Jury
Julianna Ugrin
Hungary
The EFA nominated producer is the founder of Éclipse Film, a company focusing on creative documentaries for the Hungarian and international market. Films produced by her, like A Woman Captured, Easy Lessons or The Next Guardian were screened, nominated and awarded at festivals like Sundance, IDFA, Locarno, Hot Docs, or Sheffield. Julianna is fascinated by the magic of real life that drives her producing high-quality documentary films. In 2019 she was selected to Producers on the Move in Cannes. A EURODOC and an EAVE graduate, founder and president of the Hungarian Documentary Association (MADOKE), founder and chair of the board of the Documentary Association of Europe (DAE) and member of the European Film Academy. Holy Dilemma was her first film as producer and director.
Pawel Lozinski
Poland
Polish director, cinematographer, and producer of documentary films. A graduate of the Directing Department at the Film School in Łódź, he lectures on documentary film direction at both the National Film School in Łódź and the Gdynia Film School. He is the creator of over 20 award-winning documentary films recognized at international festivals. His work is known for its distinctive, emotionally powerful storytelling, featuring intimate portraits of his subjects. Additionally, he has served as the cinematographer for many of his own films.
Evgeny Tsymbal
Russia
A Soviet and Russian director of feature and documentary films, historian, screenwriter, and editor. He is a three-time winner of the National Film Award "Nika" (2002, 2006, and 2015) and received the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award for Best Short Film of the Year for Defender Sedov. In total, Evgeny Tsymbal's films have won around 50 prizes at domestic and international film festivals. For 14 years, he worked at Mosfilm as an assistant director and second director, collaborating with Andrei Tarkovsky, Eldar Ryazanov, Nikita Mikhalkov, E. Lotyanu and L. Shepitko.
Sharofat Arabova
Tajikistan
Sharofat Arabova is a filmmaker and a film critic based in Dushanbe. She holds a Ph.D. and researches different aspects of Tajik and Central Asian cinema. She graduated in Cultural Studies from Russian-Tajik (Slavic) University (2006) and in Film Direction from the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune (2013). She is an alumna of Busan Asian Film Academy, and Berlinale Talents, as well as a member of the Filmmakers’ Union of Tajikistan and the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC). She served on international jury in Dushanbe, Bishkek, Moscow, Bucheon, Dhaka, Kazan, Perm, Kolkata, Bangalore, Toronto, Vesoul, Kathmandu, Almaty, Tashkent.
Tahir Aliyev
Azerbaijan
Award-winning producer and director, media expert, recognized thought leader with over 20 years of experience in traditional, digital, and social advertising, production, film, commercials, and sports broadcast production. Widely recognized personality in the Media & Entertainment industry with an excellent global network. Member of European Film Academy.
Tamuna Gurchiani
Georgia
Tamuna is the Director of the Contemporary Dance Festival in Tbilisi, a film producer, and a cultural project manager. She studied Hebrew and Aramaic languages in Tbilisi and Freiburg and worked on her PhD in New Aramaic dialects in Erlangen. After completing a cultural management program in Germany, she worked at Film House Nuremberg and organized the South Caucasus Documentary Film Festival for Peace and Human Rights. From 2010 to 2016, she was the Cultural Program Manager at Europe House Tbilisi. She co-produced The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear, winning multiple awards including the Directing Award at Sundance (2013). In 2020, she produced the Georgian version of In Treatment and recently completed the documentary Love Song. Pastorale.
Dilek Aydin
Türkiye
Filmmaker and producer Dilek Aydın finished Film Studies in Bogazici University and had her master’s degree in Film and Television at Istanbul Bilgi University. She attended Karlsruhe University of Arts and studied Media Art. Returning to Turkey, she started working mainly in production, while developing and creating her own shorts. In 2017, she founded Istanbul-based Heimatlos Films, a production company that already produced acclaimed films such as feature documentary Mimaroglu (2020) a Visions du Reel contender; feature fiction Ghosts (2020) the winner of Venice Critics’ Week, and Blue ID (2022) IDFA Audience Award winner. She is currently completing two films, one feature fiction, I'm Here, I'm Fine, and one documentary Between Two Voids.
Andrei Tănăsescu
Canada
Andrei is a programmer and curator based in Toronto and Bucharest with a background in Cinema Studies (University of Toronto, University of Saint Andrews) and an ongoing interest for the historical re-evaluation of music and film. In 2019 he curated “Videograms of a Nation,” an expansive retrospective of Romanian cinema for the arts festival biennial EUROPALIA ROMANIA. He has worked on the programming teams of TIFF Toronto, “Kino Pavasaris” Vilnius IFF, Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival, and has collaborated with the Berlinale Forum and Bucharest's American Independent Film Festival. He runs the Works-in-Progress section of Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest, is a programmer for Bildrausch – Filmfest Basel and One World Romania, and a member of the selection committee of Giornate degli Autori (Venice Days).
