Jury

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION OF FEATURE FILMS

Anca Damian

Producer, film director and scriptwriter Anca Damian graduated in cinematography from the Academy of Theatre and Film Arts in Bucharest. After several nationally acknowledged and awarded films, she has earned international attention for her experimental animated documentary Crulic – The Path to Beyond (2011), which had its world premiere in competition at the Locarno Film Festival. The film has won over 35 awards and toured more than 250 festivals since then, including Copenhagen, Busan, BFI London FF, CPH: DOX, Telluride, Istanbul IFF and Annecy, where she received the Cristal Award. In 2015, The Magic Mountain, a Romanian/French/Polish
co-production, narrating the life story of mountaineer and photographer Adam J. Winkler, had its world premiere in Annecy and the international premiere in Karlovy Vary IFF in the Main Competition where it received a Special Mention of the Jury.

Ron Dyens

Producer Ron Dyens studied communications at CELSA in Paris and got a DEA in Modern Literature. In 1999 Dyens became the director of the Archipel Cinema in Paris and founded Sacrebleu Productions, which has produced over 60 short films so far – live action, animation, fiction and documentary – including La chute (2018, dir. Boris Labbé), You’ll Be Fine (2017, dir. Céline Devaux), Barking Island (2010, dir. Serge Avédikian) and Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (2010, dir. Bastien Dubois) among others. His films have been shown at festivals at home and abroad (Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Annecy, Sundance), winning the most prestigious awards. Ron Dyens has worked with an array of foreign directors and was the first to co-produce short films with countries around the world. He has been recognized by his peers in the media industry, having received two Procirep awards: Best Short Films Producer, Best Animated TV Producer (2013).

Anna Vášová

Screenwriter, commissioning editor and producer Anna Vášová started at Czech Television in the Centre for Art Programmes, where she worked on several landmark projects, such as the Oscar-winning film Kolya (1996). Later she headed the production and distribution department of Barrandov Studios and then became Director of Programmes of CT. From there, she moved to European Broadcasting Union in Geneva to conduct international co-productions of broadcasters from 56 different countries. In 2009, she became Director of the Documentary and Children’s Programme Section. In 2013, she joined the Czech Television Director’s Advisory Board, in 2016 she started teaching at FAMU in Prague. She works on international projects, at the Visegrad Animation Forum (now CEE), and on animated films and series as a screenwriter and script editor.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION OF SHORT FILMS AND STUDENT FILMS

Georges Schwizgebel

Animation director, one of the greats of traditional animation, Georges Schwizgebel studied fine arts, and in 1971 co-founded the GDS Studio in Geneva, along with film-makers Daniel Suter and Claude Luyet. He has created a distinctively original body of work since 1974, when he released his first film The Flight of Icarus and embarked on an outstanding career path on which he has won numerous awards at world-class festivals. “His films – whose technical execution is always masterful – are marked by a playful approach to narrative, spectacular formalism and the intermingling of visuals and music. The Ride to the Abyss (1992) is regularly cited as one of the finest animated films of all time,” writes Marco de Blois.

Jonas Odell

Jonas Odell is a Swedish music video and film director, and founder of FilmTecknarna animation studio. Apart from an array of short films, he has directed music videos for artists such as The Rolling Stones, Goldfrapp, and U2, and commissioned commercials for international clients. He has also scripted, co-scripted and written the music to a number of productions. His filmography includes distinctive short films Never Like the First Time! (2006, Golden Bear at the Berlin IFF) and Lies (2008, Jury Prize for International Short Filmmaking at Sundance Film Festival 2009). In his work, Jonas Odell explores the possibilities of mixing live action and various mixed media animation techniques; in some of his more recent projects he has focused on animation documentary.

