JURY
PerspecTIFF Jury
Fatlume
Bunjaku
Kosovo
Fatlume Bunjaku is a Kosovan-Albanian actress who blends her creative flair on screen with a strong academic background and experience in music. She began her acting career in 2013, quickly gaining recognition after winning the Best Actress award at the Nine Eleven Film Festival, which led to a series of notable roles. Her work has since developed steadily, culminating in a powerful performance in HANA (2025). Alongside her acting career, she remains dedicated to education and artistic development. She completed her Master’s degree in 2020, specialising in children’s theatre with a focus on accessibility for children with special needs, and has also worked as a lecturer in performing arts. In 2026, she was selected as a European Shooting Star, representing Kosovo and Albania.
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Giacomo
Abbruzzese
Italy
Born in 1983 in Taranto, Southern Italy, he lives and works between France and Italy. His first feature film, Disco Boy, a France-Italy-Belgium-Poland coproduction starring Franz Rogowski, won a Silver Bear at the Berlinale. Nominated for the David di Donatello and César Awards, it was released in over 40 countries. A former Cannes Cinéfondation resident, his films—spanning fiction, documentary and short formats—have screened and received awards at major international festivals, including MoMA’s New Directors/New Films, Sarajevo, Guadalajara, Mar del Plata, Clermont-Ferrand and the Viennale. He is a member of the César, David di Donatello and European Film Academy.
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Ivan
Bakrač
Montenegro
Ivan Bakrač (1987, Montenegro) has written and directed films that participated in many international festivals and won awards. He participated in various programs such as Berlinale Talents, Talents Sarajevo, Zurich FF Academy and Slano Film Days. His debut feature After the Winter was premiered at the Karlovy Vary IFF. Apart from filmmaking, he also works as a festival programmer. A member of European Film Academy.
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Documentary Jury
Alina
Gorlova
Ukraine
Alina Gorlova is a Ukrainian documentary filmmaker, producer and visual artist. Born and raised in Ukraine, she graduated from Karpenko-Kary Kyiv National University of Theatre, Film & Television and holds an MA in Artists’ Film and Moving Image from Goldsmiths, University of London. Her work explores the consequences of war, trauma and PTSD. Her recent works include No Obvious Signs (2018) and This Rain Will Never Stop (2020). Her latest documentary feature, Militantropos (2025), which she co-directed, was selected for Directors’ Fortnight at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
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Raça
Kosovo
More Raça is a writer, director and film scholar. She directed the acclaimed films Home, Ajo and Andromeda Galaxy, which have screened and received awards at major international and Oscar-qualifying festivals. Her debut feature Andromeda Galaxy won the Glocal in Progress Award at San Sebastián, and in 2021 she received the Annual Award for Achievement in Kosovo Cinema. She teaches Film Directing at the University of Prishtina and is a Graduate School Fellow at Middlesex University London. A member of the European Film Academy and alumna of Berlinale Talents, she is also a Bogliasco Foundation Fellow and active researcher and publisher.
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Nayra Sanz Fuentes
Spain
Nayra Sanz Fuentes is a filmmaker, writer and independent producer. With a background in Hispanic Philology, philosophy and film directing, she studied at Humboldt University in Berlin and completed a Master’s in Film Directing in New York. Her films, including Sub Terrae, Selfie, In Those Lands and Flying Fish, have screened at over 400 international festivals, receiving awards including the Edward Snowden Award and MiradasDoc Award. She has also worked as a producer, editor and screenwriter on acclaimed projects such as Edificio España and The Hidden City. She lectures and mentors internationally and, in 2026, published her first literary essay, The Nazi Body, The Contained Body.
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Live Action & Animation Jury
Hoda
Taheri
Iran
Hoda Taheri is an Iranian filmmaker and visual artist based in Berlin. She studied Visual Communication at Limkokwing University in Malaysia and film directing at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB). Her short films Mother Prays All Day Long (2022), As If Mother Cried That Night (2023) and Mother is a Natural Sinner (2024), developed with Boris Hadžija, form a “Mother Trilogy” that premiered over three consecutive years at the Locarno Film Festival. All three films were nominated for the German Short Film Award, with Mother is a Natural Sinner winning Best Short Fiction Film. She is a Heinrich Böll Foundation scholarship recipient.
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John
Canciani
Switzerland
John Canciani (Scotland/Italy/Switzerland) is a film curator and collector. He began curating by founding a film club in Winterthur and joined the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur in 2009, where he held several roles before becoming Artistic Director in 2012. He is also a curator at Kino Cameo Winterthur, advising on programming and moderating film talks. He holds a Master in Advanced Studies in Curating from ZHdK and edited The Future of Short Film for on-curating. A member of the Swiss and European Film Academies, he serves on the boards of Pro Short and the Short Film Conference, and since 2019, visions sud est. He advises festivals, film schools and filmmakers on programming, festival strategy, scripts and editing.
