Jury 2026

International Documentary Competition

• Alessandro Stellino

  Italy

  Film critic and festival programmer, he is the artistic director of Festival dei Popoli in Firenze and of IsReal – Festival di Cinema del Reale in Nuoro (Sardinia). He teaches film studies at the Civica Scuola di Cinema “Luchino Visconti” in Milano, NABA Milano, and CISA in Locarno. He’s also a consultant for the film program of Fondazione Prada’s Cinema Godard in Milano.

• María Campaña Ramia

  Brasil

  From Ecuador – film curator and IDFA programmer, for a decade Artistic Director of Ecuador’s Encuentros del Otro Cine – EDOC festival, consultant to the Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, based in Rio de Janeiro

• Mehrdad Oskouei

  Iran

  Born in Tehran, he is an internationally acclaimed Iranian documentary filmmaker, photographer, and producer whose poetic, deeply humanistic work gives voice to the voiceless. He does not judge, he listens, and in that stillness, his cinema becomes an act of justice. With over 25 films, he has focused on the lives of society’s most vulnerable—imprisoned youth, women in crisis, and displaced communities—through intimate, lyrical storytelling. His films, including “The Other side of Burka” (2004), “Starless Dreams” (2016), “Sunless Shadows”(2019), and “A Fox Under a Pink Moon” (2025), have earned him over 200 international awards, including Best Director (2019) and Best Film (2025) at IDFA, as well as the Golden Dragon (2005) and Silver Horn (2020) at the Krakow Film Festival.

• Petra Seliškar

  Slovenia

  She was born in Ljubljana in 1978. She is a Slovenian director, writer and producer, as well as the founder of Petra Pan Film, a company that focuses on documentary films. She has created several award-winning creative documentaries, including “Grandmothers of the Revolution”, “Mother Europe, My World Is Upside Down”, “The Farewell”, “The Body”, and “My Summer Holiday”. She is the co-founder of the MakeDox festival, Doc Around Europe, the Balkan Documentary Distribution Network (BDDN) and Open Kitchen Films, a sales and distribution company. She supports the development of documentary cinema through educational activities and teaches at Dokumentarnica, mentoring Slovenian documentary filmmakers. She also produces films by international directors, mentors emerging filmmakers. Currently she is working on a new feature documentary “Toso of an Old Cat”.

• Weronika Mliczewska

  Poland

  A director, anthropologist, producer and photographer. She studied Cultural Studies at the University of Warsaw, as well as Film Directing and Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London. She also undertook training at the Academy of Photography and UCLA Extension in Los Angeles. Her documentary films, including “The Long Road”, “Speechless in Japan” and “Catalan Dream”, have been screened at international festivals and broadcast on television. Her feature-length debut, “Child of Dust”, won numerous awards, including Best Polish Film at the 2025 Krakow Film Festival and a nomination for the 2026 Eagles Award. It was released in cinemas that same year. She is the author of the book “In the Beginning There Is the End: On the Paths of Mayan Spirituality”, she is also a speaker at public events. In her work, she combines anthropology with film to tell universal stories rooted in diverse cultures.

International Short Film Competition

• Réka Bucsi

  Hungary

  A Hungarian animation filmmaker. Her graduation film “Symphony No. 42” was shortlisted for the Oscars. Her short films have screened worldwide, including the Berlinale Shorts, Sundance and SXSW. Her short film “Love” was nominated for Best Short Film at the European Film Awards, while “Solar Walk” won the Audi Short Film Award at the Berlinale, was nominated for an Annie Award. She has served on 17 international festival juries, including Annecy International Film Festival and the Berlinale Shorts. Réka was a guest teacher at Calarts, New School and the Pratt Institute. She is both an AMPAS and EFA voting member. Her clients include Apple Music, Youtube, Netflix, FX Networks, Hulu, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.

• Mari Liis Keevallik

  Estonia

  The Head of PÖFF Shorts, one of the largest short film and animation festivals in the region, and a sub-festival of the Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF). Mari studied filmmaking at Arts University Bournemouth in the UK, where she graduated with a degree in Production. After completing her studies, she returned to Estonia and worked as a freelancer in various production roles on both international and national film projects before joining the PÖFF Shorts team.

• Jay Rosenblatt

  USA

  An internationally recognized filmmaker and a two-time Academy Award® nominated director who has completed over thirty-five films. His work explores our emotional and psychological cores. His films have received over 100 awards and have screened throughout the world. A selection of his films had theatrical runs at the Film Forum in New York and at theaters nationwide. He also had a feature length program at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His films have screened at the Sundance Film Festival, at IDFA and many other festivals around the world. Several of his films have shown on HBO, PBS and the Sundance Channel. He is a recipient of a Guggenheim, USA Artists and a Rockefeller Fellowship. He has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 2002 and served on the Executive Committee of the Documentary Branch for twelve years. He is a two-time winner of the Kraków Film Festival.

