THE DIRECTORS

TOMMASO ACQUARONE
Tommaso Acquarone was born in Savona (Italy) on December 24, 1992.
He graduated at IULM University Milan with a thesis, supervised by Professor Gianni Canova, about the filmmaker Claudio Caligari.
Soon after Tommaso attended the “Holden School” in Torino.
In 2021 he wrote and directed his first short film I miei occhi (My Eyes).
In the same year Tommaso Acquarone directed a short film for the Italian designer Emilio Pucci.
​He lives in Roma and he is working on the script of his first feature film.
MARK ALBISTON
Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Mark Albiston has developed a reputation at home for making innovative TV programmes about New Zealand’s artists and creative scene. His films, which focus predominantly on the topics of childhood, youth and coming of age, have already screened a number of times in Berlinale Generation, most recently in 2013 with Shopping (co-directed by Louis Sutherland) which won the Grand Prix of the International Jury in the Generation 14plus section.
Datsun, his latest movie, won the Audience Award at New Zealand International Film Festival 2021 and then was selected at Berlinale Generation 2022 and at SXSW - South by Southwest Film Festival 2022.
ARTEMIS ANASTASIADOU
Artemis Anastasiadou is a screenwriter and director from Thessaloniki, Greece.
She studied Drama and Theatre Arts at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Film Directing at the University of Texas at Austin.  Artemis focuses her work on female character studies and explores their hidden emotional landscapes while tackling diverse transformations of violence.
Her short film Calling (2017), a film on gender violence, motherhood and disability, received the Austin Film Society Grant and was selected at the 2018 Texas Filmmaker’s Showcase.
Her next short film I am Mackenzie (2019) a coming of age film on gender identity, sexuality and broken family ties, received the Best Film Award for Texas Shorts at South by Southwest 2019, and the Best Female Filmmaker Award in Greece.
The film was screened in more than 100 festivals internationally including BFI - London Film Festival and POFF - Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
To Vancouver is her first short film shot in rural Greece, and is following the neo-realist approach. Artemis worked in a small community in the island of Evoia, employing non- actors and embracing the landscape, the local folklore and the reality of the place within her narrative.
​She examines issues like sibling love, loss, immigration, unemployment and environmental pollution in rural Greece, through the eyes of an 11 year old girl.
MARIJA APCEVSKA
Marija Apcevska holds BA in Directing from FDA, Skopje and MA in Film and Media Production, NYFA, Los Angeles.
Her shorts have travelled to festivals worldwide and won several awards, with Bardo premiering at Berlinale Generation.
In addition, she is the creator of the children’s TV series Zoki Poki, the only TV series from North Macedonia broadcasted in Scandinavia.
Her latest Film, North Pole, premiering at Festival de Cannes - Official Short Film Selection, was one of the winning projects at European Short Pitch 2019.
She is currently working on her first feature, Spring Cleaning, selected for development at LIM 2021 and presented at Cannes Focus CoPro’ 2021.
ALI ASGARI
Born in Iran, Ali Asgari is a prominent Iranian cinema figure with more than 200 awards to his name.
Two of his shorts (More Than Two Hours, 2013 and The Silence, 2016)  were nominated for Palme d'Or at Festival de Cannes and The Baby was in short film  competition of Venice Film Festival 2014.
Ali's films are concerned with precarious lives who live at society's margin in his native country Iran.
His debut feature film Disappearance was developed at the Cinafondation residency of Festival De Cannes and had its world and North American premiere at Venice International Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival 2017. 
Until Tomorrow his second feature film was recently  premiered in Berlinale 2022. Ali is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
BEATRICE BALDACCI 
Beatrice Baldacci was born in Città di Castello (Italy) in 1993.
She studied psychology in Padua and then moved to Rome to study cinema. While studying directing and photography with Daniele Ciprì and Claudio Cupellini, she made the fiction short film Corvus Corax which participated in numerous festivals. In 2017 she graduated with honours under the supervision of Susanna Nicchiarelli with a thesis on the border between man and animal and anthropomorphisation in cinema.
