Daniel Abma was born in 1978 in Westerbork, Drenthe, Netherlands. After a degree in primary school education, he moved to Berlin to be a youth media worker. Then he studied film directing at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF in Potsdam, where he realised the feature-length documentaries Beyond Wriezen (Nach Wriezen, Grimme Award, 2012) and Transit Havana (2016), The Family Approach (2024). His documentary films about social themes are observatory and based on people. Since 2017, Abma has taught documentary film directing. He also tutors pitching workshops at European film festivals and is still a freelance youth media worker.

Inka Achté is a Finnish filmmaker and a former sales agent whose career in the field of documentary film spans 20 years. Alongside directing non-fiction in short, feature and series formats, Achté currently works as the Artistic Director of DocPoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival and as Head of Acquisitions at Raina, an agency focusing on all aspects of festival distribution of documentary films from all over the world. A frequent mentor and lecturer, she has taught at Aalto University in Helsinki, the Norwegian Film School Lillehammer, Raindance Film Institute in London, EICTV Cuba, and consulted/tutored at numerous professional industry contexts, for example at IDFA, Asian Documentary Clinic, Baltic Sea Docs, Astra Film Doc Tank and Tempo Documentary Film Festival.

Director and photographer Zaradasht Ahmed, born and raised in northern Iraq, is a Kurdish–Norwegian filmmaker. His previous work includes the award-winning documentary Road to Diyarbakır. He has many years of experience working with documentary filmmaking in the Middle East, North-Africa, and Asia, as well as with training local people in documentation. His film on the topic of illegal immigration to Europe, Fata Morgana, has been screened at several prestigious film festivals. Nowhere to Hide, on the death triangle of Iraq, was the opening film at Verzió 2017.

​​Ádám Balázs studied Music Composition with Miklós Kocsár at the Béla Bartók Conservatory of Music and holds a Master of Arts Degree in Medieval English Literature from the ELTE University of Budapest. After his studies at the University and having held a position as an Adjunct Lecturer at the American Studies Department of ELTE University, Ádám Balázs moved to New York then to Los Angeles and became an established music composer for film and television in the United States.
To date, Ádám Balázs scored over sixty films, including Ildikó Enyedi’s Golden Bear winning and Academy Award nominated “On Body and Soul”, Kristóf Deák’s Academy Award winning “Sing”, Seth Grossman’s Tribeca Film Festival winner “Shock Act” and “The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations” (Lionsgate), over a thousand episodes of Television including HBO Europe’s “Terápia” (In Treatment”) and “Umbre” (“Shadows”) and was responsible for the worldwide network identity of Cinemax and HBO for seven years. He scored numerous documentaries including The Agent of Happiness, Dorottya Zurbo’s latest movie. Ádám Balázs’ symphonic poem, “The Path of the Extraordinary” premiered at the Stern Auditorium of Carnegie Hall in 2006.
Ádám Balázs is a Lecturer of Digital Orchestration and Sound Recording, Logic and Studio Technique at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest since 2014 and is a Member of the European Film Academy since 2017.

Rita Balogh, passionate about documentaries, works in distribution, producing, and directing. In 2016, she founded her production company OTHER FILMS, creating impactful works for the international market like Whose Dog Am I?, screened at festivals such as Warsaw IFF and Tallinn Black Nights. Her recently co-produced series Iron Curtain premiered on ARTE in 2024. OTHER FILMS focuses on international co-productions and alternative distribution, fostering social discourse across the world. Co-founder of the Budapest International Documentary Festival (BIDF), she also launched a rural open-air cinema. Her online docu series as a director, Before We Grow Up, reached 20K viewers per episode.

Rafael Balulu is an award-winning filmmaker and recipient of the Israeli Minister of Culture Award for Cinema, as well as the World Sephardi Federation’s Pioneer Award in Film. He is the co-founder of the production company BFILMS and serves on the Cultural and Arts Council of the lottery, where he is Chairman of the Film Committee and a board member of the Landau Prize for Science and Arts. Balulu is a member of the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. Previously, he served on the board of the Israeli Documentary Filmmakers Forum and taught cinema at the Technion’s Faculty of Architecture.
His acclaimed films include The Last Righteous Man, A Song of Love, Levantine, Tapes of Revolution, and Death in Umm al-Hiran, among others. His works explore the narratives and histories of MENA Jews and Jewish–Muslim relations, and have been screened, honored, and awarded at major international festivals, including Berlin, New York, Jerusalem, Auckland, Toronto, Kosovo, Seoul, and Hong Kong.
Balulu is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents, the TIFF Filmmakers Lab, and the Greenhouse Documentary Development Program. He studied at the Sam Spiegel Film and
Television School, is an alumnus of the Mandel Institute’s Jewish Culture Leadership Program, and a Fellow of the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies at the
University of Michigan.

Pavla Banjac is a film critic, translator, and journalist based between Belgrade and Budapest. She writes for Eye For Film and Filmoskopija. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Belgrade Auteur Film Festival journal and catalogue, and regularly moderates Q&As and hosts podcasts with filmmakers across the region. She holds a BA in English Language and Literature and is currently pursuing a double MA—one in Film Theory at ELTE University in Budapest, and another in Translation and Literature at the University of Novi Sad. Her research and writing focus on documentary and short film, Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav cinema, and the politics of memory and archiving in non-fiction film.

Digital strategist leading the Compact TV digital team. Her main focus areas include digital communication and media consumption research, among them the Gen Z study, a unique and published research project on the Hungarian market. At Mozinet, she is responsible for planning and managing the social media communication of films. She has over ten years of experience in digital media, having previously worked for national television channels and online publishing groups.

Beginning his career in photography, Szabolcs Barta built a solid foundation in visual storytelling. In 2002, he joined the Hungarian Film Laboratory, where he worked as a color timer and later also as marketing director. Mentored by István Rehák, senior color timer of the Vienna Film Laboratory, he mastered the art of film color timing and transitioned smoothly into digital grading as the industry evolved. 
He has worked as a colorist on numerous acclaimed Hungarian and international films, several of which have been featured at major festivals and received Academy Award nominations. His professional experience includes collaborations in Hungary, Israel, and Poland. 
In 2017, he began working with FOCUSFOX Studio, Hungary’s largest privately owned post-production company, as a senior colorist, while continuing to collaborate independently as a post-production supervisor. 
His colorist credits include Larry, 3,000 Numbered Pieces, X – The eXploited, Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose, Seveled, Spiral, The Gateway, Ida’s Story, Coyote Four Souls, We Started Together, BUÉK, Mommy Blue, The Nation’s Gold, Coyote, and How Could I Live Without You. 
For several years, he has been teaching color grading and post-production regularly at the cinematography department of the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest, and since 2025 he has been an accredited trainer on the Baselight grading system.

Bipuljit Basu, a Sundance Institute and IDFA Grantee, is an aspirant filmmaker in Indian Factual cinema/Reality cinema and documentaries. Postgraduate in Social Development, Bipuljit finds out the unexplored stories which have a social significance in popular culture, creating some impact values in the broader social spectrum. He believes in showing Inclusion, which is an instrument for social change.

Eroll Bilibani is a film producer based in Kosovo. His work includes award-winning short films like ON THE WAY, DISPLACED, IN BETWEEN, and HOME. He leads DokuLab, the educational program of DokuFest, where he supports young filmmakers and develops programs that use film and storytelling to explore social issues and complex topics.

Eroll also coordinates DokuFest’s Short Film Forum, the first platform of its kind in the Western Balkans. He currently serves as Chair of the Kosovo Cinematography Center Council and is a member of the European Film Academy.

Jan Bodnár is a Czech independent producer and journalist. As a producer, he has worked on several award-winning documentary films — How I Became a Partisan (dir. Vera Lacková, 2021), The World According to My Dad (dir. Marta Kovářová, 2023), and Dajori (dir. Martin Páv and Nicolas Kourek, 2024). He is the founder of the production company Safe Place Production. He has participated in numerous international training programs and workshops, including IDFAcademy, Dok.Incubator, Ex Oriente, ACE Training Days, and Move It On, among others. Between 2016 and 2019, he worked as a programmer for the queer film festival Mezipatra. 

Tereza Bóna Keilová is a Producer in the Documentary section of HBO Original, producing and co-producing high-end European documentaries across the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. Based in Prague, under the leadership of Hanka Kastelicová, she collaborates with creative teams and producers throughout the region to develop and produce impactful, original content. With nearly two decades of experience in the film and television industry, Tereza has worked on
a wide range of productions including independent feature films, award-winning documentaries, commercials, and TV series. She studied Film Production at the Private Film School in Písek and began her career in 2003. Her portfolio includes collaborations with both independent producers and major studios such as 20th Century Fox.