International competition DocFilmMusic

• Mary Komasa

  Poland
• Maxim Derevianko

  Italy

  Award-winning director based in Rome, born into a family of ballet dancers, which continues to shape his visual language and sensitivity to performance. He focuses on documentaries exploring art, music, fashion and stage. He directed the series “Ars Erotica” (2023) for Sky Arte and feature documentaries including “Le Creature di Prometeo”, “Origen and Cellos & Drums”. He collaborates with major institutions like the Rome Opera House and artists such as Sofia Coppola and William Kentridge, creating multicamera productions and trailers. He also directs campaigns for Netflix, Bulgari and Dior. His latest film “AI Weiwei’s Turandot” has screened at major festivals including CPH:DOX, Hot Docs and Krakow FF.
  Mary Komasa, Polska / Poland
  Kompozytorka, wokalistka, autorka tekstów. Debiutowała w 2015 roku albumem wydanym przez Warner Music. Jej kolejna płyta “Disarm” wydana została w 2019 roku. Równolegle Mary rozwijała swoją twórczość jako kompozytorka muzyki filmowej, tworząc tandem kompozytorski z Antonim. Wspólnie skomponowali muzykę do wielu filmów, w tym “Obywatela Jonesa” i “Szarlatana” Agnieszki Holland, a w ostatnim czasie do filmu “Treasure” w reżyserii Julii von Heinz, który miał premierę na festiwalu w Berlinie w 2024 roku. Niedawno miała miejsce premiera serialu Netflix “Ołowiane dzieci” z muzyką autorstwa Mary i Antoniego.

• Gunter Atteln

  Germany

  A director, author, and producer with 30 years of experience in music films. He studied musicology, psychology, and economics in Oldenburg and Berlin. During his studies, he played in bands and made short films. Since 1997 he has worked in film production, and since 2010 he has been a senior producer at Accentus Music in Leipzig. He has created many award-winning documentaries, including “Joana Mallwitz – Momentum” (2024). His films, such as “Die Thomaner” (2012) and “The Lost Paradise” (2015) about Arvo Pärt, have been shown and awarded at international festivals.

National Competition - short films

• Olga Bobrowska

  Poland

  A film culture activist and curator. She is the co-founder and director of the StopTrik International Film Festival in Maribor, Slovenia. She obtained her PhD from Jagiellonian University in 2020. She currently works as a lecturer at the Institute of Art and Design at the University of the National Education Commission (UKEN) in Kraków. She is the author of two monographs published by CRC Press: Chinese Animated Film and Ideology, 1940s–1970s: Fighting Puppets” (2023), and “Chinese Animated Film and Ideology: Tradition, Innovation, and Interculturality” (2024). She is the co-editor of the volumes: Obsession, Perversion, Rebellion; Twisted Dreams of Central European Animation (2016) and Propaganda, Ideology and Animation: Twisted Dreams of History (2019). Regular contributor to Zippy Frames. She has served on numerous juries and has collaborated on programming with many international film festivals.

• Łukasz M. Maciejewski

  Poland

  A screenwriter and member of the Polish Screenwriters’ Guild. He co-wrote the screenplays for Marcin Koszałka’s feature debut „The Red Spider” and the director’s second film, „White Courage”, for which he received the Best Screenplay Award at the Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia. He is the author of many other screenplays, recognised by juries at film festivals, including “Najmro” (award for best screenplay at the Koszalin Festival of Film Debuts “Młodzi i Film” 2022) and “Mother’s Day” – both directed by Mateusz Rakowicz, Marcin Filipowicz’s “Braty”, Piotr Adamski’s “Ukryta sieć” and “Kolory zła”, directed by Adrian Panek. He was the lead screenwriter for the series “Król”, based on the novel by Szczepan Twardoch and directed by Jan P. Matuszyński (Eagle Award for Best Polish TV Series). In 2025, the weekly magazine Polityka ranked him among the twelve most talented screenwriters in Poland.

• Maria Zbąska

  Poland

  He is a graduate of both the Cinematography and Photography Department at the Łódź Film School and the Wajda School. She is a photographer whose work has been published in National Geographic, Gazeta Wyborcza, M Magazine and NRC Handelsblad, and has been featured in group and solo exhibitions. She has directed music videos, commercials and short films, including the multi-award-winning “Psubrat” (2013). Together with her brother, Kazimierz Zbąski, she co-created the iconic social campaign, ‘Mafia dla psa’. Her feature-length debut, „This Is Not My Film”, won awards at the Gdynia Film Festival (Golden Claw), the Thessaloniki Film Festival (Grand Prix/Smart7), CinEast in Luxembourg (Young Talents Award 2024) and 3KINO Praha (Grand Prix). It also received awards for Best Screenplay at the Neisse Film Festival and for Cinematography at the ‘Młodzi i Film’ festival in Koszalin. She won the 2025 Eagle Award in the Discovery of the Year category, and her film was also nominated in the Best Film and Best Director categories.

