Jury

Veselka Kiryakova graduated from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she studied film editing. She was part of the production team for “Alienation” (2013), conceived and directed by Milko Lazarov, which premiered in the official selection of Venice Days and won two awards. “Ága” (2018), the second movie by Milko Lazarov, which she produced, premiered in the Berlinale Competition and won numerous awards worldwide, including the Grand Prix in Tehran, Cabourg, Chukotka, and the Heart of Sarajevo. Veselka also produced “Windless” which premiered at the Karlovy Vary Proxima Competition in 2024. She was part of PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE, presented at Cannes in 2018. She is a member of the European Film Academy (EFA).

Paloma Schachmann was born in 1985 and became a filmmaker after working for over 15 years as a professional musician studying the clarinet.
She has co-directed and co-written The Klezmer Project with Leandro Koch, a hybrid feature film that won the Debut Feature Film award at Berlinale 2023 and Best Argentinian film in Mar del Plata IFF 2023. The film was also part of the official selection in BFI London, Viennale, IDFA and Shangai IFF. Paloma is currently working on her second film, while playing music and directing Cultura Klezmer, a project for research and learning with a focus on Latin America.

Nili Feller is an award-winning Israeli film editor, winner of two Ophir Awards. Among her notable films are “Waltz with Bashir,” “The Knee,” “The Vanishing Soldier,” “Savoy,” “The Death of Cinema and My Father Too”, “In Between” and many others. Her recent documentary work includes the films “1341 Frames of Love and War,” “Inbal Perlmuter: If This Is Over,” “A Minor Crime” and many others. Nili has also edited Israeli TV series, such as “Shabatot VeHagim”, and “Six Zeros”. She has recently edited “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”, which premiered this year on the British channel, Sky TV.

Mara Marxsen is a short film curator, distributor, and researcher. She works for the Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg and has curated several special programs for international short film festivals on topics such as disco, pleasure, punk, and sex work. Mara studied “Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image” at the University of Amsterdam and served as a research assistant in the project Literarizität in der Medienkunst at the University of Hamburg. She co-authored the monograph The Literariness of Media Art (Routledge, 2019). In 2024, she completed her PhD thesis on the willful queer-feminist poetics of 1990s riot grrrl films.

Dani Rosenberg graduated with honors from the Sam Spiegel Film School. His debut feature film, “The Death of Cinema and My Father Too,” was part of the Official Selection at Cannes 2020 and won Best Film at the Jerusalem Film Festival. His second feature film, “The Vanishing Soldier,” was part of the Official Selection at the Locarno Film Festival 2023 and won awards at the Haifa Film Festival and the critic award at Cinemed.

Rosenberg’s short and medium-length films have been showcased at numerous international festivals, including Cannes Cinéfondation, Berlinale, HotDocs, and IDFA. His comedy-drama series “Milk & Honey” has been purchased for adaptation in Germany and France. He also created the documentary “Zohar, The Return” and most recently adapted “God of Vengeance” for Israel’s leading theater, The Cameri Theater.

Lars Henrik Gass is the director of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. He also publishes essays and reviews on film and culture. As an author, he has published the books “Das ortlose Kino. Über Marguerite Duras” (2001), “Film und Kunst nach dem Kino” (2012/2017, English edition “Film and Art After Cinema” 2019) and “Filmgeschichte als Kinogeschichte. Eine kleine Theorie des Kinos” (2019).

Shauly Melamed is an Israeli film director and editor.  In 2022 he directed his first documentary feature film “Mini DV” which premiered at DocAviv. In 2024 he directed his second documentary feature film “Taboo”, a biopic about Israel’s first queer filmmaker Amos Guttman. The film premiered at the Rotterdam film festival and was shown worldwide. 

Shauly is also an award-winning film editor: In 2019 he edited the renowned documentary feature films “Spotting Yossi” and “Queen Shoshana”. In 2021 he edited the fiction feature film “Concerned Citizen”, which had its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale) and was sold to HBO. In 2022 he edited the docudrama film “Savoy” and won the Israeli Academy Award for Best Editor, and in 2024 he edited the film “Come Closer” by Tom Nesher which had its international premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

Shoshi Korman is Co-Managing Director at Cinephil, an international sales and advisory firm with a strong reputation for securing international distribution, broadcasting and financing deals for documentaries from around the world on behalf of producers and directors. Recent titles she has worked on include three-time Academy Award nominee “FLEE”, by Jonas Poher Rasmussen; two-time Academy Award nominee “Collective”, by Alexander Nanau, “Gunda”, by Victor Kossakovsky; Sundance winner and Academy Award nominee “A House Made of Splinters” and this year’s breakout hit “Agent of Happiness.”