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Nikola
Majdak
Slovenia
Nikola Majdak Jr. was born in Slovenia in 1972 and holds an MFA from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. For over 20 years, he has worked as a freelance cameraman, animator, director and lecturer. His film Rabbitland (2013), co-directed with Ana Nedeljković, won the Crystal Bear at the Berlinale and screened at over 100 festivals worldwide. Their second film, Untravel (2018), screened at Berlinale, Annecy and Sundance and was nominated for an Annie Award. Money and Happiness (2022) premiered at Locarno. He is currently developing New Rabbitland and After Party, while teaching animation, photography and video production at Metropolitan University in Belgrade.
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Video Art & Experimental, Balkan, In Albanian Jury
Fani
Zguro
Albania
Fani Zguro was born in Tirana in 1977 and graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan. His work has received awards including the International Onufri Prize (2007), International Mulliqi Prize (2016), Best Video-Art at Tirana TIFF, and the TOP7 Gallery Award at ArtVilnius21. He curated the 14th International Onufri Prize and has participated in artist residencies in Vienna and Paris. Since 2016, he has developed Duets, featuring artists including Pipilotti Rist, Santiago Sierra and Dan Perjovschi. He is co-founder of Tirana Art Center and Gallery On The Move and has served as an Apexart, New York jury member since 2015. His work has been exhibited internationally, including at Centre Pompidou, Berlin’s Haus der Kulturen der Welt and Belvedere 21.
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Jane
Kjortoshev
Greece
Jane Kjortoshev is a producer and film director with over 25 years of experience in European cinema. As a producer for Banana Film, he has established himself as one of the region’s leading production professionals. In recent years, his work as a producer has been closely associated with the films of Milcho Manchevski. He produced the award-winning features Willow (2019) and Kaymak (2022), and is currently completing his third collaboration with Manchevski, Sister Brother Manhole Cover. Trained as a film and television director, Kjortoshev has directed short films, television series, and the television feature How I Made the First Balkan Movie. His career reflects a sustained engagement with ambitious, director-driven projects and a strong presence within the landscape of contemporary European co-production.
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Thelyia
Petraki
N. Macedonia
Thelyia Petraki studied at CalArts and UCL. She is an EFA finalist and a Greek Academy Award winner. Her films, including Helga in Lund, Bella and 400 Cassettes, have screened and received awards at international festivals such as Locarno, Visions du Réel, Clermont-Ferrand and Slamdance. Her work moves between memory, dreams and everyday reality, with an emphasis on observation and on the relationship between the personal and the collective.She often works with analogue formats such as 16mm and Hi8.She is currently developing her first feature film Agrypnia, a Greek, Cypriot and Serbian co-production, selected at the Berlinale Script Station and supported by Eurimages.
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Panorama Jury
Dionis
Papadhimitri
Albania
Albanian film director and producer, and co-founder of Papadhimitri Film Production. A graduate of the Academy of Arts in Tirana, he has directed and produced numerous award-winning films across a diverse range of formats. His feature Love (2019) earned recognition at several international film festivals, while People and Fate 2 (2024) broke Albanian box office records, becoming one of the most-watched Albanian films in cinema history. His international co-productions include Vera Dreams of the Sea (Venice, 2021) and projects with Bulgaria, Poland, France, Italy, and the USA. In 2026, he is in production on three new feature films: Bleach, Snowman, and The Ring.
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Evi
Gjoni
Albania
Evi Gjoni is a film director and screenwriter based in Tirana, Albania. She studied Film and TV Directing at the University of Arts in Tirana (2012–2017), during which she worked on various local and international productions. She has written and directed two short films, Sheets and Red Mud, both supported by the Albanian National Film Centre. Her debut short, Sheets, premiered at the 2023 Trieste Film Festival, winning both the Audience Award and Jury Special Mention, and went on to receive ten awards internationally. In 2025, she participated in the Sarajevo Talents Script Station and in the MIDPOINT Institute Writer’s Room.
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Nik
Xhelilaj
Albania
Nik Xhelilaj, is an Albanian actor. He became a lead actor after his very first year of studies. He began his international career with the film The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider, directed by Piro Milkani and Eno Milkani. Nik has starred in three critically acclaimed Albanian films, two of which were included in the List of Albanian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008 and 2009. He gained international fame and critical praise starring in the movie Der Albaner (2010), winning the Best Actor Award “Silver George” in the 32nd Moscow International Film Festival. In 2011, the European Film Promotion named him one of Europe's "Shooting Stars" He has acted in European and Turkish film and television projects, speaking multiple languages including Albanian, German, and Turkish.
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Screenplay ContesTIFF Jury
Adam
Selo
Italy
Adam Selo is a director and producer based in Bologna. In 2004, he founded the independent production company Elenfant Film, followed by Elenfant Distribution, focused on the distribution and sales of national and international short films. He later co-founded Sayonara Film with director Olga Torrico, producing documentaries, short films and animation while continuing its distribution activities. Productions include Gas Station by Olga Torrico, awarded at Venice Critics’ Week in 2020; After the Bridge by Davide Rizzo and Marzia Toscano, premiered at Hot Docs; and Casablanca by Adriano Valerio, a French-Italian co-production that premiered at Venice’s Giornate degli Autori in 2023.