Ulviya Akhundova
Azerbaijan
Ulviya Akhundova is a writer, poet, and translator. She holds an M.A. in International Relations from Sorbonne University, Paris I, and studied scriptwriting at the Baku International Film School, founded by Rustam Ibrahimbayov. Her first collection of short stories and poetry, Breathe, was published in 2016, followed by her second collection, Bare Truth, in 2020, which was presented at the Baku Book Centre, and later in Budapest and Prague. Ulviya also translated the novels Jours Caucasiens and Jours Parisiens, written by Banine, the French author of Azerbaijani descent, into Russian. She served as the Head of the Public Programs Department at YARAT for 12 years and has recently launched her own event agency, ColibriArts.
Oleg Safaraliev
Azerbaijan
Director, writer, and producer. He graduated from the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University and later studied at VGIK in Moscow. He directed Live Broadcast(1989) at Mosfilm and served as general director of Eurasia-Film from 1996 to 2006. In 2006, he directed Farewell, Southern City, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Since 2019, he has been secretary of the Union of Cinematographers of Azerbaijan and director of the Film School. Әlvida, Cәnub Şәhәri won several national film awards.
Mara Prohaska Marković
Serbia
Mara Prohaska Marković is an art historian, curator, and producer based in Belgrade, Serbia. With over 20 years of experience in the public, civil, and private sectors, she has worked extensively in the fields of culture and the audio-visual industry. Her expertise includes producing and curating numerous cultural events, festivals, exhibitions, art residencies, and artworks both in Serbia and internationally. Since 2009, she has been a part of the organizational team of the Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival, where she has held the position of Festival Director since 2020. In this role, she also curates the XR Exhibition: Immersive Reality. She is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA), the Association of Fine and Applied Art of Serbia, and the Documentary Association of Europe, and an alumna of the female leadership programme Audiovisual Women 2023 by the Erich Pommer Institute.
Hamid Amin
Azerbaijan
Hamid began creating short independent films at the age of 13. In 2007, he participated in the inaugural Baku International Children's Film Festival. In 2011, his video art was featured in the group exhibition “DIAZEPAM”, showcasing three of his works. Hamid graduated from the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts in 2014, with his full-length independent comedy Iksir (Elixir). His short film Prophylaxis (2015) was nominated at the 2016 Seoul International Extreme-Short Image & Film Festival (SESIFF). His most recent full-length fiction film, Hocus Pocus (2018), premiered exclusively on YouTube and has not yet been screened elsewhere. In recent years, he has been actively producing podcasts and documentary films. He is also one of the founders and the sole DJ of the internet radio station “Baku Jukebox.”
Nargiz Baghirzade
Azerbaijan
Screenwriter, writer, and creative producer. A graduate of Western-Caspian University in Law and Economics, she also earned screenwriting degrees from VGIK and the Media Industry Academy in Russia. Her debut storybook The Day After Tomorrow was shortlisted for Azerbaijan’s National Book Award in 2010, the same year she received the Presidential Scholarship for Young Azerbaijani Writers. Nargiz’s play Face Book. Post Scriptum was staged in Latvia and Ukraine. As a screenwriter, she has written for both Azerbaijani and Russian films and TV series, including Baku, I Love You and Time Train. Her screenplay Farah was a finalist at the 2024 Dubai International CINEVERSE Screenplay Awards and a quarterfinalist in the 2023 Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship in the USA. Her scripts have won grants and been featured in international film festivals, earning several awards. Nargiz has also served as a jury member at the Batumi International Art-house Film Festival and Russia’s Potential Film Platform. Since 2023, she has been the Program Director of the International Youth Film Festival “Salam” in Azerbaijan.
Alin Ludu Dumbravâ
Romania
A Romanian film critic, curator, and programmer with 30 years of experience in film and pop culture. He is also a screenwriter (feature film “03.ByPass” – 2016). Since 2014, he has managed the Cinematheque in his hometown, Brașov, and has been involved in organizing the city's festivals, including the Dracula Film Festival, Love Story, and Doc and Roll. He has covered international festivals, including Cannes for 15 years, and served on international juries both domestically and abroad. He is a member of UCIN (Uniunea Cineaștilor), the Romanian Filmmakers Guild.
Seyran Mahmudoglu
Azerbaijan
A director and producer, he graduated from the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts. After working as a director on various television projects, he began working independently and founded OD Media Production. He directs commercials, as well as feature and documentary films. Currently, he is working on the documentaries "EV" and "KÜR-the mother of the rivers".