After completing her studies, she made some experiences on set and in 2018 she won the artistic residency Immerge making the short documentary film Un posto sicuro.
In 2019 she wins the Premio Zavattini 18/19 with the autobiographical short film Supereroi senza Superpoteri, entirely made with VHS footage. Supereroi senza Superpoteri had its world premiere at the 76th Venice International Film Festival 2019 in the Orizzonti section, where it wins a FEDIC Special Mention as the best short film of the exhibition.
In 2021 she makes her first feature film La Tana (The Den), produced by Lumen Films, developed within the Biennale College Cinema programme 2020/21 and premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival.
SAULIUS  BARADINSKAS
Saulius Baradinskas is a film & music video director from Vilnius, Lithuania (born on September 19, 1990). In 2013 Saulius graduated Architecture in Vilnius Arts Academy. In the 2018 annual music video awards Saulius won "the best director award” and "the best music video award”.
​In 2019, Saulius premiered his debut short film Golden Minutes. This short film was filmed on one take and the main role was created by famous Scottish actor Billy Boyd, who starred in Lord Of The Rings. The short film won various awards and traveled to more than 40 film festivals around the world. In 2020 Saulius was selected as one of the Berlinale Talents in the 70th Berlinale Film Festival.
​His second short film Techno, Mama premiered at the 78th Venice Film Festival in 2021.

IAN BARLING

A native of Atlantic City, New Jersey,  Ian Barling toured the eastern United States as a drummer in various punk rock bands in his youth.
His last short film, Safe, premiered at the Semaine de la Critique - Cannes Film Festival 2021.
He currently lives in New York City, where he is preparing his first feature-length film, titled Francis, with which he is currently participating in the TorinoFilmLab.
MÅNS BERTHAS
Måns Berthas was born in Sundsvall, a small town in Sweden.
In 2015 he directed Champion which debuted at Göteborg Film Festival and it has been screened in more than fifty film festivals around the world (among which Bogoshorts in Colombia, FlickerFest in Australia and Asiana International Film Festival in South Korea). 
​Bitchboy and Vila i frid (Rest in Peace)  are both from 2016. Bitchboy  had the world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival 2016 where it was awarded with the Special Jury Mention. In 2017 he directed A Swedish Classic (Seattle International Film Festival 2017) and in 2018 Isle of Capri,  which was one of the winners of the Nespresso Talents - Cannes Film Festival 2018. Bottleneck (2019) is his latest short.
Måns is now working on the script of his first feature.
​www.filmuminati.com
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Photo Credit: Anna Thors
CAMILLA CARÈ
Camilla Carè (1992). Graduated in Phenomenology of contemporary arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, during the same years she studies in performing arts with Motus, MK, Teatro Valdoca, Fiorenza Menni, Cristina Rizzo, Fanny&Alexander —among others.
She worked as associated artist with the choreographer Agnès Chekroun during her period of studio practice at Villa Medici Accademia di Francia in Rome (2013-2014), as assistant director of Lisa Ferlazzo Natoli for the Lacasadargilla theater works (2016-2017), as creative consultant for the director Berardo Carboni for Youtopia (2018).

FARHAD DELARAM

Farhad Delaram was born in Tehran, Iran.
He graduated from the University of Tehran with a master's degree in cinema. Besides working as an independent filmmaker, he has a 14-year-long career working as a screenplay writer. Farhad has made seven independent short films (as director, writer, cinematographer, editor, and sound editor).
His  fiction short film, Tattoo, was screened in more than 60 international film festivals winning the Crystal Bear at the 69th Berlinale in the Generation 14plus section, among numerous other awards.
He is currently living in Berlin in a fellowship program hosted by Akademie der Künste.
