industry guests

tutors

Directing tutor - Jorge León | Film director | Belgium

Jorge León studied cinema at INSAS (Brussels). His artistic practice is strongly influenced by documentary ethics, which he questions by inviting fiction into the heart of the work process. The staging of theatre, opera and the visual arts are welcome in his creations at the crossroads of genres. His latest works (Before We Go, Mitra, Incandescences) are emblematic of this approach. His work, both cinematographic and scenic, has been widely presented and awarded in Belgium and abroad, nourished by intense artistic collaborations.

He is the recipient of the FRArt artistic research grant awarded by the FNRS in Belgium.
He teaches documentary filmmaking at INSAS and is regularly invited to share his practice in multiple educational and artistic contexts in Europe. He is an active member of the Brussels SIC laboratory. He has been an associated artist with Charleroi Danse since September 2023.

Production tutor - OLIVER SERTIĆ| Producer | Croatia

OLIVER SERTIĆ is a documentary producer and festival programmer from Zagreb, Croatia, currently living in Bucharest, Romania. Oliver has produced and co-produced around 40 feature and short documentaries and experimental films. For 18 years, worked as a journalist and editor-in-chief in different media and as an organizer of cultural events. The founder of the organization RESTART (2007), where he established Restart Laboratory, Dokukino, and the distribution department Restart Label. For the last, he 12 years has been tutoring at the School of Documentary Film in Zagreb. Has cooperated with numerous film festivals as a PR, programmer, producer, and advisor (Zagreb FF, ZagrebDox, DokuFest, Vukovar FF, Makedox, DORF, RAF, Supetar Super FF, Moldox…). Since 2007, he has worked as a selector at the Liburnia Film Festival, a Croatian documentary film festival in Opatija, where he’s been serving as director from 2012 until 2020.

Marketing tutor - Hermione Efstratiadou | Film Marketing Consultant | Greece

Hermione Efstratiadou studied Journalism and Mass Media at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She has worked as at Thessaloniki International Film Festival as a press office executive and as a producer’s assistant for DOGWATCH by Gregoris Rentis, (Visions du Reel 2021). Hermione is an EAVE, Locarno Industry Academy, Oxbelly and MFI alumna and continues her collaboration with the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, working as a match-making consultant.

For the past three years, she is a part of Athens-based production company and consulting agency asterisk*. Working as a marketing consultant, Hermione has worked with more than 40 production companies from all over Europe for projects in development and films that premiered to prestigious film festivals such as Cannes, Berlinale, Locarno, Tribeca, Karlovy Vary, IFFR.

jury

Anamaria Antoci - EWA Women

Anamaria Antoci is an accomplished active producer in the European market and a member of prominent industry networks such as EAVE, ACE Producers, and the European Producers Club. She is also the Executive Director of European Women in Audiovisual Network (EWA). Anamaria founded in 2017 her own Bucharest based production company, Tangaj Production.

Aside from producing, Anamaria is heavily involved in film education and training. She co-founded Bucharest International Dance Film Festival, served as a tutor and executive board member of the FILM+ training initiative, and lectures for the Master programme in film production at the National University of Theatre and Film "I.L. Caragiale" Bucharest, where she is also a PhD student researching Audience Design.

Faridah Gbadamosi 

Faridah Gbadamosi is a film curator and culture critic working towards making the space more inclusive. In particular, her interests are in changing the space of tastemakers and rethinking the models for curation and exhibition. She has worked in various roles at different film festivals and other film organizations, including Outfest, the California Film Institute, Athena Film Festival, SIFF, and many more. In addition to her programming roles, she has also worked as the Director of Distribution at Open Your Eyes and Think MF, the distribution wing of David Magdael & Associates, a consultant on different film projects, and a freelance culture critic. She currently works at Tribeca Enterprises as a Senior Programmer.

Irena Taskovski

CEO & founder of Taskovski Films, London, based world sales, production and PR Agency company with offices across Europe ( Bosnia and Spain).www.taskovskifilms.com 

Irena is working as film consultant/expert on marketing, sales, financing and festivals for many film institutions e.g. HBO Europe, TRT world, Asian Cinema Fund, Dok.incubator CZ, Sources Germany, and Head Tutor at Emerging Producers – at Ji.hlava IDFF CZ. She is a founder of the training program initiative #DocsConnect art of creative producing and distribution. training.taskovskfilms.com
Irena studied in Prague and graduated from FAMU. She also studied at the Sam Spiegel Film and TV School in Jerusalem and obtained a master’s degree at the National Film & Television School in London, UK.
She is 5Rhythms mindfulness in motion & movement facilitator and coach for personal and professional growth for film industry members. Irena is a passionate environment, peace, and human unity activist and mental health ambassador for film industry professionals. 
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Viorel Chesaru - Managing Director Chainsaw Europe | Romania