Patrícia Chamrazová is a Slovak research-driven visual artist focused on contemporary issues of ecology, accelerating technological development, and beyond-human relations. She utilizes the fluidity of artistic media, and her practice includes film, audiovisual installations, and XR, which she often expands with forms of textual statements and object elements. She moves from the abstract to the organic, from the conceptual to the intuitive, from science to metaphysics. She uses an approach characterized by immersiveness and soft digital aesthetics with the aim of transformation in both the physical and digital realms. She does not neglect the socio-political context in which her art is placed and draws inspiration from posthuman philosophy, microbiology, and new technology studies. She graduated from the University of Applied Arts Vienna in 2024 (Transmedia Art) and Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava in 2022 (Intermedia). She is currently pursuing her doctoral studies at the Department of Digital Art at Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava.

László Csáki is a Béla Balázs Award-winning documentary and animated film director and visual artist. He earned his master’s degree in Media Design from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in 2002, where he also began his DLA studies. He has been involved, since 2003, in art education (Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Animation and Media Design programs, Krea Art School, Applied Photography program), since 2013 he has been a full-time lecturer at the BA and MA Animation programs of the Budapest Metropolitan University. His works of fine art can be found in private and public collections in Hungary and abroad. The animated documentary film Pelican Blue is his first feature-length film, which has been selected for the competition programs of 40 festivals, receiving 15 awards. Pelican Blue is the first Hungarian-produced feature-length animated documentary film. 

Ora DeKornfeld is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, and editor. Her work has been showcased in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic, as well as on CNN, Netflix, and National Geographic. She directed, produced, filmed, and edited the Emmy-nominated short USA v Scott, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2020 and was acquired by The New Yorker. She directed, shot, wrote, and edited a New York Times Opinion video, This is What a Post-Roe Abortion Looks Like, which was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy Award in 2023. Other independent work has received awards from Picture of the Year International, The Webby Awards, and SXSW Film Festival. She directed several episodes of Vox’s original Netflix documentary film Explained, and was cinematographer and editor on the feature documentary film Mija, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2022. Mija was acquired by Disney+ and earned an IDA Award and Independent Spirit Award nominations. Ora recently was part of the editing team of Elizabeth Lo’s Mistress Dispeller (Anonymous Content / Impact Partners).

Irem Aysin Deprem is originally from Turkey and have been living in Budapest since 2018. She studied Film and Media for my BA and currently pursuing her MA in Art and Design Management. Alongside her studies, she works on film productions.  She is currently exploring ways to connect her curatorial studies with her filmmaking background.

ASIA DÉR is a Hungarian-Slovak documentary filmmaker known for her intimate, character-driven storytelling and long-term observational approach. She was born in Bratislava, spent most of her life in Budapest. She graduated from the DOCNomads international MA program and holds a PhD in practice from the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest. Her debut feature, Her Mothers (2020), co-directed with Sári Haragonics, premiered at Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival and was screened at more than 30 international festivals, including Sarajevo, Thessaloniki, and Taipei. Among other recognitions, the film won Best Feature
Documentary and Best Editing at the Moscow DOKer Festival and the Social Awareness Award at Crossing Europe.
Her second feature, I Won’t Die, follows an art gallery owner confronting life after a terminal cancer diagnosis. The film premiered in 2023 at the A-category Warsaw Film Festival. 
Asia has participated in industry programs such as ZagrebDox Pro, East Doc Platform, Docu Rough Cut Boutique, DOCCIRCLE, and Cannes Docs. 
She also teaches documentary film making whenever she is given the chance. 
She is a founder and ex-board member of MADOKE, the Hungarian Documentary Association, and she is an active advocate for independent film making in Eastern Europe.

Luca Deutinger (1998, AT/NL) studies fine art at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. With a background in film studies, she now deals with films in different ways; as a writer, as a maker or simply as an observer. Her interest lay in films of any size and kind, from short and experimental to the occasional romantic comedy.

Balázs Domokos is a cinematographer based in Vienna and Budapest, member of both the Hungarian Cinematographer Association (HCA) and the Hungarian Documentary Association (HDA/MADOKE).
With a background in architecture and a Master's degree in Cinematography from the University of Theatre and Film Arts Budapest (SZFE), under the guidance of renowned professor Tibor Máthé HCA, Balázs has established himself as a skilled Director of Photography across fiction, documentary, and commercial projects. 
He gained international recognition with his debut feature fiction "One Day" (Egy nap), premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2018 and was honored with the FIPRESCI Critics Prize. 
Balázs has received two nominations at the Camerimage Festival for his work as DOP, in both the debut feature and short film categories.
He is currently working on his third feature film 'Blazing' set to premiere in 2026. 
Recent achievements include the selection of his feature-length documentary 'I Won't Die' for competition at the 39th Warsaw International Film Festival in October 2023, along with upcoming premieres for the Hungarian film 'Don't worry Sári' and the Danish-Hungarian co-production '2158 Stories’ the latter of which debuted in the CPH:DOX competition in 2024 in Copenhagen.

Tetiana Dorodnitsyna is a film director, editor and visual artist. Graduate of the Directing Faculty at the I. K. Karpenko-Kary National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television in Kiev. She is the director of the short films 'Wolves' (2023) and 'Who Is Kaya?' (2019). She has worked for television channels, production companies and Kyivtelefilm film studio. She is the editor of the feature-length documentary 'Roses. Film-Cabaret' (2021) by Irena Stetsenko and 'Askania Reserve' (2019) by Andrii Lytvynenko. 'Everything Needs to Live' is her feature-length debut.

Emese Doroszlai is the Social Media Manager at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ). She manages the organization’s social media channels, creates video content, and often appears in the videos herself. At TASZ, the team believes that beyond providing free legal assistance, strengthening public awareness of fundamental rights is essential — the more people understand their rights, the closer we get to a more livable Hungary. This approach informs all of the organization’s social media communication and content.

Liubov Dyvak is a Ukrainian Producer, journalist and researcher based between Berlin and Kyiv. Dyvak’s early research examined the tension between modern-day Ukraine’s pursuit of its own cultural identity with the inherited trauma of its post-soviet existence. She has completed research fellowships and scholarships at several major institutions, including Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie. More recently though, Dyvak’s work has been directed towards the cultural and psychological impact of Russia’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. She co-produced the award-winning feature-length documentary, The Longer You Bleed, and now develops a subsequent film exploring mental health innovation amidst the war.

Albert Elings is an Amsterdam based documentary maker and film editor. Many of his films are characterised by a preoccupation with the aesthetics of temporality and follow long-term processes. As a film editor he edited more than forty documentaries. Amongst which are ‘Four Journeys’ by Louis Hothothot (opening film IDFA) and ‘Keeping & Saving, or how to live’ by Digna Sinke (IFFR). Besides his filmmaking he acts as a director’s coach and he is giving workshops at the Netherlands Film Academy, the University of Amsterdam, and at several art schools and international film festivals.

Flóra Erdélyi is a freelance film editor based in Budapest, Hungary. She has been working on several short and feature fiction - The Flower of the Apple Tree by Dóra Szűcs, Now is Now 2019 by Péter Szajki, Patthelyzet by Dóra Szűcs, animations - North by Bente Lohne, and feature length documentaries - Hi Sári! by Sári Haragonics, Hatchery by Máté Fuchs, Howling Like We Do by Asia Dér, The Missing Tale by Klára Trencsényi.
She received her Motion Picture Editor BA degree at the University of Theatre and Film Arts, Budapest in 2011. Apart from that she also studied at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design and at ELTE Institute of Art In Film theory and film history.
Her most recent project is Don't Worry Sári! by Sári Haragonics. She is also known for the HBO film, Her Mothers by Sári Haragonics and Asia Dér for which she won Best Editing at the Moscow International Documentary Film Festival in 2021. She is a member of MADOKE - the Hungarian Documentary Association, and HSE - Hungarian Society of Film and Video Editors.

Sofia Fischer has made her commitment to women's causes the driving force of her professional and personal life. At Le Monde and in other publications, where she has been working as a journalist for eight years, she documents the fractures within society. Mothers Without Parole is her first film. Over the course of three years, she traveled across France, visiting prison visiting rooms to listen to the stories of mothers who had killed their children. Her aim was to better understand her own story, as well as those of all these women whom society continues to overlook.

Kitti Fődi studied media and communication in Budapest and documentary filmmaking in Norway. She has been a journalist for eight years and is currently a video reporter for one of Hungary's largest online news portals. She focuses on social issues like health, education, poverty, and disability. Committed to exposing systemic struggles and highlighting solutions, she combines journalism with filmmaking to create impactful stories. Bakpakk is her debut documentary.

While studying aesthetics at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), she began working with the company of Új Színház, as well as in the organizing teams of various cultural events, including the Hungarian Film Week. Since 2009, she has been a member of the Cirko Film team, where she is involved in the nationwide distribution of international and Hungarian arthouse films, as well as documentaries.

Amina Ghazouani came from Tunisia and she is a PhD researcher in Budapest at ELTE. Her passion for cinema started very young, when her father would bring them DVDs every saturday and they had been look forward to every end of the week to watch it. Once her mom would reward their hard work in school by taking them to the movie theaters, her passion grew stronger. She enjoys watching movies and writing small commentaries on Letterboxd.