ELOY DOMÍNGUEZ SERÉN
After graduating from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Eloy Dominguez Serén started his career as a film critic and co-founder and co-director of A CUARTA PAREDE Magazine.
In 2010 he served on the Youth Jury of the Venice Film Festival. The following year he moved to Stockholm, where he directed two short films: Pettring (2013) and No Novo Céio (2014).
In 2014 he filmed the medium-length film Jet Lag and during the following two years he completed No Cow On The Ice (2015) — premiered at Visions du Réel— and the short films Yellow Brick Road (2016) and Rust (2016).
In 2018 he premiered the feature film Hamada at IDFA. Having been screened at festivals such as BAFICI and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the film won awards at the Cinéma du Réel, FIC Xixón and Porto/Post/Doc festivals. The following short film, The Bodies (Os Corpos, 2020), was premiered at IDFA. 
Rompente (Seabreaker, 2022) his is latest movie.

MEHDI FIKRI

Mehdi Fikri grew up in the northern suburbs of Paris and was a journalist for ten years, including for the newspaper L’Humanité. He wrote about social struggles, drug trafficking and police violence. He is now working as a screenwriter and director and is developing his first feature film.
ESTEBAN GARCIA GARZON
Esteban Garcia Garzon is a Colombian film director, writer and actor.
Esteban studied philosophy at the Andes University of Colombia and Film Studies at the New York Film Academy of Los Angeles, USA.
Two time winner of the screenwriting contest of the Ministry of Culture of Colombia and the Production Contest for his first film Back to the Sea of My Deceased. 
Always concern with social and indigenous topics, Esteban has worked as film director for various Shorts Films as Unravel (2012), I am Margot (2014), At The Other Side of The River (2016), Atarraya (2018).
He has directed several documentaries as Taita Querubín and the Soul of Ayawaska (2016), Humberto Arenas and the Labyrinth of Truth (2015), The Jaguar Corridor (2014). 
He is in the postproduction of his first feature film, to be release in 2022. Invisibles is his latest short movie.
SOFIA GEORGOVASSILI
Sofia Georgovassili, born in Greece,  is an awarded actress and filmmaker currently lives between Aegina and Athens. She is an Artworks fellow, 2020.
Her first short film as a director, Preparation, had its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival in 2017.
She travelled to many festivals worldwide and won numerous awards. Cedar Wolf, her second short was a commission by German Arte & ZDF and was part of a wider project with short European films called Love, Europe. 
She is now in pre-production for her first feature film under the title Mignon, a trilateral co-production between Greece, Romania and France and for which she won ARTEKino International Prize at CineLink - Sarajevo Film Festival. 
​Mignon is also a Cinereach grantee, 2020 and an Oxbelly Screenwriters & Directors Lab fellow, 2019.
Human condition and coming-of-age ground, are at the heart of her films. 
As an actress, amongst others, she is the supporting actress in Christos Nikou Apples, the Greek nomination for Oscars 2021.
The movie opened Orizzonti section at Venice International Film Festival 2020. 
GIULIA GRANDINETTI
Giulia Grandinetti was born in 1989, in Macerata (Italy).
Ever since she was a child, Giulia loved bringing people together and telling stories to try and move the world into a different direction.
​She defines herself a dystopian director: she loves to play, distorting rules of society, and of the human being.
Tria (Tria - del sentimento del tradire) is her latest short movie (2022).
​The World Premiere was at the 79th Venice Film Festival (2022) in Orizzonti Competition.
ANNA GYIMESI
Anna Gyimesi was born in 1985, in Budapest (Hungary).
After receiving her degree in medicine in 2011, she turned to filmmaking. She graduated from the film directing program of the University of Theater and Film Arts in 2019 and from documentary film directing in the
Docnomads Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Course in 2021.
Her interests are taboo social dilemmas represented through personal dramas, especially connected to motherhood, womanhood, and social marginalization.
​With Affricate she won Cinelink-award for the best pitch at Talent Sarajevo Pack&Pitch 2020 and took part in European Short Pitch Works-In-Progress Co-Production Forum in 2022.