Director and Screenwriter. Graduated from Ha’Midrasha Faculty of Arts, Beit Berl College. His latest film, “Delegation,” an Israeli-Polish-German co-production, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, was praised by both critics and audiences. The film won the Best Script Award and the Ensemble Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival. His debut feature, “Outdoors,” which he also produced, won the Best Script Award at the Haifa Film Festival and achieved commercial success in Israeli cinemas.

His short films have been showcased at major film festivals worldwide and have received awards. Over the years, five of his short films have been screened at the Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival, spanning from his first short in film school to independent short films in recent years.  His graduation film, “On Leave,” earned the Best Film Award in the Israeli competition in 2010. He is currently editing a new drama series that he directed.

Hila Yuval is a graduate of The Steve Tisch School of Film and Television at Tel Aviv University. She has been a mentor and educator specializing in casting at the Film Department of Beit Berl College for many years, and currently teaches in actors’ workshops and at the Nissan Nativ Acting Studio.

Since 1995, Hila has been involved in casting for TV shows and feature films, both in Israel and internationally. Her notable film projects include “Nina’s Tragedies,” “Colombian Love,” “Beaufort,” “Footnote,” “Lebanon,” and “A Tale of Love and Darkness.” She has also cast numerous acclaimed TV shows such as “Srugim,” “Prisoners of War,” “Euphoria,” “Shtisel,” “False Flag,” “Manayek,” “Queens,” “Chanshi,” “Unsilenced,” and “Night Therapy,” among others. Hila Yuval has received five Israeli Academy Awards for Best Casting in Television for her work on “Fauda,” “The Boys,” “Dismissed” Seasons 1 & 2, and “Six Zeroes,” as well as the Ophir Award for Best Film Casting for the film “Flawless.”

Sydney Neter began his career as a production assistant for features and commercials in Amsterdam. In 1994, he founded the international boutique sales agency SND Films, specializing in selling award-winning international short films, TV movies, and documentaries.

From 2001 to 2010, Sydney served on the Dutch Film Fund shorts commission, and he was on the board of directors of the International Short Film Festival Go Short! in Nijmegen until 2011, continuing thereafter as a member of the board of advisory. He is widely recognized in the industry, affectionately known as “Mr. Shorts,” and has served on short film juries at prestigious festivals including Berlin, Dresden, Sundance, Palm Springs, TISFF and Rio Short Film Festival. Among the Israeli short films he has represented are “Rubber Dolphin,” “Barbie Blues,” and “How to Swim.”

Ori Levin is a film scholar and video artist. She is an assistant professor at the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, Tel Aviv University. Her work focuses on early film and its relation to digital media, slapstick and video art. Her book ”Celluloid Babel: Cinema’s Vanished Horizon” is to be published by SUNY University Press.

Sharon is a video artist based in Jerusalem. She is a senior lecturer at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, where she has led the Video Studies in the Department of Screen-Based Arts for the past decade. Sharon holds an MFA from Hunter College NYC, and received her BFA from Bezalel (Cum Laude – Photography Dep.).
Her works have been exhibited in galleries and museums both in Israel and around the world. Among them are “Home Made Video,” shown at Appendix Gallery, Warsaw; “Engine Head,” shown at Tavi Art Gallery, Tel Aviv; and “Video Installation” in the Israeli Pavilion in NordArt, Germany. Additionally, Sharon has curated several shows, such as “Talita Kumi”, “Loop – Video Art Symposion”, and “De la mere au dessert”, featuring works by Chantal Akerman at the Mamuta Art & Media Center in Jerusalem.

Born in 1979, Roy is a video artist, sculptor, and art lecturer who lives and works in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. He is a graduate of the HaMidrasha School of Art at Beit Berl College, Israel. Roy works with various materials to create DIY cinematic sets and installations. His playful mock-up sculptures and semi-realistic cinematography range from whimsical nonsense to profound cultural criticism. Roy’s works have been showcased in numerous solo and group exhibitions and festivals worldwide, including prestigious venues such as the Tate Modern in London, MACBA in Barcelona, Redcat in Los Angeles, the Jewish Museum for Contemporary Art in San Francisco, MeetFactory in Prague, CCA in Tel Aviv, the Torrance Art Museum in Los Angeles, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

In recognition of his contributions to the arts, Roy was awarded the ‘Senior Video Artist Prize’ by the Israeli Ministry of Culture in 2019 and the Advancement Art Award by Kunst Zurich Art Fair in 2013, represented by Esther Eppstein. He has also received support from the Pais Support Scholarship, the Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts, the `Yotzrim` Foundation, and the Sharett Fund Scholarship.