Two years after enrolling in a Documentary Filmmaking Master's Degree at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Ion Gnatiuc has decided to return to Moldova, his homeland, and chase the stories it had to tell using a camera. In Moldova he is building HaiDOC Productions, a platform dedicated to film production, as well as ethically connecting international film companies with local talent and film infrastructure. He is reshaping the local filmmaking landscape through his involvement in ALTFilm, an NGO committed to training, production and distribution for an emerging generation of filmmakers in Moldova, becoming their voice in the film industry worldwide. Simultaneously he is freelancing as a DoP or Producer for international broadcasters such as The Guardian, Deutsche Welle, ARTE. Ion Gnatiuc is following his dream of putting Moldova on the filmmaking map of the world, and strongly believes in the power of documentaries to generate change where other instruments might have failed.

Giulio is an Italian director and editor based in the United Kingdom. Since 2013, he has focused primarily on creative non-fiction. His debut short film, Struggle for Existence, premiered at the Open City Documentary Festival in 2013. After several years working mainly as a film editor, in 2021 Giulio directed 652 miles = 0. The short achieved notable success, being selected by more than 40 international festivals – including Academy Award- and BAFTA-qualifying events – and winning several awards.
In 2022, Giulio was selected for the Laguna Sud Artistic Residency, which he won with the short documentary Nettuno. The film then screened at Giornate degli Autori during the 79th Venice International Film Festival and was later chosen by the Italian Short Film Centre as one of the ten most significant Italian shorts of the year for its international showcase. That same year, Giulio was selected by BAFTA for its Emerging Talent Programme.
He is currently working on his first feature documentary, End of Season.

Alina Gorlova is a Ukrainian film director. She graduated from Karpenko- Kary Kyiv National University of Theatre, Film & Television. She co-founded a production company, TABOR. Her documentary, No Obvious Signs, won the MDR film award for Best Eastern European Film at DokLeipzig.

Cecilia Guagnano (b. 1995, Correggio, Italy) is a producer and co-founder of Approdi, a film production company and cultural space. She focuses on independent, author-driven cinema and collective creative processes. Within this framework, she has produced Arthur, 1973 (2021), CANI (2025), and Hotel Eritrea (2025). She is currently working on the creative documentary Fine stagione, supported by regional film funds. She also executive-produced Rock’n’Roll is a State of the Soul (2021), aired on Rai5 and RaiPlay. Cecilia nurtures emerging voices through projects like the NAUFRAGARE Summer School and has coordinated BFF Industry at Bellaria Film Festival since 2024. She believes in cinema as a collective and political gesture — to create new futures and shared possibilities.

Janka lives in Budapest and completed her Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts, where she pursued a specialization in Aesthetics as well as Film Theory and History. Her primary field of research has been the Czechoslovak New Wave, with particular focus on the Slovak director, Juraj Jakubisko. She was moved by the social sensitivity of his works and the subtle nature of his artistic vision. It was also Jakubisko whose movies made her reflect on the role that archival footage can play within feature films. For her analysing films is all about seeking a deeper understanding of their subjects, because to understand a film we must also try to understand the world that it reflects.

Lea György studied pedagogy and film at ELTE before graduating as an economist from the Budapest Business University. She worked in the animation industry as a production manager and later became a freelance producer and consultant for films and documentaries, overseeing the entire process from development to distribution, including tender writing and accounting. She also graduated as a Sustainable Manager in both the general and film industries. Lea has produced documentaries on the Hungarian diaspora in Cleveland and Caracas and explored relations between Hungarians and other communities, such as Vietnamese and Ghanaians, including her film "Faraway Perspectives". She also had the opportunity to create a portrait film about the legendary canoeist Tamás Wichmann, titled "Magyar Lapát". In recent years, she has expanded into feature films, producing comediesand the romance "Our Blossom"—the first Hungarian-Vietnamese co-production. Lea joined
Speak Easy Project in February 2023 as a line producer, where she is responsible for the administration of all films, as well as writing and managing tenders within the Hungarian system. She is board member of MADOKE from the middle of June, 2025.

Júlia Hack is a film editor based in Budapest, Hungary. She graduated in Film Editing from the University of Theatre and Film Arts in 2011, and previously completed the university’s Television Production program under the guidance of documentary filmmaker Ibolya Fekete. With over 15 years of experience, she has worked across both fiction and documentary, editing numerous television series and feature projects. Her credits include HBO original productions such as In Treatment (Terápia), Golden Life (Aranyélet), and The Informant (A besúgó), as well as the large-scale historical series Hunyadi. She has collaborated with acclaimed directors including Ildikó Enyedi, Orsi Nagypál, Attila Gigor, Zsombor Dyga, and Áron Mátyássy.

Passionate about documentary storytelling, she edited Anna Rubi’s ‘Your Life Without Me’, a project she followed over five years. The film received multiple awards, including Best Hungarian Documentary and the Audience Award at the 21st Verzió Film Festival, and the Human Rights Award at the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival. Member of the Hungarian Society of Film and Video Editors (HSE) and the Hungarian Documentary Association ( HDA).

Daniela Hanusová is a curator and a festival organiser. She is the project manager and head of acquisitions of the VOD platform DAFilms.com focusing on documentary and experimental film. She is also the executive director and curator of ART*VR, Festival of Virtual Reality and Immersive Art in Prague, and the coordinator of the Critics Academy of Locarno Film Festival. Occasionally, she writes for the Slovak online film magazine Pontón. She graduated from Film Studies and is currently finishing Gender Studies at Charles University, Prague.

Sári Haragonics earned her BA degree in media studies from the University of Bedfordshire, in England, in 2007, then completed her master's degree in documentary film directing at the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest, in 2015. Her graduation film, Coming Face to Face, won the grand prize in the ZOOM-IN section of the Verzió International Documentary Film Festival. Her first feature-length documentary, Her Mothers (co-directed with Dér Asia), premiered in 2020 at the Hot Docs International Documentary Festival, in Canada. Don't Worry Sári!, her second feature-length film, is a personal story about her own family.

Photo: Csaba Aknay

László “Pamacs” Hargittai is an award-winning Hungarian film editor and post-production supervisor with over two decades of experience in both Hungarian and international cinema. A recipient of the Béla Balázs Award, Hungary’s highest state honor for film artists, Hargittai has edited more than fifty narrative and documentary films and currently serves as Head of Post-Production at Origo Studios Budapest, one of Central Europe’s leading post facilities. His work bridges creative storytelling with technical mastery, contributing to acclaimed productions such as Eternal Winter (Örök tél), Tall Tales (Apró mesék), and international projects shot or finished in Hungary including Blade Runner 2049 and Dune.

Renowned for his intuitive storytelling sense and collaborative spirit, Pamacs has mentored a new generation of editors through his teaching and festival jury work. 

Katalin has been confidently navigating the film industry for over twenty years.
She began her career at Katapult Film, where she explored nearly every production role, from assistant positions to leadership responsibilities. She is highly experienced in coordination, has worked extensively as a line producer, and is equally at ease overseeing post-production processes. Her name appears in the credits of several acclaimed films, including 1945, Carpark (Parkoló), and Bibliothéque Pascal. In every project, she builds on precision, flexibility, and teamwork-qualities she has also applied to the creation of subtitles and dialogue lists, especially since becoming a founding member of the SocialCaption team in 2020.

Herdek is a collective of authors — Matěj Hložánek, Lucie Formánková, Vítek Paulík, Jan Froněk, and Mikoláš Fišer — who met at the Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). We are dedicated to creating independent, intimate, and experimental games with a socially critical edge that address overlooked social issues. Through Herdek, we aim to create a platform that encourages meaningful dialogue and challenges the conventions of both video game culture and broader societal conversations.

Csaba Hernáth, a cinematographer and editor, is co-owner of the Speak Easy Project. He was a key member of the crew on the film Ultra (cinematographer, assistant editor), and worked as editor on the film Ghetto Balboa. His directorial debut is Veteran Film.

"A room plunged into darkness. The beam of a projector cutting through the dust in the air. The silence just before the first image appears. For me, cinema always begins there: in anticipation, in that suspended moment when anything can happen. This is what I have been pursuing since my early discoveries, whether writing about films, taking possession of the camera, or shooting student short films. Cinema is less a profession than a way of looking at the world, of reinventing it with every shot. As a Master's student in Fiction and Documentary working in an independent cinema, I enjoy participating in festivals, which each time introduce me to works, each more overwhelming than the last. For me, the power of stories is the most magical and powerful thing there is"

Péter Horányi is a PhD candidate in Art Theory at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design. He submitted his doctoral dissertation in August 2025, entitled, The Presence of the Author in the Digital Age: Performativity and Mediated Reality in Documentary, with defense expected in Spring 2026. His research focuses on digital media and documentary storytelling. Since 2023, he has been teaching film courses at MOME, ELTE, and SZFE. He has worked as a film journalist since 2016, contributing to Prae.hu and Kulter.hu. Since 2024, he has served as a curator at the Verzio International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival.

Matevž Jerman is a film director, film curator, and film critic, co-founder of the Kraken Association for the Promotion of Short Film, and Programme Director of FeKK – Ljubljana Short Film Festival. Since 2009, he has been working with the Slovenian Cinematheque’s programming department, where in recent years he has been curating short film programs and researching special Avant-Garde collections in the cinema archive.