Kateřina Karhánková

Animator and artist Kateřina Karhánková studied at the Department of Animation at FAMU in Prague, and also broadened her experience during an internship at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design in Norway. Her bachelor film The New Species succeeded at showcases abroad (e.g. Annecy 2014). Having toured more than 150 festivals, her graduation film, the animated fairy tale Fruits of the Clouds (2017) earned a number of awards, of which Kateřina considers the European Children's Film Association Award for Best Short Film 2018, which was presented to her at this year's Berlinale, to be the most exceptional. She collaborates on various series and projects (including with Alexandra Hetmerová, Filip Pošivač and Bionaut), creating graphic designs, film posters and more. She also co-operates on the NFA Ponrepo Children's Education Program.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION OF ABSTRACT AND NON-NARRATIVE ANIMATION AND MUSIC VIDEOS

Tomek Ducki

Hungarian-Polish animation director and designer Tomek Ducki was born in Budapest in 1982. He studied animation at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design and at the National Film and Television School in the UK, but for the past ten years he has been based in Poland, where he works and collaborates with local artists and studios.
His best-known works are his awarded short films, Life Line (2007) and Baths (2013), and music videos for artists such as Basement Jaxx, Zhu or Bipolar Sunshine. His distinctive style is heavily influenced by both the Polish and the Hungarian school of animation and poster design, and each of his works employs a different and individual technique which can vary from CGI to clay, aquarelle, ink, wood and other experimental collages.

Annegret Richter

Annegret Richter is the Executive Manager of AG Animationsfilm, a national Association for German Animation. For several years, she worked at the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film in Leipzig (DOK Leipzig) as a programmer and Head of the Animation Program. Before that she was Director of the International Short Film Festival in Dresden (Filmfest Dresden) and a researcher at the Institute of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Leipzig, where she focused especially on animated documentaries. She also works as a curator and as a film journalist for radio and magazines.

Max Hattler

Experimental filmmaker and academic Max Hattler works with abstract animation, video installation and audiovisual performance. He holds a Master’s degree from the Royal College of Art and a Doctorate in Fine Art from the University of East London. Max has lectured at CalArts, USC, Goldsmiths and KASK. His original, new media work has been shown at festivals and institutions all over the world, earning him numerous awards, including a Supernova, Bronze Design Lion from Cannes Lions, and several Visual Music Awards. He lives in Hong Kong where he is an Assistant Professor at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong. Max's current research focuses on synaesthetic experience and visual music, the narrative potential of abstract animation, and expanded artistic approaches to binocular vision.

International Competition of Independent Computer Games

Tereza Krobová

Tereza Krobová is finishing her doctorate at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University in Prague. In her dissertation work, she focuses on gender aspects of gaming (she’s trying to find out how male and female characters in games look, why men sometimes choose female characters and vice versa and what they like about it). She lectures at several Prague universities and apart from computer games, her lectures focus on themes such as gender, journalism and media. She is also preparing a gaming show for Czech Television. And needless to say, she likes to play games.

Jaromír Plachý

Jaromír Plachý is an illustrator, animator, comics artist and last but not least a game developer. He began working for the studio Amanita Design as an assistant animator on the game Machinarium. He then developed his own game Botanicula set in the world of an old garden and his subsequent game project Chuchel won the award for the Best Game for Children at last year’s Anifilm and the game “Oscar” – the IGF 2018 Award for the Best Visual Art. For the last five years, Jaromír Plachý has been working on a confidential horror project.

Adriaan de Jongh

Adriaan de Jongh is a game designer best known for the indie game hit Hidden Folks, a hand-drawn interactive searching game, and for experimental games like Bounden and Fingle, which move people out of the normal space of videogames by challenging players to dance, hold hands, and share physical interactions. He also has an awkward signature dance which he’ll perform at every opportunity presented. Beside making and selling games, he actively tries to help the Dutch and international game industry. Adriaan de Jongh has also been part of various juries and committees such as the Creative Industries NL’s Digital Culture fund advisory committee and the Independent Games Festival’s Nuovo jury.