MA’ ROSA won the Best Actress Award (Jaclyn Jose) at Cannes Film Festival. The film was also
the Philippines’ entry to the 2017 Academy Awards–International Film Feature category. His most recent film MINDANAO which won the best actress award and the Henry Barakat Award at the 41st Cairo International Film Fest has also been selected as the Philippines’ official entry to the 93rd Oscars’. The year before, VERDICT, the film
which he produced for his mentee was also the Philippines’ representative to the Oscars’. As a long-time mentor and advocate of film literacy in the Philippines he has made it his mission to train and develop new generations of Filipino artists– thus he established Sinag Maynila, a film festival that supports Filipino filmmakers; the Brillante Mendoza Film Festival @SM which aims to educate the youth on art films which were held at different schools and universities all over the country; the Brillante Mendoza Film Foundation which served as a center for honing new Filipino creators and producing socially relevant films. To this day Brillante Mendoza continues to pursue his dreams of having Filipino films elevated into the stage of
global cinema.

Shahram Mokri, director, screenwriter, and cinema instructor, whose works have been praised many times at Venice, Chicago, and Fajr Film festivals was born in Kermanshah and holds a bachelor’s degree in film directing from Soureh University. Mokri was acclaimed in 2003 for making his first short film, the “Dragonfly Storm”. In addition to directing, he is also active in teaching, and is best known for his films “Fish and Cat”, “Limits of the Circle”, “Ando-C”, “Ashkan, the Charming Ring and Other Stories”, “Invasion” and “Careless Crime”. Receiving three Crystal Simorghs for his short films, he also holds a record at Fajr Film Festival. Mokri has received two awards from Khaneh Cinema’s annual ceremony, and seven awards for his short films from Tehran International Short Film Festival. Mokri’s Careless Crime won silver Hugo at Chicago Film Festival in the main section and Venice Critics’ Best Screenplay Award. He won the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons Award in 2013 for “Creative Content” for Fish and Cat.

Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, “Simin” is a multi – award- winning Iranian actress who has over 80 national & international prizes. She started her career in theatre as a teenager and has years of experience in improvised theater performance. She became one of the most distinguished and respected actresses from Iran. In her career Simin has appeared in over 70 films and collaborated with some of the master directors of Iranian cinema such as Abbas Kiarostami , Mohsen Makhmalbafand Rakhshan Bani-Ete She is a professor of cinema and theater at the prestigious university of Isfahan. Among her numerous awards, she won the best actress award from Montreal film festival in 2011 and received the prestigious Henry Langlois prize in 2012 . best actress in Urania awards in Vienna ,BOGACICI Film Festival ,SPECIAL MENTION IN ASIA PACIFIC ,Achievement award in Beauvais, Ailex , … The best actor in Iran’s history of cinema from the criticspoint of view in she is Doing Master class & workshop around the world Fatemeh Motamed-Arya is among 15 international figures whose portraits are on display at a multimedia exhibition titled “ The Transformative Power of Art “ at the UN in New York in 2015 . She has Served as a Jury member of more than 60 international film festivals ,as Torin,Vesoul,Cairo,Cinefan. Edinbro Vienna,Estonia.Tesaloniki’ Venice …. Motamed-Arya is a funding member of The Performers Society of The Iranian Cinema. Currently she is the President of the Iranian Actors Union. She is also Member of the NETPAC