Rachel Leah Jones is an Emmy-winning nonfiction filmmaker whose trajectory in the field — from producer to director to editor to writer — has spanned three decades and three continents. Her work has been nominated for the PGA Awards, the IDA Awards, selected by the European Film Academy, awarded by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy, honored by Cinema Eye, and shortlisted for the Oscars. A three-time Sundance Festival and Institute alumna, her critically-acclaimed films
— ADVOCATE (2019); GYPSY DAVY (2012); ASHKENAZ (2007); 500 DUNAM ON THE MOON (2002) — have screened in festivals worldwide such as IDFA, True/False, Visions du Reel, Sheffield, CPH:DOX, DocNYC, Hotdocs, and aired on dozens of channels including PBS; BBC; ARD; France Television; RTS; YLE; DR; SVT; 2M; Radio Canada; and HBO. In addition to maintaining a prolific career as an activist-artist, Jones, a Documentary Branch member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has collaborated extensively with other filmmakers and worked as a story consultant, directing mentor, and curator.

László Józsa is a documentary producer known for ULTRA (HBO Europe, EFA shortlist), Ghetto Balboa (Best Documentary, Hungarian Film Awards) and Pogány Induló - What would Mom Say (HBO Original). His production company, SpeakEasy Project, creates commercials and specializes in documentary filmmaking, with offices in Budapest, Izmir, and Berlin. László was the first president of MADOKE – the Hungarian Documentary Association – and is a member of both the European and Hungarian Film Academies.

Director Jueun Jang pays attention to expanding the subject starting from the inner story of humans to social messages through documentary. " Still Waiting at Paengmok" (2024) focuses on observing the daily lives of the bereaved of the disaster, exploring the nature of separation, and raising public awareness of social issues.

Michal Kabát is a Slovak game designer and researcher exploring how play evolves across cultures, bodies, and technologies. His work draws on the history of local game experiences in post-socialist countries, from improvised arcade culture and home-grown proto-LAN scenes to today’s independent and experimental communities.
He designs and studies games across VR, AI-assisted creation, and emerging interactive technologies, with a particular focus on adult play and pornology as meaningful spaces for intimacy, agency, and cultural reflection.
As a long-time game jam organiser and active participant, Kabát builds environments where rapid prototyping, collaboration, and experimental design thrive. His projects connect artistic practice, critical research, and playful experimentation, engaging themes of embodiment, media literacy, and the ways interactive media shape attention, pleasure, and imagination.

Anna Kis started her filmmaking career in 2002. After a decade of teaching, translation, and journalism, and a PhD course in Renaissance and Baroque English Literature at ELTE, she graduated at the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest, as a director and film editor. She was the student of Péter Gothár and Ildikó Enyedi. Ever since she has been active as an editor and story editor of shorts (eg.: First Love by Ildikó Enyedi), documentaries and concert shows for TV. She has directed shorts and observational documentaries which have won several Best Documentary awards in Hungarian festivals (Home Paradise, Not About Family). Recently she has been active as the story editor of Fairy Garden by Gergő Somogyvári, shooting her own feature-length documentary Practices in Harmony (working title), co-directing and editing 80 Angry Journalists by András Földes. She is a member of MADOKE - the Hungarian Documentary Association.

Viki Réka Kiss is a Hungarian producer from Budapest. She has worked in a variety of international film productions in different roles for over 10 years now, including the Academy Award winning ‘SON OF SAUL’. Her films as a producer include ‘A WOMAN CAPTURED’ (a Sundance title, has been sold to 120 territories worldwide and shown by 74 broadcasters) and 'KIX' (a multi-awarded festival hit and a multilateral international co-production shot over 12 years). She is a member of the EFA, a DOKIncubator and an ExOriente Alumna, an Emerging Producer and a Sarajevo Talent. Her projects are being supported/financed by CNC, ARTE France, HBO Max, Creative Europe, Visegrad Fund, Current Time TV and many more. She is a certified Advanced Leadership Coach (educated at the Gestalt Coaching Center) and a proactive member of the independent Hungarian film industry community, managing activities at Cine-Collegium Budapest and Budapest International Film Festival.

Jakub Knott, a FAMU graduate, manages industry programs at major Czech festivals including KVIFF, Mezipatra, and Pragueshorts. As Mezipatra’s Head of Programme, he founded OUTPITCH, supporting emerging queer filmmakers from the V4 region and Ukraine.

Erika Köcsky kicked off her career in the film industry in 1999 at a VFX & Editorial Studio; a year later, she was already working at the Hungarian Filmlaboratory as a post-production assistant. In 2006, the company trusted her to manage her first US feature as a post-production coordinator. Since then, she has overseen the post-production of over 250 feature films, documentaries, animations, ​TV shows, and short films. 
In 2010, she received a promising opportunity at FOCUSFOX Studio as the head of post-production. Her role involves collaborating with filmmakers and providing advice to meet both financial and creative needs during post-production. 
She worked with editors and directors on Hungarian film subtitles for years before feeling the need to take on a more active role in 2020. She envisioned finding passionate professionals and forming a dedicated team with a commitment to bridging the language gap between Hungarian cinema and the English-speaking audience. The SocialCaption team specialises in creating subtitles that capture the essence of Hungarian films while pushing the boundaries of traditional subtitling techniques but remaining true to the film and its creators' messages.

Jeroen Kooijmans is a Dutch artist. In 1995 he graduated at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Since then he has lived, worked and exhibited in many places all over het world.The fundamental nature of Kooijmans’ work is optimistic, yet the dark side of life is not ignored. Wonderfully simple films exist alongside complex installations of video projections combined with sound and architectural elements. In 1998 Jeroen Kooijmans was awarded the NPS Cultuurprijs and in 2007 he won the Impakt Beam System Award. In 2001/2001 he was part of The International Studio Program of the PS1/MoMa in New York. As artist in residence Kooijmans was associated with the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture in 2010. In 2013/2014 he worked as artist in residence with the Instituto Buena Bista Curaçao.

Anita Korn works as creative producer in television, is a design manager and the owner and content creator of the YouTube channel Ruhastory. She earned her master’s degree in design and art management at MOME, writing her thesis on sustainable fashion.

Jasna Krajinovic was born in the former Socialist Republic of Slovenia, in Yugoslavia. Before studying at the Academy for Theatre and Cinema, she studied French and English literature at the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts and Philosophy. Moving to Brussels, she studied film directing at the National Institute of Performing Arts. Since graduating in 1999, she has devoted her life to independent filmmaking. Her films were produced by the Dardenne brothers for 13 years, and she still works with their production house Dérives. She has received numerous awards. Following Damian’s Room (2009) and Summer with Anton (2012), Rashid, the Boy from Sinjar (2025) completes her series of portraits about teenagers transcending the limits of complex life conditions.

MARIA KRAUSS (1981), documentary film producer, manager of cultural projects; social activist. Co-founder of a boutique production company Plesnar & Krauss FILMS. Produced and co-produced strong character driven documentaries screened and awarded at national and international festivals. She has wide experience in international co-productions and in industry events. Participated in several editions of Doc Lab Poland, Baltic Sea Docs, EDP and Match Me! during Locarno FF or Visions du Reel-Pitching. Last titles she is involved is “In The Rearview (won dozens of prizes all over the world, shortlisted for Oscars), Faces of Agata (nominated for Polish Film Awards Eagles) or The Guest (best Cinematography Award at IDFA). Member of Polish Producers Alliance KIPA, Polish Film Academy and European Film Academy.

Albert Kuhn (b. 1986) is a filmmaker whose work blends personal memory and archival research to explore silence, guilt, and transgenerational history. His film Dreams for a Better Past (2025) embodies this approach, weaving a family story into a broader meditation on the ways the unspoken continues to shape us. In addition to his filmmaking, Kuhn has collaborated on international co-productions and taught as a guest lecturer at the Netherlands Film Academy, ESCAC, and Sahara Cinema School.

Hana Kulhánková is currently part of the Institute of Documentary Film (IDF) as East Doc Manager, where she oversees the market strand and East Doc Platform - a key hub connecting Central and Eastern European documentary filmmakers with international industry players. 
She has worked as a pre-selector for major festivals and training initiatives including Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, One World Human Rights Film Festival and DOK.Incubator, and she serves as an independent expert for the Czech Audiovisual Fund and the Czech Ministry of Culture. She has curated cultural and human rights conferences in cooperation with Creative Europe Culture, Trans Europe Halles, and Prague Pride. 
Previously, Hana was Director of the One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival and Director of the Prague Pride Festival, where she combined cultural leadership with a strong commitment to equality and social impact. She also co-edited the international handbooks How to Set Up a Screening Venue and Setting Up a Human Rights Film Festival, Vol. 2. 
Hana graduated from Masaryk University in Brno, where she studied English and American Studies and Film Theory, and she studied at Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany. Hana strongly believes in gender equality in the film industry.