​Recently she is developing her first feature.
RODRIGO GUERRERO
Rodrigo Guerrero was born in Cordoba, Argentina, in 1982.
He has a degree in Film and Television as a graduate from the National University of Cordoba. He also has a Masters Degree in Creating Audiovisual Screenplays from the International University in La Rioja, Spain.
His first feature film El invierno de los raros (2011) had its world premiere at the 40th Rotterdam International Film Festival.
His second feature film as director is titled, El tercero, which premiered at 16th edition of the BAFICI (April 2014).
His third feature film project, Venezia had its world premiere at the 73rd edition of Edinburgh International Film Festival in June, 2019. 
His fourth feature film, Siete perros, participated in Cine en Construcción 38 Lima - Toulouse and will have its world premiere at the 43rd edition of Cairo International Film Festival. Currently he is developing his new film, Perimetral.
SONIA K. HADAD
Sonia K. Hadad is an Iranian writer and director. 
Born in Tehran, she studied Film and Media Arts (M.F.A.) at Emerson College in Boston.
In 2009, she graduated from the Azad University of Art and Architecture in Tehran with a B.A. in Theatre and Dramatic Literature.
The writing of short stories for youth magazines led her to her primary interest: writing for film. Having moved to the United States in 2013, Sonia began producing for the film industry, as well as editing TV series and making short films.
The Box (2016), Personal (2017), Exam (2019) and File (2022) are her four short films. Exam was selected in more than 150 film festivals and it was qualified for The Academy Awards.
SHULI HUANG
Shuli Huang is a writer-director and cinematographer born in Wenzhou, China.
After graduating from Beijing Film Academy in 2019, he moved to New York City as an MFA candidate for NYU graduate film program. 
Farewell, My Hometown, his feature debut as a cinematographer won the New Currents Award during the 26th Busan International Film Festival in 2021.
His second short film, Will You Look At Me, was selected for the 61st edition of La Semaine de la Critique Cannes 2022.
KATARINA JAZBEC
Katarina Jazbec is a visual artist working in film and photography. She was born in 1991, Slovenia, and has been living in Rotterdam since 2015. She received her BA from the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana and her MA in Photography from the AKV | St. Joost  art academy in Breda (NL). 
In her work, which is based on long-standing participatory research, she builds heterotopias and looks for new forms of storytelling while exploring the urgent questions of ethics, identity, agency, and pitfalls of our current dominant economy. 
Her recent works have been shown among others at the FIDÉ Festival International du Documentaire Émergent in Paris, the International Festival of Contemporary Arts City of Women in Ljubljana and the TENT Platform for Contemporary Art in the Netherlands. She is a current grantee of the Mondriaan stipendium for emerging artists in the Netherlands.
For her film Permeating Hearts, which is about reading with prisoners in Belgium, she was given a Tënk Award at FIDÉ Paris 2019. She is the first recipient of the RTM Pitch Award 2020 by the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
BIRUTĖ KAPUSTINSKAITĖ
Birutė Kapustinskaitė is a playwright and screenwriter for cinema, theatre and audio projects. In 2018, she received Lithuania’s national Golden Cross Award for best playwright.
Birutė also won the Best Screenplay award at the 2019 Aubagne Film Festival for the screenplay of the feature film Sasha Was Here. She teaches screenwriting at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, and at Vilnius University.
The short film Mothers is her debut as a director. 
SERHAT KARAASLAN
Serhat Karaaslan, from Kurdistan (Turkey), has directed one feature film and several shorts. 
His short films were screened and awarded in major festivals like Toronto International Film Festival and Locarno Film Festival. His debut film Passed by Censor (Cannes Cinéfondation Residence), premiered at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2019 where it received the Critics Award, and was shown at festivals around the world winning several awards along the way. His latest work is The Criminals, World Premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2021.