Laila Pakalnina graduated from the Moscow Film Institute (VGIK), Department of Film Direction, in 1991. A director and scriptwriter of 31 documentaries, 5 shorts, and 6 fiction features, altogether she has 42 films, 2 children, 1 husband, 2 dogs and 2 bicycles. And many ideas for new films. Her films have screened in official programmes at Cannes, Venice, Berlinale, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, Rome, Tallinn and other international festivals, where they have won numerous awards.
Films:
Fiction Features: Spogulī (In the Mirror) 2020, Ausma (Dawn) 2015, Pizzas (Picas) 2012, The Hostage (Ķīlnieks) 2006, The Python (Pitons) 2003, The Shoe (Kurpe) 1998
Documentaries:
The First Bridge (Pirmais tilts) 2020, Spoon (Karote) 2019,Hello Horse! (Zirdziņ, hallo!) 2017, Dream (Sapnis) 2016,Waterfall (Rumba) 2016, Hi,
Rasma! (Čau, Rasma!) 2015, Short Film about Life (Īsfilma par dzīvi) 2014, Hotel and a Ball (Viesnīca un bumba) 2014, The Chimney (Skurstenis) 2013, Forty Two (Četrdesmitdivi) 2013, Snow Crazy (Sniegs) 2012,33 Animals of Santa Claus (33 zvēri Ziemassvētki vecītim) 2011,On Rubiks’ Road (Pa Rubikaceļu) 2010, Three Men and Fish Pond (Par dzimtenīti) 2008, Theodore (Teodors) 2006, Dream Land (Leiputrija) 2004, The Bus (Autobuss)
2004,It’ll Be Fine (Būslabi) 2004, Martins (Mārtiņš) 2002, Papa Gena (Papa Gena) 2001, Wake up (Mostieties) 2000, The Oak (Ozols) 1997, Ubans (Ubāns) 1995, The Mail (Pasts) 1995, The Ferry (Prāmis) 1994, The Church (Baznīca)1993, The Pilgrimage (Iešana) 1991, The Linen (Veļa)1991, The Dome (Doms) 1991, The Choice (Izvēle) 1990, And (Un) 1988
Fiction Shorts:
Silence (Klusums) 2009, Stones (Akmeņi) 2008, Fire (Uguns,) 2007, Water (Ūdens) 2006, Anna’s Christmas (AnnasZiemassvētki) 1992

Elma Tataragic was born in Sarajevo in 1976. She graduated screenwriting from Sarajevo Academy of Performing Arts and obtained her Master of Science degree and Ph.D. in Film and Literature. She co-wrote the short film FIRST DEATH EXPERIENCE and wrote and produced the short NORTH WENT MAD. She has produced and co-written the feature film SNOW shown at Cannes 2008 – Semaine de la critique where the film won the Grand Prix. The film has been shown at over 80 festivals and won over 30 international awards. She is a writer for the film THE DAY THAT HAD NO NAME (Berlinale 2017 Panorama) and has written and directed the award-winning short film I REMEMBER (2016). In 2019 two films she has written have been selected for Berlinale STITCHES (Panorama selection) and GOD EXISTS, HER NAME IS PETRUNYA (Competition) winning each two awards. Both films won over 80 international awards at film
festivals worldwide, while Elma Tataragić was awarded for best screenplay at Lecce Film Festival, Shanghai Film Festival, etc, She has been with Sarajevo Film Festival since it was founded in 1995, where she now works as a selector for Competition Program. She is President and member of the Filmmakers Association of BiH and Bosnian and Herzegovinian representative of European Film Promotion. She has been teaching screenwriting at Sarajevo Academy of Performing Arts since 2002, now as a professor and vice dean for International affairs.
She is a member of the European Film Academy and is currently working on three feature films and a short film.
2019–God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya, Screenwriter; Stitches (Screenwriter)
2017 – When The Day That Had No Name, Screenwriter
2016 – I Remember/ Sjećam Se, Short, Director and Writer
2013 – Holiday at The Seaside, Short (Script Editor)
2011 – TjelesneFunkcije/ Bodily Functions, Short (Script Editor)
2010 – Revers, Short (Script Editor)
2008 – Snijeg/ Snow, Writer, and Producer
2003 – Sjever Je Poludio/ North Went Mad, Short, Writer and Producer
2001 – Prvo SmrtnoIskustvo/ First Death Experience, Screenplay Collaborator
2000 – Plus-Minus, Short (Writer/ Director)

Fatma Hassan Al-Remaihi, appointed CEO of Doha Film Institute in 2014, is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction of the Institute, in order to pave the way for promoting film culture in Qatar and establishing its presence on the regional and international stage.
Al-Remaihi previously served as director of the Institute’s film events, Qumra and the Ajyal Film Festival, guiding the artistic, strategic, and operational aspects of both events, designed to nurture the next generation and local creative people. Fatemeh Al-Ramihi was a cultural advisor to Tribeca Film Festival since the institute foundation in 2009. After gaining experience in various parts of the institute, she led a community outreach team which was tasked with developing the capabilities of local talent and focusing on developing the institute’s programs regionally and internationally. Al Remaihi was the driving force behind the establishment of a strategic partnership with the Giffoni Film Festival, whose youth jury model informs the Ajyal Film Festival, Al-Remaihi was recently selected by Variety as one of the 500 most influential executives in the entertainment industry. According to the report of Variety in 2018, she was selected as one of the 50 influential female executives. Born and raised in Doha, Al-Remaihi graduated from Qatar University with a degree in English Literature.