Mauri Lähdesmäki (b. 1983) is a filmmaker and video artist from Rovaniemi. He has worked extensively as an editor, cinematographer and director in numerous video art and film productions. Lähdesmäki’s films have received multiple awards including Risto Jarva & Best National Film awards at Tampere Film Festival 2018, Best film at Tromsø Film Festival 2025 and an award for best cinematography at Nordic/Docs festival 2025. Additionally, his works have been presented in events such as Sundance Film Festival, Berlinale & Venice Biennale. In recent years, Lähdesmäki has increasingly focused on documentary films, while his expression also extends into the realm of poetic and metaphorical cinema. Characteristic of Lähdesmäki’s works is the way they address current issues from a timeless perspective. He masters the language of film yet constantly seeks new ways to expand and deepen his expression. Lähdesmäki sees the creative process as one where the artwork partly shapes itself.

Co-founder of Budapest based production company Campfilm, Sára László has been producing documentaries and features since 2007. Her producer credits include Soft Rain by Dénes Nagy (45th Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes), Cain’s Children by Marcell Gerő (62nd San Sebastian IFF), The Euphoria of Being by Réka Szabó (Grand Prix of the 30th Semaine de la Critique of the Locarno International Film festival, IDFA Best of Fests) or Natural Light by Dénes Nagy that premiered at the 72nd Berlinale Competition and received the Silver Bear Award for Best Director.
She is a Eurodoc, Nipkow Programme, EAVE, DokIncubator, Producers on the Move, ACE Producers alumni. She teaches film production at the Budapest Metropolitan University as well as ELTE and she works as a consultant for training programmes such as Eurodoc or EWA Mentoring Programme.

Réka Lemhényi, an award-winning film editor, has brought her creative vision to a wide range of feature films, television series, and documentaries, collaborating with some of the most respected Hungarian and international directors on more than 40 films across various genres. Her outstanding work has been recognized with numerous prestigious honors, including the Balázs Béla Award, Hungary’s Golden Scissors—Best Editor Award, multiple Critics’ Awards, and the Best Romanian and Best Polish Film Editor awards. She has also spent over a decade teaching and mentoring at film universities and professional workshops, sharing her expertise with the next generation of editors.

Lie has a background as newspaper and magazine editor – for 30 years. He is the editor of the 'cinepolitical' documentary magazine Modern Times Review (since 2017). As a filmmaker he also creates essayistic documentaries. He is now working on the feature "Palestine – Three Essays on Freedom".

Margit Lillak, the director, graduated from Estonian Academy of Arts majoring in scenography (1999) and worked in animation studio Multifilm after that. In 2002, she received her MA degree in Royal Holloway College majoring in feature screenwriting. After that, her co-operation with production company Allfilm started. Margit has made several short documentaries, such as Beebilõust (2009), Ars Longa (2008) and Pastacas (2009). The latter was awarded Grand Prix in EstDocs film festival in Toronto (2010). In 2012, Margit made her first full length documentary 40+2 Weeks, focusing on her own pregnancy and preparations for home birth, followed by The Circle (2019), her second full length documentary.

Fanny Fortage is a French artist and co-founder of ENTER.black, an artistic collective dedicated to immersive and interactive experiences, where she operates as Creative Director. She also directs music videos, creates artworks for projection mapping, and performs in many Parisian venues under the alias VJ Bonnie.

Andrii Lytvynenko is a film director and producer. He graduated from the Kiev National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television named after I. K. Karpenko-Kary and the Documentary Studio at the Wajda School. He is the director of the documentaries ‘Fantastic Ukrainians. Fine Art' (2020) and “Askania Reserve” (2019), which received awards from the UA Docudays and Pelicam festivals. He is the co-author and one of the co-directors of the film ‘Euromaidan. Rough Cut' (2014), which won a Special Mention at the Ji.hlava IFFD, as well as a Ukrainian producer and one of the authors of the idea for ’Trial: Russian Federation vs. Oleg Sencov' (2017) by Askold Kurov.

Vibeke Løkkeberg (b. 1945) is one of Norway’s most profiled filmmakers, authors and cultural icons. Married to producer Terje Kristiansen and mother to Tonje and Marie, Løkkeberg created a unique concept of blending her personal life with her filmmaking, often working with her family. Known for groundbreaking and often controversial films, such as Løperjenten (The Story of Camila) and Hud (Skin), the director brings her uncompromising vision and storytelling prowess to this project. Løkkeberg is also a prolific novelist, with works including Leoparden (1989), Jordens skygge (1994), Purpur (2002), Brev til himmelen (2004),. Allierte (2008) and Frokost på stupet (2018). In 2005, Løkkeberg was appointed Cavalieri by the Italian President, and in 2015, Løkkeberg was the recipient of the Honorary Amanda Award for her contribution to Norwegian Cinema.

Virginia is a film programmer with a background in cultural management. She holds a Master’s degree in Innovation and Organisation of Culture and the Arts (GIOCA) from the University of Bologna. She works in festival programming for Concorto Film Festival (IT) and has collaborated with Indy Shorts Film Festival and Heartland Film Festival (Indianapolis, USA). She writes reviews for independent online film magazines.

Dorottya graduated from the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest, in documentary film directing. Her work has been screened at FIPADOC, Verzió International Human Rights Film Festival, MakeDox, Zsigmond Vilmos Film Festival (ZSIFF), and her film, How did I get here? won the best short film award in DocsBarcelona in 2025. Her work is on the border between documentary and personal essay film, often using narration, and mixed media elements. In addition to her personal films, she directs creative documentaries for cultural and artistic institutions, such as Museo Egizio in Turin.

Jurij Meden is a curator and head of film program at the Austrian Film Museum in Vienna. Previously, he worked as head of the program department at the Slovenian Cinematheque in Ljubljana and as curator of film exhibitions at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York.

Dávid Mikulán is an Intermedia artist and filmmaker who graduated from the Fine Art University, Budapest. He has been making films since age 12. His artistic practice is influenced by skateboarding, punk music, fluxus, video art and different experimental genres. His multidisciplinary work's main focus is how public spaces have an effect on social structures. His first feature documentary entitled KIX was  being co-produced in 3 different countries, with the involvement of major broadcasters (ARTE, HBO etc.). Kix were presented and awarded by numerous festivals (CPH:DOX, TIDF, DOK.fest, stb.), it had many special screenings  with ngos, schools, experts with a mission of starting a larger discussion in the topic of child protection, social mobilisation.

Theodora Moisescu is currently Project Manager for Bio to B – Industry Days | Doc&Drama, the audiovisual market organized by Biografilm Festival, dedicated to showcasing projects in development, discovering new talent, and fostering professional networking. She has been working in the documentary field since 2021. Previously, she served as Secretary at Doc/it – Italian Documentary Association and was involved in organizing the IDS – Italian Doc Screenings industry event. As a freelancer, she has also managed training projects in audiovisual media for both adults and young people.

Ondřej is an independent director, screenwriter and producer. His debut VR project Darkening premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2022 and later it was nominated for the Czech Lion Award (Czech Oscars). His next project Fresh Memories: The Look premiered at the SXSW festival. The second part of the project Fragile Home was shown in Venice, Tribeca, IDFA and other festivals. The project won the Cristal Award at Annecy Film Festival for the best VR project. All Ondřej’s projects were shown at more than 50 festivals worldwide. In 2022 he founded the festival ART*VR - first exclusively immersive XR festival in Central and Eastern Europe.

Simon Mozghovyi is a Ukrainian film director. He studied Cinema and Television Arts at the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture, and then went on to study an advanced-level course in dramaturgy in Kyiv, where he began acting.

Éva Nádasdi is a 25-year-old aspiring poet and journalist. She recently finished her master’s degree in Media and Communication. In 2024 she covered the Verzió Film Festival as a journalist, and it was an inspiring experience.

Her favorite documentary is The Salt of the Earth by Wim Wenders, which is very close to the kind of films she truly admires. She is especially drawn to slow, atmospheric movies that she can completely immerse herself in. For her films are like poetry — and sometimes she imagines poems as documentary films.

Arum Nam is a documentary director based in Seoul, South Korea. Currently pursuing a master's degree in documentary at the Korea National University of Arts. She directed a short documentary called Pink Femi, which tells the story of a feminist mother, and co-directed Teleporting with Japanese directors during the pandemic. K-Family Affairs is her first feature documentary.

Brigid O’Shea is a documentary consultant, helping documentary projects and filmmakers reach their full international potential and professional goals. Her international network spans the globe, working on all continents, with both emerging talent and industry veterans. She’s worked with ARTE on projects like the Generation Africa and Generation Ukraine, working on festival strategy for the collections of films. Films she has consulted on have premiered at all the major international festivals including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, IDFA etc.. She serves on the boards of Circle Women Doc Accelerator, and Dokufest in Prizren, Kosovo. She is an intersectional queer feminist. She founded together with other colleagues the Documentary Association of Europe, a members network and support system for documentary filmmakers inside and outside of Europe that has grown to 800 members in just four years and recently started the project Ateliers Cocoon to offer documentary filmmakers a space for recuperation and transformation. She currently serves as the director of this organization. She was head of the DOK Industry Programme at DOK Leipzig and worked for the Berlin International Film Festival for more than 10 years. She moderates and curates programmes and discussions on non-fiction filmmaking as an internationally-respected curator with a wide and diverse network. She serves on selection committees and scouts works for international platforms. She tutors across the globe, particularly in Asia, Africa, the Eastern Partnership countries on festival strategy, international co-financing and pitching as well as cultural management. 