VYTAUTAS KATKUS
Born in 1991 in Vilnius, Vytautas Katkus is one of the most talented and appreciated up-and-coming directors and cinematographers in Lithuania. He graduated with a BA in Cinematography and at the moment continues his MA studies at Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.
He debuted as a director with his first short film Community Gardens (2019), which was selected to the 58th Semaine de la Critique, while his second short film Places (2020) premiered in Venice, Orizzonti Competition. Vytautas latest short is Cherries, official selection at Cannes Film Festival 2022.
Currently he is also developing his first feature film The Visitor, which won the NEXT STEP program of Semaine de la Critique - Cannes in 2022.
ÁKOS K. KOVÁCS
Ákos K. Kovács was born in 1991 in Senta, Yugoslavia. 
After he finished high school in Subotica he moved to Budapest (Hungary), to study Cinematography in the Metropolitan University.
​His BA diploma work, Away (directed by Roland Ferge) debuted at the Berlinale Generation in 2014 where it won Special Mention of the Generation Kplus International Jury.  His other collaborations as DOP include Szabolcs Hajdu’s It’s Not the Time of My Life.
Since then Ákos started to work in films also as writer and director. Branka is his first short film.
BIANCA LUCAS
Bianca Lucas is a graduate of Goldsmiths College in London and Béla Tarr’s 3-year Film.Factory course in Sarajevo.
Her short films have screened at international festivals such as IFFR - Film Festival Rotterdam, New Horizons, Sarajevo Film Festival, Premiers Plans d’Angers, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur among others.
​Love Dog, world premiere at Locarno Film Festival 2022, is her first feature film.
GYÖRGY MÓR KÁRPÁTI
György Mór Kárpáti is a Budapest-based film director and writer.
He studied at the Directors’ Department of the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest. His short films have been selected at various international film festivals such as Cannes and Berlinale.
His first feature film Guerilla premiered at the Ingmar Bergman Debut Competition of the Göteborg Film Festival 2019, and won the Hungarian Critics’ Choice Award for the best first feature film.
His second feature, Summer to Come,  premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2022.
LUO RUNXIAO
Luo Runxiao, born in 2000, is a Chinese director and screenwriter. Knowing early where his true passion lies, Runxiao began learning filmmaking on his own and shooting documentaries at the age of 16. Currently, he is an undergraduate student studying film production at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. 
His debut short film, Hair Tie, Egg, Homework Books, is selected into the 78th Venice International Film Festival - Orizzonti Short Film Competition. Runxiao is the youngest Chinese filmmaker in history, at the age of 21, to enter Venice International Film Festival. 
Runxiao seeks to make realist films that revolve around one's search for true-self and explore themes such as the destructive nature of hyper-masculinity, as well as the roots and effects of violence.
POLEN LY
Polen Ly paused his studies in medicine to pursue his filmmaking path in 2012. He has directed several shorts and documentaries, which explore social issues related to the environment, human rights, including LGBT+ and indigenous experiences.
In 2015, his short film Colourful Knots won first prize at Tropfest SEA in Malaysia, and in the same year, he was selected to join the International Writing Residency at the University of Iowa in the United States. 
In 2018, Polen joined the Asian Film Academy in Busan, Korea. His short documentary Cemetery Of Green Souls won an Honorable Mention prize at Tribeca Film Institute’s IF/Then Pitch at IDFA in 2019. 
In 2021, his documentary short, Side by Side, was selected in the Open Doors section at Locarno.
His newest short fiction, Further and Further Away (2022), received the SEA-Shorts grant from Singapore International Film Festival.
Polen is now in early production on his first full-length documentary, The Tongue of Water, which has received funding from IDFA (Netherlands), DMZ Docs (South Korea), and the Sundance Institute (USA).
ALIOSHA MASSINE
Aliosha Massine (born in Italy, 1991) coming from a family of choreographers and dancers.