Diana Ashimova is a festivals programmer, NETPAC member, film producer; has a MA degree in filmmaking. Was the head of programming at Eurasia International Film Festival for 9 years and has run several international film festivals in Kazakhstan and abroad. For 7 years working as an international consultant of Kazakhfilm JSC named after Shaken Aimanov (Kazakhstan National Film Studio). Since 2011 is the Artistic Director of Bastau International student and debut film festival. In 2017 has founded a film company “A-Team” which supports young filmmakers and produces short films, full-length feature films, and documentaries. The films were in the official selection of many big film festivals and got several awards.

He began filmmaking with directing documentaries in the year 2000. He made his first fiction film Wrong Rosary (Uzakİhtimal) in 2009 with which he won several national and international awards including Rotterdam Film Festival’s Tiger Award and İstanbul Film Festival’s Best Director award. His second film Yoazgat Blues was finished in 2013 and premiered at San Sebastian Film Festival. The Announcement (Anons) is his third film. The Announcement was premiered at the 75^th Venice Film Festival and won a special jury prize.

Afghan actress Marina Golbahari was born on March 10, 1992, in Kabul. She earned international fame for her role as the title character in the 2003 film Osama, playing a girl who had to dress and act like a boy to support her family during the Taliban years. Since that Marina has chained filming in Afghanistan and played many feature films like “Act of Dishonour”(2009), “Soil and Coral” (Iran 2012), “Mina Walking”(2013),” Black mission” (2015).

Golbahari figures prominently in the 2012 book, Shakespeare in Kabul, by Qais Akbar and Stephen Landrigan. The book chronicles a 2005 performance in the Farsi/Dari language of Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost” that was presented in Kabul and then in other parts of Afghanistan the following year.

Marina starred in many short films before she was forced to leave her country at the end of 2015. She has been living in France since 2016.

Born in 1974 in Tehran, Mastaneh Mohajer is a famous Iranian film editor, producer, and director who has won international film awards. Mohajer graduated in Film Editing from Soureh University. Mastaneh Mohajer has over 28 years of film editing experience and until today she has edited more than 80 Iranian movies such as “Superstar” and “Ceasefire” directed by Tahmineh Milani, “Canaan” and “Men at Work” directed by Mani Haghighi, “One Night” and “Final Whistle” directed by Nikki Karimi, “Osama” directed by Siddiq Barmak, and “Death is My Profession” directed by Amir Saghafi.
She has produced three feature films including “Esrafil” directed by Aida Panahandeh, “Namo” directed by Nader Saeevar, and “Off-road”, the debut feature film of Panah Panahi.
She won the Golden Close-up of the second Sheed Film Festival and the Best Producer Award of the Third Canada’s Iranian Film Festival for “Esrafil”. Mohajer recently directed her first feature film, “Hedgehog”.

Born in 1971 in Isfahan Habibreza Arzani, completed his seminary education (doctorate- grade 4) at the Qom Seminary and he spent eight years studying principles of Islamic jurisprudence. He also continued his doctoral studies in comparative theology at UNAM (University of Namibia). Arzani is the head of the organization of cultural and artistic centers of Iranian mosques. He also worked as an advisor to the minister of culture, the director-general of the department of culture and Islamic guidance of the province of Isfahan, the head of Isfahan Islamic development organization, deputy chairman of the cultural and art organization of Tehran, member of the general culture council, the head of the secretariat of monotheistic religions in charge of the Oceania and Japan region and the general director of missionary deployment of Islamic culture and communication organization.
He is a faculty member of the Islamic sciences and culture academy and is known as the leading researcher in Isfahan province. he has been worked as a missionary for 23 years.
He has taught the history of religions, Islamic theology, Islamic texts and ethics, Shia communities in the contemporary world, and the women’s social movement for many years in universities and seminaries.

Dr. Magimai Pragasam is a filmmaker and a film reviewer from India. He established SIGNIS TN Short Film Festival in Tamil Nadu in 2011. He teaches film in Indian universities and media institutions.  He completed his film studies at Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai, and Television Studies at National Catholic Radio and TV Centre, London. He completed his doctorate in Anthropology and Communication from Madras University, Master’s degrees in Sociology and Journalism from Indian Universities. He had conducted a series of sessions on ‘Cinema and Spirituality in India’ along with Fr. Henk Hoekstra, an international film scholar. He has also made an interview-based documentary on ‘Movie Experience’ with Fr. Gaston Roberge, the founder of Chitrabani, and an international film scholar. He has conducted numerous film seminars for educationists, media professionals, and social workers across the country and several workshops on ‘film making’ for young people in Asian Countries.