Kata Oláh established Makabor Studio, an award-winning production company, with her cinematographer husband. All their films have been broadcast on various Hungarian TV channels, received numerous international awards. Their feature documentary, The Bar Mitzvah Boys, was nominated for Prix Europa 2018, Conquering Time - Ágnes Keleti received the prestigious international critics' FIPRESCI Prize at CineFest 2022, and Narrow Path to Happiness earned the Jury Special Mention in the international competition at Thessaloniki 2023, as well as the Septimius Award 2024, among many other accolades.

Gar O’Rourke is an award-winning Irish documentary filmmaker. His debut feature, Sanatorium, balances humour and tragedy in the stories of staff and guests staying at a unique Soviet-era health resort in southern war-torn Ukraine. The film will premiere in Spring 2025 and was recently acquired by Oscar and Emmy-winning BBC Storyville for their prestigious documentary film strand. His debut short film, Kachalka, also filmed in Ukraine, went on to win awards and screen in some of the world’s top film festivals along with receiving a Vimeo Staff pick and being acquired by some of North America and Europe’s biggest broadcasters. He is currently in pre-production on his second feature documentary, titled The Siege of Paradise, which takes place on the northern Italian Riviera and begins filming in Spring 2025.

Zsófi Paczolay is a freelance artist, filmmaker based in Budapest and Amsterdam. Her background is in architecture, social work, performance & basketball.

After graduating from the University of Theatre and Film as a scriptwriter and story editor, she worked for various television and radio programmes as both a director and a producer. Her second short film, „The TV and me”, and her first feature documentary, Rap Behind Bars, won several awards in Hungary. She attended several international documentary workshops, including EsoDoc, Ex Oriente, Eurodoc, and Berlinale Talent Campus. Currently, she serves as the Head of Television and Scriptwriting MA departments at the Budapest Metropolitan University as an Assistant Professor.

Anca Păunescu studied German philology and film, and for the last 9 years she has been intensively involved in documentary film selection, curation and creative advising for special programmes at various European festivals.
She is currently co-curator of One World Romania and  main documentary film programmer at the Neisse Film Festival- Germany.
(She has also been a jury member at Makedox, Kasseler Dokfest, Iceland Documentary FF, DOK Leipzig Co-Pro Market, Fipadoc and others.)

Juanjo Pereira is a filmmaker, researcher and producer whose work highlights interdisciplinary research through the creation of essay films and video installations. He is dedicated to researching the Paraguayan film archive, and his projects also use the dérive to examine modern infrastructures and everyday built landscapes. He serves as the artistic director and co-founder of the Asunción International Contemporary Film Festival. He has participated and won awards at festivals and markets such as: Hot Docs Forum, IDFA Bertha Fund, ARCHÉ, among others.

Robin Petré is a Danish film director and artist. In her work she explores human-animal relations and our co-existence with nature. Her feature-length debut FROM THE WILD SEA (2021) premiered at the Berlinale and received the Grand Prix at Global Science Film Festival among other awards. The film was nominated for the Danish Film Critics Award and has screened at festivals such as Zürich Film Festival, Krakow Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, CPH:DOX, and True/False. Her short film PULSE (2016) was awarded the Silver Dove for An Outstanding Artistic Contribution at DOK Leipzig. She holds an MA in Documentary Film Directing from Doc Nomads. She’s an alumna of Berlinale Talents, Sundance Institute, Nordic Film Lab, and IDFAcademy. Her new film ONLY ON EARTH (2025) celebrates its world premiere at the Berlinale. The film previously received the Cannes Marché du Film Docs-in-Progress Award 2024.

Réka Pigniczky is an American-Hungarian documentary filmmaker and producer, and the co-founder of 56Films. A former Associated Press television journalist in New York, Washington, D.C., and Budapest, she now focuses on creative documentaries exploring memory, identity, and the legacy of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
Her films include Journey Home (2006, Schiffer Pál Award), Inkubátor (2010, Top 25 Hungarian films of the year), László Hudec – The Man Who Built Shanghai (2010), Heritage (2012), Cold Warriors (2017), Memory Project 1956/2021 (2021), 56/Z (2023), and Kaláka: From the Carpathians to the Caribbean (2024).
Pigniczky is also the co-founder and director of the Memory Project: Visual History Archive, featuring more than 150 life-story interviews with Hungarian refugees from WWII and 1956. She holds graduate degrees in International Relations and Documentary Filmmaking from Columbia University. She is a board member of MADOKE (Hungarian Documentary Association).

444.hu, operated by Magyar Jeti Zrt., has long been committed to producing high-quality videocontent and documentary films. One of its key initiatives is Jeti Mozi, a monthly platform dedicated to showcasing Hungarian documentaries, including original productions by the outlet. Magyar Jeti Zrt. is serving as a co-producer on Kitti Fődi’s upcoming film, with Gergő Plankó overseeing the project.
As Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Head of the Video Department, Plankó brings decades of experience in audiovisual journalism, both as an editor and a reporter.

Lea Podhradská graduated from the University of Theatre and Film Budapest as a documentary filmmaker. Before that, she studied interdisciplinary social research at the doctoral school of ELTE. The film My Father's Daughter is her first feature film. She is motivated by the art of experimentation in filmmaking. Lea is a Talents Sarajevo scholarship holder.

Botond Polecsák was born in Budapest and is currently studying photography and filmmaking in high school. After graduation, he plans to continue his studies, focusing on photography and cinematography. His connection with cinema goes back to his childhood, but it was only about a year ago that he began taking it seriously, especially the side of it behind the camera. This year, his first short film was selected for the Országos Diákfilmszemle Festival, and it won first place in its category at the Lift-Off Global Network Festival in the UK.

Joanne Popinska, the co-founder of Infinite Frame Media, is a documentarian, sociologist with a Ph.D. in Film Directing (specialization: VR) from the Polish National Film School. She dedicates her creative vision to creating important conversations around complex topics such as human rights, animal rights, and the environment. By using the latest technology and various narrative techniques, she is continually exploring how to get the attention of audiences and how to evoke empathy and interest in different perspectives.

Agnieszka Przybyszewska works as an assistant professor at the University of Łódź (Poland) and has been a visiting research fellow at Bath Spa University (UK) since 2020, as well as a research affiliate at Washington State University Vancouver (Electronic Literature Lab). During a summer of 2025 she was a visiting researcher at Immersive Storytelling Lab at York University (Canada). Agnieszka holds a double degree in Polish literary studies and film&media studies, and received her PhD in literary studies. She co-created creative writing studies at University of Łódź and she is frequently supervising artistic projects that use new media for storytelling. Agnieszka led various research projects focused on digital storytelling (including XR), for example: “Audience research as an element of the XR literature research methodology – a pilot study of VR poetry” (NCN 2023-2024) or “Kate Pullinger and innovation in digital writing: from multimodal interactive narrative to haptic, corporeal reading” (NAWA 2020-2022). She was also part of Bath & Bristol R&D project “Amplified publishing”, researching VR and AR as literary platforms, editor of a thematic issue of “The Writing Platform” on XR storytelling and curator of the exhibition “VR and Literature: an (Im)possible Romance” in the British Library (London), which was part of 2023 MIX conference. She is member of Electronic Literature Organisation and Centrum Badań nad Literaturą Elektroniczną UAM, co-editor of “The Writing Platform”. Agnieszka’s book “Kate Pullinger and Innovation in Digital Writing” will soon be published by Bloomsbury Press in the Electronic Literature series, and Agnieszka is also the author of several dozen articles on e-literature, published in peer-reviewed journals and collective academic publications.

Bálint focuses primarily on films that explore disputed and controversial topics, often through experimental approaches. His first feature-length documentary, Granny Project, as well as KIX (released in 2024), have been screened at hundreds of festivals worldwide. He is the founder of the London-based production company Gallivant Film, the Budapest-based Roughhouse Project, as well as Kontra, an alternative distribution platform.

Mariana Reyes was born in Mexico City and spent her childhood and youth there. She holds 2 degrees in psychology (UNAM, Mexico) and game design (XAMK, Finland). She currently lives in Finland and has been a permanent resident of Finland since 2020. Mariana studied film production at UACM, Mexico City. Her early video work was nominated as a finalist at the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival (Berlin, 2011). She is currently working on her debut documentary "Inherited Shadow" with Making Movies Oy and Cactus Film & Video. As her daytime job, Mariana works at Lapland University of Applied Sciences exploring the possibilities of artificial intelligence in the visual arts and virtual production for film and video games.