He studied philosophy at the University of Roma Tre while acting with the touring company formed by Fiorentini. In 2019 he directed Il posto della felicità (The Place of Happiness), a short film produced by Marcello Fonte and Quasar film srl and selected in many important Italian and international film festivals.
His second short Holy Son (2021) is produced by Quasar film srl, Timshel Films.
MORAD MOSTAFA
Morad Mostafa is an Egyptian Director, born in 1988 in Cairo, Egypt.
He worked as an Assistant Director in several independent films; he collaborated as an Executive director in Souad by Ayten Amin (official selection at Cannes Film Festival 2020 and Berlinale).
Morad wrote and directed Henet Ward (2020) and What We Don't Know About Mariam" (2021); both movies had their world premiere at Clermont-Ferrand Festival du Court Métrage and they have been selected in other major festivals winning more than 30 international awards.
Khadiga (2021) is Morad's latest short film.
AZADEH MOUSSAVI
Azadeh Moussavi is an Iranian independent director and producer. 
She graduated in directing in 2009 and soon after she directed the documentary From Iran, A Separation (2013) which won many prizes and appeared in well-known T.V. channels such as Cine+ (France) and Channel 4 (UK).
Her latest documentary "Finding Farideh" (2018) won many prizes in the international film festivals and it has been selected to be Iran’s official contender at Oscars.
In 2020 she completed the short movie The Visit, based on her childhood memories, and selected in many international film festivals like Festival du court métrage de Clermont-Ferrand, Palm Springs International ShortFest, AFI FEST.
​Her latest short is 48 Hours (2022).
LORENZO PALLOTTA
Lorenzo Pallotta is a young director from Abruzzo (Italy) born in 1992.
He attended the SAE Institute in Milan and began working for both university and independent film productions. He worked on the creation of documentaries, commercials, video clips, short films and web series.
Lorenzo collaborated with the production house Fedra Film and Fedra Hub and he worked as assistant director on the film Loro by Paolo Sorrentino and Piccole Avventure Romane by the same Paolo Sorrentino.
Inumanamente, his first short film was selected in 2016 at the Milano Film Festival (Italy), while his short film Luis (2019) was selected, among others, at Festival Europeen du film court de Brest (France), Figari Film Fest (Italy), Visioni Italiane Festival (Cineteca di Bologna, Italy), Medflm Festival (Rome, Italy).
His latest short film Las Hadas (2021) had its world premiere at the FEST- New Directors New Film Festival (Espinho, Portugal).
Sacro moderno (The Children of the Sleeping Giant) is Lorenzo's first feature film.

CRISTIAN PATANÈ ​

Cristian Patanè (1991, Italy) made his debut in 2009, at the age of 17, with the 35mm short film Le Notti Bianche, freely based on the novel by Fëdor Dostoevsky, winning numerous prizes at industry festivals in Italy and abroad.
In 2010 he was selected by the Ministry of Youth as "representative of young Italian excellence in the world". Over the years he has shot short films, commercials and institutional documentaries.
In 2013 he founded his first start-up company, “Giffoni Idea”, in collaboration with Giffoni Innovation Hub, and then opened, in 2015, his own production company, BridgeFilm.
In 2016 he became personal assistant of Piero Messina, who became his mentor. Cristian is still writing his debut for cinema, together with the scriptwriter Andrea Paolo Massara.
Corpo e Aria (Holy Care) is his fourth short film.
LOIS PATIÑO ​
Lois Patiño was born in Vigo, Spain. His films have been screened in festivals as Locarno, Toronto, Rotterdam, San Francisco, Ann Arbor, Viennale, Cinema du Rèel, Media City. While his video installation have been shown in arts center such as MACBA (Barcelona), Copperfield Gallery (London), CC San Martín (Buenos Aires), JIFF Art Gallery (South Korea) and art fairs like Paris Photo, ARCO Madrid or Unseen (Amsterdam).