With 23 years of experience in post-production, Viorel Chesaru is currently executive director of Chainsaw Europe, being involved in the production and post-production of films such as Metronome, Complet Necunoscuti, Maria Inima României, Breaking News, Restul e Tăcere. His solid background in IT means that any technical problem that arises during post production is solved quickly, calmly and definitively.

experts

Ana Souza - Sundance Film Festival

Born in Brazil, Ana Souza was partially raised in The Netherlands and now resides in Los Angeles. She is the Manager of the Programming department at Sundance and a programmer on the features team, focusing on US and International fiction films across sections. In addition to her work at Sundance, she is the Director of Programming at the Sun Valley Film Festival and the Forum Producer for the Palm Springs International ShortFest. She has also programmed for AFI FEST, Outfest, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, and the LA Film Festival in the past, and she has worked in various capacities for LALIFF, Ambulante California, and NALIP’s Latino Media Fest, among others. She has served on various juries, including for the Palm Springs International ShortFest, the Odessa Film Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival, the Riga International Film Festival, Olhar do Cinema Curitiba Film Festival, the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival, and for the MacDowell Artist Residency Fellowship. She has been a programming fellow for Film Independent’s Project Involve and the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Industry Academy. She holds a B.A. from the University of Warwick and an M.A. from the University of Southern California.

Faridah Gbadamosi - Tribeca Film Festival

Faridah Gbadamosi is a film curator and culture critic working towards making the space more inclusive. In particular, her interests are in changing the space of tastemakers and rethinking the models for curation and exhibition. She has worked in various roles at different film festivals and other film organizations, including Outfest, the California Film Institute, Athena Film Festival, SIFF, and many more. In addition to her programming roles, she has also worked as the Director of Distribution at Open Your Eyes and Think MF, the distribution wing of David Magdael & Associates, a consultant on different film projects, and a freelance culture critic. She currently works at Tribeca Enterprises as a Senior Programmer.

Irena Taskovski

CEO & founder of Taskovski Films, London, based world sales, production and PR Agency company with offices across Europe ( Bosnia and Spain).www.taskovskifilms.com

Irena is working as film consultant/expert on marketing, sales, financing and festivals for many film institutions e.g. HBO Europe, TRT world, Asian Cinema Fund, Dok.incubator CZ, Sources Germany, and Head Tutor at Emerging Producers – at Ji.hlava IDFF CZ. She is a founder of the training program initiative #DocsConnect art of creative producing and distribution. training.taskovskfilms.com
Irena studied in Prague and graduated from FAMU. She also studied at the Sam Spiegel Film and TV School in Jerusalem and obtained a master’s degree at the National Film & Television School in London, UK.
She is 5Rhythms mindfulness in motion & movement facilitator and coach for personal and professional growth for film industry members. Irena is a passionate environment, peace, and human unity activist and mental health ambassador for film industry professionals.

Krzysztof Gierat - Krakow Film Festival

Polish film expert. A graduate of the Jagiellonian University, he studied at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. Joint founder and former head of the Jewish Culture Festival, Graffiti Film Centre and “Film Polski” Foundation. Former Deputy Mayor of the City of Krakow, Director of the Polish State Television Film Agency, General Secretary of the Polish Filmmakers Association. Member of the Polish and European Film Academies. Since 2000, Director of the Krakow Film Festival. Founder and president until 2021 of Krakow Film Foundation, which is the producer of Krakow Film Festival and promoter of Polish documentaries and shorts abroad. Lecturer at the Krakow Academy. Member of numerous film festivals’ juries.

Mateo Ybarra - Visions du Réel 

Mateo Ybarra has been working for Visions du Réel (CH) since 2019, as Industry Manager for VdR–Industry. Visions du Réel’s Industry selects and promotes films at every stage of their development and offers a key networking platform for professionals from all around the world.

Sarah Collier - Journeyman Pictures

Sarah Collier is an Acquisitions Executive at Journeyman Pictures, a global sales agent and distributor covering all markets worldwide. From top festival hits to compelling current affairs, for over 35 years the company has brought award-winning stories to audiences around the world. Sarah is especially interested in provocative, character-driven documentaries that work against the grain and speak to the pressing global issues of our time.

Sofia Tocar- East Silver Caravan Coordinator / Institute of Documentary Film

Sofia Tocar is coordinating East Silver Caravan, a project supporting the festival distribution of Central and Eastern European documentary films together with East Doc Market, which is the main networking part of the East Doc Platform. Previously, she worked as a program assistant at the Centre for Contemporary Art Futura and as a guide at the Lobkowicz Collections. Afterward, she joined the Prague Civil Society Centre, where she coordinated visual communication projects and events in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. She also works as a freelance consultant and art curator. Sofia was born and raised in Moldova.