National Competition - documentaries

• Kasia Boniecka

  Poland

  A film editor and documentary consultant based in Paris. She has worked on films that have been screened and won awards at renowned festivals such as Sundance, Berlinale, IDFA, Locarno, CPH:DOX and Visions du Réel. Her editing credits include We “Will Not Fade Away” (EFA shortlist), “A Picture to Remember” (IDFA 2023 opening film) and “Welded Together” (Grand Prix at Sheffield DocFest). She received the Jan Machulski Award for her editing of the film “Obiekt”. She graduated from the Łódź Film School with a degree in film editing and later taught courses for directing and editing students there for five years. She is committed to educational activities and runs editing and visual storytelling workshops. She mentors in the B2B Doc programme, tutors at dok.incubator and collaborates with Pitch the Doc. She is a member of the European Film Academy.

• Natalia Koniarz

  Poland

  Documentary filmmaker. Born in the Beskid Mountains, she has lived and worked in Chile, Bolivia, and France. A graduate of the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School, where she now lectures and is pursuing a PhD. She made her debut with the film “Tama”, which received awards at festivals such as Fipadoc, Go Short, and New Horizons and was screened at over 50 festivals and broadcast on the French platform TENK as well as on Polish Television (TVP). Her next documentary, “Postcards from the Verge”, premiered at IDFA and was showcased at Makedox, Women Make Waves, and numerous other international festivals. Her feature-length debut, “Silver”, won six arawrds at the Krakow Film Festival 2026 and is still presented at the festivals around the world. It was nominated to the Eagle Award. She is a Grand Prix winner for Best Pitch at the East Doc Platform Forum and a participant in the Ex Oriente program.

• Wojciech Staroń

  Poland

  Cinematographer, documentary film director and lecturer. Winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlinale for his cinematography in “El Premio” (dir. P. Markovitch). His directorial debut “Siberian Lesson” (1998) was awarded at festivals in Krakow, at IDFA and Cinema du Reel. “Argentinian Lesson” (2011) won the Cinema Eye Honor and many awards at festivals such as Krakow Film Festival, DokLeipzig and Camerimage, among others. The film “Brothers” (2015) won at the Semaine de la Critique in Locarno. As a cinematographer, he has collaborated with Krzysztof Krauze and Joanna Kos-Krauze on “Saviour’s Square” (Golden Frog, Camerimage 2006), “Papusza” (Manaki Brothers Bronze Camera 2013), with Lidia Duda on “Entangled”(Kraków, Cinematography Award), “Fledglings” (PSC Award 2023), with Diego Lerman on “Refugiado” (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, Cannes 2014), Makbul Mubarak on “Autobiography” (Venice Orizzonti 2022), with Viesturs Kairišse on “January” (Tribeca 2022 winner) and with Lotfi Achour on “Red Path” (Locarno, Camerimage 2024). His last documentary “Passion According to Agnieszka” won the Polish Competition at Krakow Film Festival in 2025.

FIPRESCI

• Łukasz Dawid Knap

  Poland

  A journalist and film critic. Creator of the podcast ‘Kanapa Knapa’, in which he invites people from the worlds of film and culture – and anyone else who steals our time on the sofa – to join him for a chat.

• Kira Taszman

  Germany

  She grew up in Berlin and Paris, studied German and Slavic studies. She is a translator and film journalist specialising in French and Eastern European film and a member of the German Film Critics Association (VdFk). She has published in the Nürnberger Zeitung, Neues Deutschland, taz, filmecho/filmwoche, Screen International and Filmdienst, among others.

• Ladislav Volko

  Slovakia

  Film publicist, sociologist, former diplomat, university teacher, poet, former editor-in-chief of Film and Theater magazine, former president of the Slovak PEN Center, president of India Club. The author of many articles and books published in the field of cinema, sociology, culture, literature and media. Currently chairman of the Film Journalists Club. He lives in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Jury FICC

• Tenneh Björkander

  Sweden

  Vice President of the national board of the Swedish Federation of Film Societies, a non-profit organization that supports and connects film societies across Sweden, promoting film culture through screenings, events, and educational activities. She represents also the local film society Gällivare Filmstudio, located about 100 km north of the Arctic Circle, but currently lives in Stockholm. Tenneh is particularly interested in creative and artistic filmmaking with strong social observation and relevance to contemporary issues.

• Piotr Wiśniewski

  Poland

  The founder and co-founder of the ‘Offeliada’ Film Festival and the film discussion club of the same name in Gniezno. A film buff and bibliophile, a historian by education and a librarian by profession.

Associationsof Of Arts Cinemas Jury

• Paulina Łuczyńska

  Poland
• Karolina Marciszewska

  Poland
• Robert Skrzydlewski

  Poland

Student's jury

• Amelia Georgiewska, Gabriela Zawidzka, Hanna Praschil, Jagoda Janicka, Katarzyna Grabiec, Krzysztof Strumiński, Michał Bech, Mikołaj Stachańczyk, Natalia Stefańska, Veronika Kalinchuk, Wojciech Krakowiak, Zuzanna Adamowicz