With Mountain in Shadow (2012) he was awarded at Oberhausen, Clermont-Ferrand and Bucharest Experimental. In 2013 in Locarno he won the prize for Best Emerging Director for his first feature film Costa da Morte (2013), which was consequently awarded in Jeonju IFF (South Korea), FICUNAM (México), Valdivia IFF (Chile) and Seville European FF (Spain).
His second feature film Red Moon Tide premiered at the Berlinale - Forum in 2020, and was screened at the MoMA (NY) for New Directors/New Films, among other more than 50 festivals around the world.
His short film Sycorax (2021), codirected with Matías Piñeiro, premiered at Quinzaine des Réalisateurs - Festival di Cannes 2021, and it was shown in festivals such as Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival.
Specific focuses on his work have taken place in New York Film Festival (Views from the Avant Garde), Flaherty Seminar, BAFICI and Cali IFF.
​He has been invited to show his work at universities such as Harvard (Sensory Ethnography Lab), Cal Arts (L.A.), McGill (Montreal), FUC (Buenos Aires). From Harvard he received the Robert Fulton III Fellowship for emerging directors in 2016. 
DEEPAK RAUNIYAR
Deepak Rauniyar is a director, screenwriter, and producer. 
A former critic, he became the first Nepali filmmaker to compete at a major international film festival. His debut Highway world premiered at the Berlinale 2012 and also played at Locarno Film Festival. 
His second film White Sun premiered at the 2016 Venice Film Festival and screened worldwide (Toronto, Busan, Locarno, Rotterdam), winning awards at Venice, Singapore, and Palm Spring film festivals.
The film was Nepal's official selection for the 90th Academy Award as Best Foreign Language Film. 
The New York Times described Rauniyar as one of "The 9 New Directors You Need to Watch."
He is an alumnus of the Toronto and Berlinale Talent Campuses as well as the Cannes Cinéfondation program. He has served as a jury member at Locarno and Sydney Film Festivals and Asia Pacific Screen Awards.  Currently, Rauniyar is developing his third feature film, The Sky Is Mine (TFL Co-production Award 2019), and his first English Language Feature High and Low (Jerome Foundation Hill Artist fellowship 2021).   
He co-produced Johan Carlsen's Death on the Street, which screened at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam 2021. 

Photo Credit: ​Marco Abram
CHANRADO SOK & KONGKEA VANN
Chanrado Sok grew interested in the relationship of media, public opinion, and freedom of expression. After high school, he chose to study film and work at Bophana Center, the audiovisual resource organization founded by filmmaker Rithy Panh. He has also joined filmmaking and photography courses with the Institut Français in Phnom Penh, and the Busan Film Commission’s 2018 FLY program in Singapore. He has primarily worked as a documentary filmmaker, and he has made four short documentaries since 2015.
​Documentary and social realism in his fiction filmmaking allow him to engage with society and develop the stories of the real characters he finds around him every day. 
Sound of the Night (World Premiere at Locarno Film Festival 2021) is his first short fiction.

Kongkea Vann graduated with his degree in film from the department of cinema at the School of Media of Pour un Sourire d’Enfant (PSE) in 2016 in Phnom Penh. Shortly after, he has been involved as a camera assistant in certain international projects, such as First They Killed My Father by Angelina Jolie in 2017 and the Australian feature film Buoyancy by Rodd Rathjen in 2019.
Ever since, he has been sought after by local production companies as a director of photography on many feature films, short films, and TV commercials. Pursuing his filmmaking dream in directing.
Sound of the Night (World Premiere at Locarno Film Festival 2021) has become his first short film as co-director and cinematographer where he could shape his artistic approach further than just in the field of technician.

WENDI TANG

Wendi Tang is a Chinese writer/director and producer based in Los Angeles.
Wendi's work focuses on character-driven stories that explore various corners of female narratives. Her short films have been selected by numerous film festivals worldwide and won several awards. She is a 2022 NYC Women’s Fund recipient and a Sundance Uprise Grant Fund Finalist.
