JURIES

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION OF FEATURE FILMS

ANNE GASCHÜTZ

Germany

Anne Gaschütz grew up in Dresden, Germany. She has worked as a production assistant and production manager on numerous short film projects. In 2013, she joined Filmfest Dresden as part of the International Selection Committee and was later responsible for the coordination of the festival as well as the forum Visegrád in Short(s). In 2024 she became the director of Filmfest. She is a member of the Pardi di domani Selection Committee at Locarno Film Festival, one of the co-founders of Talking Shorts and a member of the European Film Academy.

MOHAMED GHAZALA

Egypt

Mohamed Ghazala is an Egyptian associate professor of animation and the chair of the Cinematic Arts School at Effat University in Saudi Arabia. He serves as the Vice-President of the International Animated Film Association. Mohamed co-directed the first Yemeni animated film, Salma (2006). His film Honyan’s Shoe (2009) won the Animation Prize at the African Movie Academy Awards. His recent film The Pyramid won the top animation award at the Egyptian National Film Festival. He is the author of Animation in the Arab World and Animation in Africa.

DIEGO POLIERI

Argentine

Diego Polieri is an Argentinean illustrator, animator and director. He has contributed to various projects, including such works as Ricochet Splendid, The Strokes: At the Door, Entergalactic, Love, Death & Robots and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. He worked on storyboarding and animation layouts for the HBO series Scavengers Reign and he was part of the team that created the short film Carne de Dios. Most recently, he was part of the animation team as an animation supervisor for the Adult Swim show Common Side Effects.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION OF SHORT AND STUDENT FILMS

DIANA CAM VAN NGUYEN

Czechia

Diana Cam Van Nguyen is a Czech-Vietnamese director based in Prague and a graduate of FAMU. Her latest short, Love, Dad (2021), won the Czech Lion and the Czech Film Critics’ Award for Best Short Film. It was nominated for Best Short Film at the European Film Awards 2022 and has received over 65 awards. She is currently developing her debut feature, Inbetween Worlds, at the Résidence of the Festival de Cannes 2023 and Berlinale Talent Script Station 2025. Diana is a member of the Czech and European Film Academy.

XAVIER KAWA-TOPOR

France

Xavier Kawa-Topor is a historian and writer. He is the founder of Rendez-vous de l’animation, round tables organised by the Parisian videotheque Forum des Images and the Nouvelles Images du Japon Bienalle (1999-2003). Kawa-Topor is the current director of the NEF Animation Association, which organises artistic residencies for filmmakers; chairman of SCALAE Productions, a company focusing on the support of young talents; founder of the Blink Blank magazine and author of several books. In 2021, he received the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Animation Studies at the Animafest Festival in Zagreb.

TOMEK POPAKUL

Poland

Tomek Popakul is a graduate of the Łódź Film School. His graduation film, Ziegenort (2013), was shown at numerous international festivals and received many awards. Acid Rain (2019) was shown at approximately 90 festivals and received a nomination for the Annie Award. His latest short, Zima (2023), was named Best Short Film at Anifilm 2024. He is the founder of the Wysokie Pokrzywy label; as a musician, he performs under the name Astma.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION OF ABSTRACT AND NON-NARRATIVE ANIMATIONS, MUSIC VIDEOS AND VR FILMS

THOMAS RENOLDNER

Austria

Thomas Renoldner was born in Linz, Austria. He has made experimental, animated and documentary films and commercials, as well as producing animated films. He is the leader of the Animation Lab at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He is the founder and co-curator of Animation Avantgarde, an international competition at Vienna Shorts, and the founder and director of the Best Austrian Animation Festival in Vienna. His film Don't Know What (2018) was Oscar-nominated.

KRISS SAGAN

Slovakia

Kriss Sagan is a Slovak graphic artist and animator, a graduate of the Department of Animation of the MOME University in Budapest. In 2020, she finished her Master’s degree with an AR project titled Dreams of Eden which premiered at the Slovakian Fest Anča International Animation Festival 2020. Sagan focuses on new technologies such as ‘animating’ paintings and illustrations with AR. She is currently working on a hybrid documentary about Ukrainian children affected by the war.

JOSH SHAFFNER

USA

Josh Shaffner is a multi-media artist and educator. He received a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Montana and an MFA in Experimental Animation from CalArts. He works as a freelance artist and designer in Los Angeles to produce his unique painterly style of animation for film, television and commercial productions. Shaffner is the author and sole animator of several short films. His latest work, In Dreams (2023), won a Grand Prix at New Chitose Animation Festival.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION OF COMPUTER GAMES

CHRISTOPHER LEWIS LEE

United Kingdom

Chris Lewis Lee is an illustrator and 2D game artist from the United Kingdom. He creates whimsical, cosy and narrative-focused illustrations centred around a love of history, fantasy, mythology, folk and fairy tales. His career focuses primarily on indie games, creating art as a concept artist and production artist.

ZOÉ NGUYEN THANH

France, USA

Zoé Nguyen Tranh is a French/American art director and illustrator creating games with teams all over the world. Her credits include Return to Monkey Island, Rime and The Sexy Brutale. Her process is influenced by her fine arts background and love of graphic novels, as her speciality is to incorporate traditional techniques and bring fresh new styles to the video game landscape.

JINDŘICH SKELDAL

Czechia

Jindřich Skeldal is a 30+ year veteran in audio-visual creation. He’s the mind behind Gates of Skeldal, Seven Mages, Dreamkiller and the strategic Tribe Nation. Skeldal has contributed to 15 games, including the VR hit Beat Saber. He served as editor-in-chief of the pioneering gaming magazine Excalibur and Score. He’s produced content for Czech Television, penned 7 books, and even adapted Shakespeare’s Hamlet for virtual reality theatre.