Steve Rickinson is an alternative film, music, media critic and curator based in Bucharest, Romania, by way of Brooklyn, NY and Amsterdam, NL. He is the day-to-day operations manager, industry editor, and web manager for Modern Times Review: Cinepolitical Documentary Magazine. With an academic background from The New School for Public Engagement and the University of Amsterdam, Steve has studied media extensively, focusing on documentary film and activism, incorporating and promoting independent ownership across activities. His early professional days were spent co-founding and running the New York City-based magazine Indiewood/Hollywood while continuing to contribute to underground culture in international music, cinema, and political publications. These days, Steve travels the international documentary film festival circuit, participating in juries, panels, and workshops across the continent. He also curates alternative cinema events and writes for cultural organisations in his adopted home in Bucharest.

Dorian Rivière is a French director based in Brussels. Currently part of the European filmmaking program Docnomads, he also works as a professional editor and cinematographer. His next project is a Transylvanian documentary about vampires.

Eva Rybková is an independent consultant with expertise in public relations, communications, and international film promotion. As a creative producer at 56Films, she is actively engaged in Concrete Jungle Dreams, a documentary series exploring global urban housing projects, and in Journey Home II: Orbán and Me, a creative documentary by Réka Pigniczky. Her experience includes human rights and media freedom projects with NGOs, programming and selection work at the One World Human Rights Film Festival (2014–2016), and international market development through Dok.Incubator (2017). Eva is currently a senior consultant at PRINCEPS Advisory in Prague, where she integrates risk intelligence into film production and distribution. Recent projects include the Ukrainian feature The Editorial Office (2024), the Czech documentary A Marriage (2024), and the experimental shorts Medical Field Guide and Rules of Engagement with Native E-girls (2024).

Samu Seres started creating video content in 2019. On TikTok, he talks about Hungarian politics and public life in an accessible way. Six months ago, together with Szabolcs Dull, he launched a weekly analytical YouTube channel called “Innen és túl” (“From Here and Beyond”).

OLIVER SERTIĆ is a documentary producer and festival programmer from Croatia, currently living in Bucharest, Romania. Until now, he has produced and co-produced around 40 feature and short documentary 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. The last 15 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 and programming director at the Liburnia Film Festival, a Croatian documentary film festival in Opatija, where he served as director for nine years.

Miles Shebar is a New York–based editor, motion-graphics artist, and art director appearing at Verzio on behalf of the team behind Monk in Pieces, a feature documentary about visionary artist Meredith Monk. Beyond his involvement with the film, Miles collaborated with Monk as a technical creative on a series of virtual concerts in 2020. Other recent projects include serving as Head of Video on Dear New York, a large-scale installation that transformed Grand Central Terminal with multi-channel video, photography, and stories. Miles’s editing and motion-graphics work has appeared on Hulu, Max, and Discovery; at Berlinale, Tribeca, Telluride, and DOC NYC; and in commercials for major brands. Additional credits include Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge, Humans of New York: The Series, and all 110th Street Films productions.

Yuriy Shylov is a Ukrainian filmmaker and member of the European Film Academy. His debut feature-length documentary “Projectionist” premiered in the Documentary Competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2019. Most recently, Yuriy directed the documentary “Children of the Occupation: Donetsk, Mariupol, Crimea” for The Reckoning Project, based on testimonies of young people from Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories.

Gerard Simó Gimeno is a programmer, editor, and film director, graduated in Audiovisual Communication from Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona). His career combines creative practice with work in film programming and curation. He debuted as a director with the collective film The Imminent Age (2024), and has taken part in the young programmers’ teams at D’A Film Festival and the Filmoteca de Catalunya, while also collaborating with Giornate degli Autori (Venice Biennale) as a previewer (2022/23). He is currently the Program Coordinator at DocsBarcelona, the International Documentary Film Festival of Barcelona.

Olga Slusareva is a Georgian film producer and co-founder of ArtWay Film, specializing in cinematic documentaries and art-house films. An EAVE graduate with a background in Economics and Management, her feature documentary projects have been presented at festivals such as Karlovy Vary IFF, CPH:DOX, Thessaloniki FF, IDFA, and DOC NYC, winning awards including the Silver Eye Award from the Institute of Documentary Film, the Impact Campaign Award at Movies that Matter, the TDF Award at Visions du Réel, and the HBO Max Award at Sarajevo FF.

Solongo Soninbayar is a filmmaker based in Budapest. She holds a Master's degree in Filmmaking from Eötvös Loránd University. Formerly a TV producer, she is currently developing her documentary short film and writing research on the representation of identity in diasporic cinema.  She is interested in personal documentary films that show simple yet complex human emotions. Her favorite documentaries include I’m Not Everything I Want to Be, Fragments of a Life Loved and Fire of Love.

Judit Stalter is an award-winning film producer and co-owner of Laokoon Filmgroup, one of Hungary's leading production companies and a trusted partner for major U.S. and international shoots in Central Europe. In 2021, Laokoon expanded with a New York City office, deepening its ties to the American industry and offering a seamless bridge between U.S. and European productions. Laokoon is best known for producing the critically acclaimed Holocaust drama Son of Saul, which won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Grand Prix at Cannes. The company continues to focus on high-end auteur films, international co-productions, and full-service production for global partners, including work across a range of genres - from feature films and TV series to creative documentaries and commercials. Judit and her team have recently worked with Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander, and have previously collaborated with Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Fernando Trueba, and other prominent international talents. Laokoon offers robust production infrastructure across Hungary and Central Europe, leveraging up to 30% tax incentives, experienced English-speaking crews, and top-tier studio facilities. She is a graduate of the MegaPlus MA (Audiovisual Business Affairs), an alumna of Inside Pictures and Producers on the Move, and has participated in numerous leading international training programs. She is also a voting member of the European Film Academy (EFA). A native Hungarian speaker, Judit speaks fluent English and works extensively across both U.S. and European markets.

Igor Stanojević is a Serbian filmmaker and film curator. He is the author of numerous short films which have been screened and awarded at international film festivals. He is currently in postproduction on his next film Vidasil (TBD). He has been the Director of Programming of Beldocs IDFF since 2018.

Native Voice Films: Giovanna has been developing and producing  international creative documentaries and reportages since 2006 for ARTE, BBC, Channel 4, France 2,  NETFLIX, HBO, AMAZON,  and premiered at SUNDANCE, BERLINALE, TORONTO, IDFA, Sarajevo & others. Her creative features include THE BENGALI DETECTIVE, which premiered at Sundance and Berlinale and winner of a British Grierson Award; the Japanese feature LOVE HOTEL in a UK-France co-production with Oscar winning company Bonne Pioche, for  Netflix USA, BBC Storyville and France 2; and the ARTE/BBC film BETTY—THEY SAY I’M DIFFERENT. Her work SPIDER-MAN OF SUDAN for ARTE and The GUARDIAN in 2023, won the Prix Bayeux Calvados and Hinzpeter Award. She is the lead producer of KHARTOUM . Along with her production work, Giovanna is Director of REACT – Refugee Education Across Conflicts Trust – a UK charity working with those from a migratory background to access education and a dignified life.

A computer scientist and entrepreneur, managing director of code and soda ltd, a Budapest-based software development house, and co-founder of random error studio, a Budapest-based immersive production studio. Co-curator of Vektor VR, a Hungarian VR event in cooperation with Verzio Human Rights Film Festival, Budapest. Since 2016 he has worked on various immersive projects as a producer, consultant, project manager, and creative technologist.

Anna Szász is currently studying in the Master’s program in Communication and Media Studies at ELTE. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in the same field, majoring in journalism with a minor in film theory and history. Recently she completed a journalism internship at a Hungarian publishing company, where she wrote reviews for its online magazine. As a member of the Student Government at ELTE Faculty of Humanities, she has organized a number of academic events aimed at strengthening student engagement with research and higher scholarship, including conferences, roundtable discussions, and career orientation days. She is a member of the festival volunteers.

Szabolcs Szirony is the curator of the student edition of the Verzió International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, and serves as the professional director of Kinedok. In these roles, he has been actively involved in mentoring emerging filmmakers, organizing screenings, and shaping the programming of documentary films that highlight pressing social and human rights issues. His work bridges festival curation, educational initiatives, and professional guidance, supporting both the development of new talent and the promotion of socially engaged cinema.

Sofia Tocar is a film distributor and festival agent, leading the short film distribution slate at Square Eyes—a Vienna-based agency known for bold, non-mainstream cinema. 
Previously, she was part of the Institute of Documentary Film in Prague, where she coordinated the East Silver Caravan and East Doc Market. With a background in art history, Sofia also works as a curator and co-creator of craftivist projects.

After earning her MA in Film Studies, Anna has worked across fiction, animation, and documentary. She produced the documentaries Wholeheartedly and Ali – The Hungarian Yazidi and the short film Paws in Paradise. Additionally, she was the line producer for Colors of Tobi, Agent of Happiness (world premiere: Sundance 2024), Mi vagyunk Azahriah, as well as the audience award–winning feature Riviera East.
She is currently developing four documentaries: Home is a Dollhouse, Loba Loca, Violence of Freedom, Little Someone, a feature animation, the Children of the Wind Mother and a feature fiction project Thanks, We’re Fine, which was selected for the Biennale College workshop. In early 2026, she will complete the documentary Don’t Forget the Steps and the short film Unwellness as producer.
In 2024, she took part in the Producers Link program; in 2025, she completed the Green Film Lab, a sustainable filmmaking workshop by TorinoFilmLab; and she has been selected for the Ji.hlava Emerging Producers 2026 program.