Most recently, her upcoming project, FISHTANK, is the winner at the 8th Tribeca Chanel Through Her Lens program.
SEBASTIÁN VALENCIA MUÑOZ
Sebastián Valencia Muñoz was born in Pereira (Colombia).
He studied media communication and philosophy at the Javeriana University and he attended the 14° Berlinale Talents Buenos Aires. Sebastian has directed the following short films: Mañana piensa en mi (2006), official selection at Nuevos Creadores FICCI47, La transeúnte (2007), official selection at Bogoshorts 2007, Un día volverás (2013), official selection at Panorama Bogoshorts 2013.
He recently completed the short films Montañas (2019) winner in the National Short Films Category at Cine por los Derechos Humanos.
El Remanso (2020), selected in several film festivals (Vienna Shorts, Palm Springs, Shorts Waves, Sao Paulo, FICCI) and Zarzal (2022) based on his childhood memories. All three supported by the FDC film fund (Proimágenes, Colombia).
He is currently working in his first featured film Todo lo que era mío (Everything I Used to Own).
DAMIÁN VONDRÁŠEK
Damián Vondrasek is currently finishing studies of Directing at FAMU.
His first short Together (2015) took the best director award at Famufest. Imprisoned (2016) was selected to San Sebastian International Film Festival and Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, also nominated for the best student film at the Czech Lion Awards.
Frontier (2020) premiered at Trieste Film Festival and got two nominations at the Czech Lion Awards.
Rites, his latest short, is supported by Czech Film Fund and selected for Cannes Focus Script and Midpoint Shorts programs.
His first feature Goddess is participating in the LIM development program organized by Le Groupe Ouest. 
DIAN WEYS
Dian Weys studied BCom Law and English Honours at the University of the Free State and Honours in Film & Television Studies at the University of Cape Town.
He completed a Masters in Film Studies cum laude at the University of Cape Town in 2016 and has since published research papers on cine-ethics and responsible filmmaking.
Versnel, his first short film, screened at fifteen film festivals, including five Oscar Qualifying® festivals. Plaashuis, his crowdfunded second short film, was selected at festivals such as the FIAPF-accredited Tampere Film Festival and Message to Man International Film Festival,
Apart from filmmaking, he lectures part-time at both the University of the Free State and the University of Stellenbosch.
Bergie (2022) is his third short film.
TOMASZ WOLSKI
Tomasz Wolski is a scriptwriter and documentary filmmaker born in 1977. He is a graduate of Journalism at the Jagiellonian University and the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing. Aside from directing his own films Tomasz also worked as a director’s assistant to Jacek Bławut on Born Dead (2004).
Tomasz has taken part in Berlinale Talent Campus twice and received a scholarship from Ministry of Culture and Natural Heritage (of the Republic of Poland). He has won a number of Festival awards in Neubrandenburg, Pamplona and Wroclaw among others. He was awarded at The Punto de Vista Documentary Film Festival in Spain with Jean Vigo Prize for the Best Director, DocumentART Festival in Germany with Grand Prix, International Film Festival “Era New Horizons” in Wroclaw for Best Documentary and “Slamdance on the Road” Festival in Poland with Grand Prix.
NELSON YEO
Nelson Yeo is a Singaporean filmmaker. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Filmmaking from Nanyang Technological University in 2011. He participated in Berlinale Talents Tokyo in 2014, BiFan Fantastic Film School in 2015 and Locarno Filmmakers Academy in 2018. He is currently working on his debut feature film which was selected to participate in SGIFF Southeast Asian Film Lab 2017.
KAWTHAR YOUNIS
Kawthar Younis is a filmmaker based in Cairo, Egypt.
Known for her film A Present from the Past', which was the first of its kind to set a record for audience demand in the Egyptian market.
She works as a producer for films, mini series and TV commercials.
​Kawthar is a co-founder of the inaugural Rawiyat-Sisters in Film.