He has scripted and directed over 80 short films on Media and Children, Social Issues, Relationships, etc., Currently he is the Vice-President of SIGNIS Asia and the Chair of the Media Education Desk. He is a visiting faculty at the University of Madras and edits SIGNIS Asia Focus. He is also one of the Board members of SIGNIS WORLD.

Magali Van Reeth (France)

Film reviewer for the SIGNIS website www.signis.net and for a network of French Catholic parishes and French Catholic Medias (radio, TV, and magazines). Leading Premiere screenings in commercial cinemas and a workshop on Cinema and Spirituality in prison. Member of the Fipresci through the French Union des journalistes de cinéma (presently board member). Member of different SIGNIS, Ecumenical, Inter-religious, and Fipresci juries since 2000. General Secretary of Signis France (2006-2017), President of Signis Europe (2013-2017), presently Vice-President of SIGNIS Europe and chair of SIGNIS international Cinema Desk.

Anne Démy-Geroe currently lectures on Asia Pacific Cinema at Griffith Film School, is a Vice President of NETPAC, the Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema, and a director of the Asia Pacific Screenlab. As inaugural Artistic Director of the Brisbane International Film Festival till 2010, she built a solid reputation for its Asia Pacific programming. With Armin Miladi she established the Iranian Film Festival Australia in 2011, working with it until 2017. She continues to curate special events. Anne was awarded a Ph.D. for her work on Iranian Cinema. Her book, Iranian National Cinema, was published in 2020. She produced the docu Imaginary Border (Alireza Ghanie, 2016), in competition at APSA in 2016.

Anne is a past Council Member of the National Film and Sound Archive, for many years was a judge for Script on the Premier’s Literary Awards, has worked on numerous special film events over the years, and continues to serve on international juries from Busan to Tehran. In 2003 was awarded an Australian Centenary Medal for services to the film industry.

Italo Spinelli is an Italian author, screenwriter, theatre and cinema director. He is the founder and artistic director of the Asiatica Film Festival – Meetings with Asian Cinema festival that takes place since 2000 in Rome.
Spinelli had his debut in cinema with the short film “La Città di Malte”, (Festival of Salsomaggiore). He co-directed and co-wrote the feature film “Roma – Paris – Barcelona” Vittorio De Sica Award, SNCCI Award (Italian Film Critics Union). He participated in numerous international film festivals as a member of the jury. He has also been an international consultant for Roma Film Festival, Siena Documentary Film Festival, and for Roma Fiction Festival he has been responsible for the Asian and African section. He is also a member of ANAC (National Association of Cinematographic authors).
Between 2005 and 2020 he programmed and realized several retrospectives and focuses, for the Scuderie del Quirinale and the Maxxi Museum in Rome, on Indian, Iranian, Turkish, and Taiwanese cinema.

Farhad Tohidi is one of the most famous Iranian screenwriters, whose distinctive tone and style are evident in the films directed based on his screenplays.
He was born in 1956 in Rasht and graduated in dramatic literature from the College of Fine Arts of the University of Tehran. He started working in cinema and theater in the mid-1970s and then began writing professional screenplays in the early 1980s. Tohidi is a prominent screenwriter and one of the leading Iranian screenwriting professors. He has been nominated several times at Khaneh Cinema’s annual ceremony and Fajr Film Festival.
He is best known for writing comedy and children’s movie screenplays, but has also been acclaimed for writing screenplays such as “7:05” and “The Reward of Silence”. Tohidi is one of the most active figures of Iranian cinema in union affairs and in addition to being the director of 13th and 14th Khaneh Cinema’s annual ceremony, he has been a member of the board of directors of the Khaneh Cinema or chairman of this board in different periods. He has been the director of the 5th and 6th editions of the Iran International Green Film Festival and the first edition of Zamin International Film Festival.