Mayan Rogel is an author, screenwriter and script advisor. A graduate of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem. She is also a podcaster and lectures about topics such as narrative and narrative design. 

Eran is the leading 3D animation director at Snowball Studios, working on series, movies and commercials, with international clients like Disney, WB and Nickelodeon. Eran also teaches character animation at Bezalel Arts Academy and 3D animation at Sapir College.

He graduated from the Animation Department at Bezalel and founded the animation department at Snowball VFX, which he managed for many years. He currently works as a director and develops series and movies.

Ran Bensimon is a technological artist specializing in video production, 3D animation, modeling, rendering, AI, and AR. He focuses on creating immersive digital experiences through virtual productions and innovative technologies, integrating cinema, fashion, and gaming in his work with leading brands and institutions.

In recent years, Ran has showcased his work at prestigious international exhibitions and festivals, including the “Panorama” exhibition of Le Fresnoy in France, Videoforms Festival in Clermont-Ferrand, Morgan Library & Museum in New York, MMMAD Festival in Madrid, CADAF Festival in Paris, and the “Bikkurim 3” exhibition in Jerusalem, featuring works created in Japan and southern France. Ran has collaborated with international brands such as BALENCIAGA and Michael Kors, creating digital content for magazines including Esquire and Savoir Flair, as well as for many cosmetics companies such as Benefit and L’Oréal. 

Shani Littman is a writer for Mosaf Haaretz, publicist and film critic. From November 2022, she writes a column, “Second Take”, about cinema in the Friday supplement, “Gallery”.

Dr. Pablo Utin was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1976. He immigrated to Israel in 1996. Utin is the author of the books “The New Israeli Cinema: Conversations with Filmmakers” (2008); “Lessons in Cinema: The New Israeli Cinema 2009 – 2015” (2016); “A Requiem for Peace: The Israeli-Palestinan conflict in Israeli Cinema after the Al-Aqsa Intifada” (2017); and “From Charly to Shuli: Popular cinema and the invention of Israeli Identity” (2024).
Utin teaches at the Steve Tisch school of film and TV at Tel-Aviv University, Beit Berl School of Arts and Shenkar College. He is also a film critic for Haaretz newspaper and the chairperson of the Israeli Film Critics Association.

Critic, researcher and creator, author of four published books, two of which are about ultra-Orthodox cinema (“Orthodox Cinema” and “Own Cinema – The New Female Wave of Ultra-Orthodox Cinema”, Resling Publishing). She has written reviews and articles about cinema on a variety of platforms, as well as screenplays, poems and short stories, and has served as a judge at film festivals in Israel and abroad, as well as a lecturer and mentor at film funds. She was a member of the Israel Film Council and is currently a member of the Council of the Second Authority for Television and Radio. These days she is engaged in research in the field of the philosophy of cinema and is working on a new feature film.

Noa Astanjelove has emerged as one of the most prominent Israeli actors of the past decade. Her notable roles include Tzlil in the TV show “Dismissed,” for which she received two nominations for Best Actress in a Comedy Show; Nitzan in “My Nephew from Hell,” also earning her a nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Show; Yuli in “Exceptional,” which garnered her a nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Show; and Miri in “Mishmar HaGvul,” securing her fifth nomination for Best Actress.

In cinema, she has starred in “Herzl’s Susita,” “Encirclements,” and the short film “Cindy,” where she won the Best Actress award at TISFF.

Dana Morag served as the Artistic Director of the Tel Aviv Cinematheque from 2021 to 2024. Prior to this role, she was the VP of Film Acquisitions and a programmer specializing in original features and documentaries at YesTV. She graduated with distinction from the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television at Tel Aviv University, earning her BA, and later completed an MA at Warwick University in the UK.

Omri Dekel-Kadosh is a director and screenwriter, winner of the Ophir Award for Best Short Film. His works challenge the traditional boundaries between documentary and fiction, exploring truth and cinema to create a hybrid realm where personal narratives intertwine with cinematic storytelling.  

His graduation short film, “Portrait of My Family in My 13th Year,” in which he also acts with his father, premiered at the prestigious San Sebastián International Film Festival and won Best Short Film at the Jerusalem International Film Festival. Additionally, the web-series “Benafsham,” which he created for Kan11, attracted over 3 million viewers.

For his independent short film, “The Accident,” he won the Ophir Award for Best Short Film, Best Independent Short Film at TISFF, and the Most Promising Filmmaker Award at the Jerusalem International Film Festival, and has been screened at numerous festivals worldwide.