Tóth Joli studies History, Sociology, and Cultural Heritage, while working as a freelance communications professional with organisations and projects that she believes have a meaningful and positive impact on society. As part of the social media team at Verzió, she finds it important to create value-driven and interpretive content.

Martin Trabalik is a Czech documentarist based in Prague. In his work, he focuses on social, humanitarian and environmental issues. In January 2016 he volunteered during the European refugee crisis in Greece becoming interested in photography in the process. Since then he has worked on several projects in Nagorno-Karabakh, Donbas, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and other areas. In the year 2018, he was awarded UNHRC and Czech Press Photo prize in the category Problems of our age for covering the Rohingya's expulsion from Myanmar. In 2021 he directed and produced documentary movie Incendios about forest fires in Bolivia which was awarded Best Documentary Feature at the International Film Festival in La Paz. Beside documentary projects he enjoys also other fields of creative expression. Feature documentary What about Petey? is his second feature lenght film.

Rati Tsiteladze is a European Film Academy Award-nominated filmmaker. He is an alumnus of Locarno Academy, TIFF Filmmaker Lab, Berlinale Talents, and Cannes Résidence. Rati’s short films won over 50 awards and were screened at around 300 festivals worldwide, including Hong Kong, Melbourne, and Locarno. His short "Prisoner of Society" won multiple Oscar-qualifying awards and was nominated for the European Film Academy. Rati was awarded the Moulin d’Andé Prize at Cannes, and at TIFF, he received the HFPA Film Independent Award from the Golden Globes.

Olha Tuharinova is an independent filmmaker and producer from Kyiv. She has worked with film festivals, NGOs, and cultural institutions, and in 2020 directed and produced the web documentary “Her Place” about Ukrainian women entering previously restricted professions. Her latest documentary feature in development as producer, “Entr’actes” (dir. Yuriy Shylov), has been selected for DOC LAB POLAND, Baltic Sea Docs, DOK Co-Pro Market, and CPH:DOX CHANGE. In 2025 she founded Kshtalt Productions, dedicated to creative documentaries and hybrid films. A Magna Cum Laude DocNomads graduate, she is also part of EURODOC25 and Sarajevo Talents 2025.

Julia Ubrankovics is an award winning film, television and theater actress, international theater producer and filmmaker. She was born before the Iron Curtain fell in Hungary and is a proud Hungarian - American dual citizen. "Borders of Belonging" is her directorial debut as a documentarian and film producer.
Julia co-founded J.U.S.T. Toys Productions LLC, a Los Angeles based production company, producing international plays between 2015-2020. Shows traveled extensively in the USA -New York, Los Angeles and in Europe - France, Hungary, Romania. Her career covers 20+ years of work with features, shorts, theater plays, radio plays and commercials. She was awarded Best Actress at the 40th HFF and she appears on several HBO, Netflix and CBS shows.
HAESF scholarship recipient, MA Acting from SZFE. Prior to becoming an actress she studied film history at the ELTE University, Budapest.
“Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto”, meaning "I am human, I consider nothing human alien to me”  has been her ars poetica drawing her to the
experimental world of documentary filmmaking.

Julianna Ugrin – The EFA nominated producer is the founder and owner of Éclipse Film, an independent film production company founded in 2011. She develops and produces films on an international level for more than ten years. Films produced by her, as A Woman Captured, Easy Lessons, or The Next Guardian were screened, nominated, and awarded at festivals like EFA, SUNDANCE, IDFA, LOCARNO, DOK Leipzig, Hot Docs, Sheffield, or Sarajevo IFF. Since 2013 she teaches at the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Documentary MA studies and is a doctoral student there. In 2019 she was selected to Producers on the Move in Cannes. She is EURODOC and an EAVE graduate. She is an organizer of DunaDOCK Master Class & Pitching series, member of MADOKE, DAE, IDA, of the Hungarian and of the European Film Academy.

Réka Ugron is a documentary film director, based in Hungary. Her DLA research area is magical realism in documentary film language. After making several short films, her first feature film is East of hope, a poetic story about the possibilities of finding individual happiness in the beautiful but capricious nature.

She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Film Studies (Film Theory) at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE). Now in her second year of involvement with the organization of ELTE Szemle, where she contributes in the areas where her skills are needed at the moment. As an early-career professional, she is particularly interested in how young people can engage with both Hungarian and international film culture.

Ketevan Vashagashvili is a documentary filmmaker based in Tbilisi. She is a Chevening alumna with an MA in Digital Documentary from the University of Sussex (UK). Her main interest lies in social and human rights issues. Ketevan has 14 years of experience working at various Georgian TV channels and online platforms, directing and producing TV documentaries and programmes.

Máté Artur Vincze is an IDA Documentary Awards nominated producer and filmmaker. He graduated from the Graduate Filmmaking MFA program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He established Match Frame Productions with Noemi Veronika Szakonyi in 2014. Their production company is dedicated to making creative documentaries and XR content. Their work has received funding from organizations such as the Sundance Institute, HBO Europe, and Creative Europe MEDIA. Their films have premiered at renowned festivals including IDFA, Hot Docs, Warsaw, Sarajevo, and Sheffield. Their latest feature documentary, 'Agent of Happiness' premiered in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Márton Vízkelety is an award-winning documentary filmmaker with a degree in Cinematography from the University of Theater and Film Budapest. Among others, he photographed the documentaries Keep Quiet (TriBeCa, CPH:Dox, Astra FF etc.), Train to Adulthood (DOK Leipzig, ZagrebDox) and Ultra (Sarajevo FF, San Sebastian FF). His debut as a director, together with Julianna Ugrin, Holy Dilemma, has won the Hungarian Film Critics Prize in 2022 for the best documentary, and won the main prize at the Verzió Film Festival, Budapest. My Chemical Information System is his second feature documentary.

Johanna studied Spanish and English/American Studies at the HU Berlin and at the Universidad de Sevilla. From 2008 to 2011 she was project assistant and project coordinator in the field of visual arts, film and new media at the House of World Cultures in Berlin with a focus on film. Afterwards she worked as Assistant Coordinator at the Prix Jeunesse International.
Since autumn 2015 Johanna has been working at DOK.fest München. Initially she was responsible for film administration before she joined the management board as assistant in 2019. Johanna is part of the programme team and is responsible for the festival network Doc Around Europe at DOK.fest München. She has been a member of the festival's steering committee since autumn 2025.

Ewan Waddell is a Berlin-based director whose debut feature, The Longer You Bleed, premiered at Hot Docs 2025. His style blends mixed media and experimental approaches to examine the modernity crisis. Waddell now develops his second film, exploring the therapeutic use of psychedelics in war-torn Ukraine.

Chip Warren is a writer/filmmaker dedicated to American incarceration, rehabilitation and social justice issues. He has produced and directed human interest pieces for film and television with partners, including ABC News, MSNBC, A&E, Channel 4 UK, The BBC, and Discovery International. Chip’s experience with the justice system began at 17, via a weekend commitment to a juvenile detention center in Reno, an experience that galvanized his interest in incarceration. Later, working for NYC’s social service agency, he gained perspective on how poverty contributes to breakdowns in social justice. Later still, as a documentarian, he began to explore the confluence of those issues in the American justice system. In recent years, Chip has written and produced commercial podcasts for Audible and independently, focusing on wrongful convictions in the United States. 

In 2014, Chip cofounded ManifestWorks which became one of the pioneering organizations in the area of diversity and inclusion in Hollywood.

Her latest feature-length documentary, Agent of Happiness (co-directed with Arun Bhattarai), premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. The film is a playful exploration of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness policy through the journey of a happiness agent, blending humor, tenderness, and visual poetry. It has since won more than sixteen international awards — including Audience Awards at the San Francisco and Margaret Mead Film Festivals, and Best Film at the Biografilm and MakeDox Festivals — and has been screened at over a hundred festivals worldwide, followed by a wide theatrical release in more than twenty countries.
Dorottya’s earlier works include The Next Guardian (IDFA, 2017), an intimate portrait of a Bhutanese family caught between tradition and modernity, and her solo debut Easy Lessons (Locarno Critics’ Week, 2018), a lyrical coming-of-age story about a young Somali refugee adapting to life in Hungary. Both films were invited to more than forty international festivals and received multiple awards. 
She is a graduate of the DocNomads Joint Master’s Program in Documentary Directing and holds a PhD from the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest. A Berlinale Talent, member of the European Film Academy, and co-founding member of MADOKE – the Hungarian Documentary Association – Dorottya continues to balance her creative practice with teaching and mentoring at DocNomads and the Hungarian Documentary Master’s Program.