Born in 1985 in the North of Iran, Morteza Farshbaf is a young Iranian director. He started working in cinema as a director, writer, editor, and cinematographer since he was 18 years old. He received his BFA in film from the University of Art in Tehran. Farshbaf has directed his own short films since 2004, and made 5 short films since
then: “Halloween” (2004), “The Carpet” (2005), “Taxi” (2006), “Flakey” (2007), and “The Wind Blows Wherever it Wants” (2008). Morteza Farshbaf has also attended Abbas Kiarostami’s filmmaking workshops and has cooperated with him in film projects. He directed his first feature film, “Mourning” in 2010. For this film he won numerous prizes amongst them the FIPRESCI Prize for the best film of the year in Busan International Film Festival 2011; the NETPAC Award at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2011 in Estonia, “For its using innovation
through cinematography, casting and sign language to tell a simple story of human relations in a delicate way”; the Lotus Award for the best film and a mention of the Critic’s Jury at Deauville Asian Film Festival 2011 in France

Dr Loreta Gandolfi is an Affiliated Lecturer in Film Studies in the Centre for Film & Screen Studies, University of Cambridge, where she teaches a range of courses in European and World cinema. While completing a book based on her doctoral thesis about the representation of infidelity in the films of François Truffaut and Eric Rohmer, she is preparing a documentary about the impact of Pasolini’s documentary practice. Other research interests include women’s cinema, the onscreen representation of childhood and adolescence, Italian – Austrian cinematic relations, transnational cinema. She worked as an International Programmer for several film festivals, such as the Cambridge Film Festival (UK) and the Black Nights Film Festival (Estonia). She currently is a Senior Curator at the Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias in Colombia, the oldest film festival in Latin America. She freelances in the ‘Interviews’ sections of international film journals. She is a member of the European Film Academy.

Dina Iordanova is an academic specialising in global cinema, a film and festival historian and consultant. A native of Bulgaria, she has worked in different countries and is currently Professor Emeritus of Global Cinema and Creative Cultures at the University of St Andrews in Scotland and a Honorary Professor in Comparative Literature at the University of Hong Kong. She is the author and editor of monographs and collections on topics of transnational cinema, the cinema of the Balkans and Eastern Europe, and on the global film festival circuit. She has served on numerous festival juries in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Omid Rouhani is one the well-known Iranian film critics who has worked as a film critic and reviewer for several years. He was born in Tehran in 1948 and graduated from Tehran University as a medical doctor then he got a degree of anesthesiology from Shahid Beheshti University. Beside working as a critic and reviewer Dr. Omid Rouhani has worked in films, television and theatres. The beginning of this interest can be found in 1970s when Dr. Rouhani co – wrote the screenplay of “A Simple Event” with deceased Sohrab Shahid Saless, a well-known and stylish Iranian filmmaker. He also associated as director’s assistant with him. The path of this author is accompanied by appearances in movies, including “Doubt” by Varuzh Karim Masihi, “Men at Work” by Mani Haghighi, “Narenji Poush”, by Dariush Mehrjui ,”Tambourine” by Parisa Bakhtavar etc… He was the member of jury of “Khaneh Cinema” ceremony (The Iranian Alliance of Motion Pictures Guilds) for several times and judged Iranian films. Dr. Rouhani’s writings have been published in most Iranian film magazines, including “Film Magazine”, “Donyaye Tasvir”, and “Cinema Weekly”.

Alin Tasciyan was born in 1969 in Istanbul. She was graduated from the University of Istanbul with a BA in journalism and public relations in 1991. She began working for the Milliyet Art Review and Milliyet daily newspaper the same year. During the 16 year period in this media group she has been a correspondent, film critic and the editor of the Art Review. Meanwhile she made various cinema programs for the cultural channel of the Turkish Radio and Television TRT 2 including the Magic of Cinema which screened almost 500 classic films for 10 years. She programmed and presented the Thematic Films Ribbon for the news channel 24 between 2009 – 2012. She worked as a critic and a columnist for the Star daily newspaper 2008 – 2014. She is currently a film critic for the channel of culture & art TRT2 and writing for the culture & art .Tasciyan has been an advisor and programmer for many film festivals including Istanbul, Antalya, Adana, Malatya international film festivals and Filmmor and Flying Broom women’s film festivals in Turkey. She has served on many national and international film festival juries. She is a member of the European Film Academy. She had been the vice president and president of FIPRESCI, International Federation of Film Critics between 2009 – 2018. She is currently the Deputy Secretary of FIPRESCI.

Giovanni Vimercati is a film critic and scholar whose work (often under the pseudonym Celluloid Liberation Front) is appeared in Cinema Scope, Los Angeles Review of Books, Sight & Sound, The Guardian, Film Comment, New Statesman, Mubi, The New Arab, Reverse Shot, Filmmaker Magazine and others..