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Bruno
Carnide
Portugal
Bruno Carnide is a film director, producer and member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Twice nominated for the Sophia Awards of the Portuguese Film Academy, he is the founding director of Leiria Film Fest – International Short Film Festival. He has directed fiction, animation and documentary shorts that have won dozens of awards and screened at hundreds of festivals worldwide, including Oscar-qualifying festivals. He is a curator at the Museum of the Moving Image in Portugal and lectures in cinema at the Polytechnic of Leiria and Instituto Superior Miguel Torga. He also directs corporate and commercial films and serves on international festival juries.
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Dritan
Huqi
Albania
Born in Tirana, Albania, he is a graduate of the Albanian Economic University and the University of Law. He is President of the Albanian Producers and Filmmakers Association, a member of the European Film Academy, and was selected for Producers on the Move at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. He is a producer at On Film Production and has produced numerous feature films, including After Dark (2025), Hatixhe & Shaban (2025), Luna Park (2024), Sirin (2023), Rise & Fall of Comrade Zylo (2022), My Lake (2019) and Zana (2019). He has also produced over 10 documentary series, 4 TV series and more than 45 short films.
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Capture Frame Jury
Ardian
Isufi
Albania
Ardian Isufi is an artist, curator and art critic with an extensive career in the visual arts. His work has been presented in Albania and internationally, including at the Tirana Biennial, Ludwig Museum Budapest, the Venice Biennale and the National Gallery of Kosovo. His solo exhibitions include Antihomazh (2015), The Conspiracy of Tirana (2022), Metallurgical Dream (2024) and UFO – Unidentified False Object (2025). His public practice engages with acute social and political issues through contemporary perspectives connecting local and global contexts. He has received prizes at the International Visual Arts Competition “Onufri” and is Associate Professor and PhD at the University of Arts of Tirana.
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Merisa Hasrama
Albania
She is a visual artist based in Tirana working in different mediums, graduated with a Bachelor degree for Graphic Arts at the University of Arts in Tirana.Her work is in search of exploring the depths of human emotion and every day feelings that every human being has, using and combining a variety of techniques such as painting, printing etc., and mostly working on different types of materials. With her artistic work being in a transitioning phase, through her art she wants everyone to feel seen and every feeling to feel valid.
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Noel
Myrtezaj
Albania
Visual artist who mainly works with mixed media, installation and painting. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Textile and Fashion from the University of Arts. Her work focuses more on the inner constructive themes related to inner consciousness. She mainly works with painting and installations, focusing on the development of new territories. The aspect of textiles for the artist, in addition to crossing boundaries in the artistic aspect, also lies in the commercial one.
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Student Jury
Dionis
Prifti
Albania
Dionis is a director and writer from Tirana, holding a Master of Arts in Film and TV Directing from the University of Arts. Directed the shorts 5 1s (2024) and Bers (2023) and co-directed Rats Sleep Too (2023). His short script, An Unusual Event (2012), was selected and produced in Sarajevo, funded by the EU, and the script Antimuseum is being produced as a short animated movie. As a writer, Dionis has published two books: The satirical-experimental novel Two Weeks Under the Balloon, which won the Kadare Prize in 2024, and Bar Sahara, a collection of short stories, which won the First Prize from the National Center for Books and Reading, Ministry of Culture. Passionate about surrealism and its link to cinema.
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Klaudia
Pashnjari
Albania
Born and raised in Corfu, Greece. After completing her university studies in Film Directing in Tirana, she specialized in Cinematography in Paris. She has worked on several short films and documentaries, contributing both as a director and cinematographer.
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Kristina
Rushiti
Albania
Kristina Rushiti is an Albanian filmmaker. She studied at the University of the Arts in Tirana. She began her career as a director and scriptwriter with the short film ANNA, followed by TEA & KEJSI and the documentaries Ekrani i Heshtur and Saimir Kumbaro (a documentary portrait).Kristina has worked as an Assistant Director on several films, including The Planting of Trees, Një Histori e Patreguar, Çeta Ballkanike, Shkrepe, Terezita, Das Meer ist der Himmel, Luna Park, The Fine Line, Troubleshooters, Man of the House, Consequences of Freedom, and the series HOT and I Delitti del BarLume, among others. She has also worked as a producer on various commercial and advertising projects.
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Renis
Hyka
Albania
Renis is a film director and writer from Tirana, Albania. His short films have participated in numerous international film festivals, and won Best Short Film at the Festival Internacional de Film de Autor and Best Script at the Sapienza Film Festival (2025). He has published three books: Cadavre Exquis (2016), Samsara (2018), and Minotauri (2024). In 2023, he was selected as an emerging film director for Sarajevo Talent. Since 2023, it has been collaborating with Tirana International Film Festival on film selections and festival programs. Currently, he is working on this next book and on a short animated film.
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