A scientist by training, Frédéric Lavigne has been in charge of the selection of the films at the Angers Premiers Plans Festival from 2000 to 2004. He then became Audiovisual Attaché at the French Embassy in London in charge of promoting French cinema in the UK.

In 2006, he joined the Forum des Images in Paris as Director of Educational Action, before launching and programming the Séries Mania festival in 2010. In 2013, this public event dedicated entirely to TV series from around the world added an Official Competition and a Professional Forum.

In 2018, Frederic Lavigne became full-time Artistic Director of Series Mania, which moved to Lille and grew to 98,000 spectators and 4,200 accredited industry guests by 2024.

Daria Badior is a cultural critic, journalist and editor from Ukraine.

She had worked as a Culture editor at one of Ukraine’s most prominent online outlets, LB.ua, also covering film, and cultural and commemoration policies as a journalist. In 2018, she co-founded the Union of Film Critics of Ukraine that awards the best Ukrainian filmmakers with the Kinokolo prize. Now she is a member of the European Film Academy and the Preparatory Committee of the European Press Prize.

Since 2017, she has been the co-curator at the Kyiv Critics’ Week film festival, which takes place annually in October. Now she is a freelancer, contributing to Ukrainian and international outlets and editing articles in various outlets, and preparing a book about the post-Maidan generation of culture makers.

Geoffrey Macnab writes about film for The Independent. He is also a senior correspondent at Screen International. His books include Stairways To Heaven: Rebuilding The British Film Industry and Ingmar Bergman: The Life and Films of the Last Great European European Director.

Lithuanian film producer Marija Razgutė has been running production company M-Films since 2008. She is one of the most active producers in Lithuania, working internationally and focusing on feature length fiction films. Marija’s recently produced title Slow by Marija Kavtaradze – premiered at Sundance in 2023 and won Best Director award there. Marija has been producing several important Lithuanian film talents and actively working as a minority co-producer. Her co-produced films have been selected at various festivals around the world, including Venice, Toronto and Karlovy Vary among others. Since 2011 Marija has been an active member of the Independent Producers Association of Lithuania, and its Board member since 2016. She is a graduate of EAVE Producers Workshop 2016, Producer on the Move 2020, ACE Producers 2020, ACE Leadership 2022. She is a member of the European Film Academy, and a Board member for 2024-2025.

Jānis Kalējs is one of the most accomplished producers in Latvia with more than 25 years of experience. He is the co-founder of Film Angels Studio and his field of expertise is international cooperation, film services and co-productions, working with professionals from the USA, Germany, the UK, France, India, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and many other countries. Kalējs is currently a board member of the Film Service Producers Association of Latvia, a foundation that aims to promote international film service in the Baltic region and to initiate legislative initiatives to develop the industry. He has produced several commercially successful and acclaimed films, most notably Anna Viduleja’s Homo Novus (2018).

After graduating in Philosophy at Vilnius University, Lithuania, she moved to France to pursue studies in Film Theory and Arts & Cultural Management. She was a project manager at the film professionals’ dedicated platform Festival Scope Pro and was the head of programming at the French Film Festival in Lithuania for 3 editions. In 2020, she joined Marseille-based film production, distribution, and exhibition company Shellac and is currently in charge of International Sales and Festivals.

Maria Drandaki founded her production label Homemade Films in 2009. She has since produced and co-produced several feature and short films which participated in many major international film festivals and film events and got distributed in movie theaters, streaming platforms, and TV channels around the world. Maria’s slate includes works by some of the most unique and daring voices in Greek and international cinema. She contributes as a production and co-production expert in various workshops and film industry events. She is a member of the EAVE and ACE producers’ networks, as well as of the European Film Academy.

Keiko started her career at an independent distribution company, Uplink Co. in Tokyo in the 90’s, specialized in edgy art house movies from all over the world. She then moved to France, acquired global experiences about world sales working at Celluloid Dreams. After that, worked on a mission from UniJapan – the development project of international co-productions for Japanese producers, collaborating with several international initiatives, such as Producer’s Network, Cinemart, EAVE etc. Then joined Umedia (Urban Distribution International), worked as legal & sales. In October 2011, together with a business partner Virginie Devesa, she co-founded a high-conceptual world sales company, Alpha Violet in Paris, keeping a strong independent spirit and a love for cinema.

Over the past 15 years Alessandro has planned the international strategy of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund and has managed a variety of initiatives, such as When East Meets West, Ties That Bind – Asia Europe Coproduction Workshop and RE-ACT Co-Development Funding Scheme”. From 2024 he is the President of the Fund and with this new role he will outline and lead the future vision of the regional funding schemes and international activities. He is an EAVE graduate, EAVE Italian national coordinator, and member of the European Film Academy.

Xavier Henry-Rashid runs Film Republic, a London based sales agency specialized in world cinema. Their lineup includes young and established auteurs, including Oscars contenders Pirjo Honkasalo, Adrian Saba, Arami Ullon. Xavier started his career as a photographer and freelance journalist, contributing to publications including Variety, Screen, Esquire and GQ, thereon working for a number of festivals in various positions, from previewer at Sheffield Doc/Fest to Executive Director of Raindance Film Festival and consulting roles with Sundance London and the East End Film Festival. He had a tenure on the board of the pan-European sales association Europa International until 2021, is an alumnus of the Berlin Talent Campus (now Talents), Screen Institute and EAVE, and a member of the EFA.

Lisette Kelder has worked in the film industry for nearly 20 years. First as an associate producer at Kasander film, later as a freelance line producer, and soon after became (executive/co-)producer for Circe Films and Kaap Holland Film. Her producer credits include Holy Electricity (Locarno 2024), Wander to Wonder (Venice 2023), Kurak Günler (Cannes 2022), Tiempo Compartido (Sundance 2018),ī (Berlinale 2018). In 2023 Lisette joined Ineke Kanters at The Film Kitchen and became co-owner.

Dimitris Kerkinos was born in Athens. He studied Film Studies at the University of Manitoba, Canada and he did his Ph.D dissertation on Society and Cinema in Cuba of the 90s for the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of the Aegean, Greece. He joined the Thessaloniki IFF in 1999, where he is the Head of Tributes and Survey Expanded (ex-Balkan Survey which he curated for 22 years); he has published essays and academic papers on cinema and anthropology and has edited documentary and fiction film monographs, such as, Carol Reed, Goran Paskaljević, Cristian Mungiu, Patricio Guzmán, Peter Wintonick. He lectured Visual Anthropology and Ethnographic Documentary at the Panteion University in Athens (2004-2008). He has served as the Artistic Director of fARAD Documentary Festival in Romania since 2019.

Producer Katrin Kissa’s cooperation with Veiko Õunpuu started in 2006 with Empty and continued with the highly lauded Autumn Ball and The Temptation of St. Tony, produced by their joint company Homeless Bob Production. These were followed by The Idiot based on the Dostoyevsky classic, and Veiko Õunpuu’s Free Range / Ballad on Approving of the World, which was released internationally in 2014 at the Berlinale Forum. Homeless Bob Production produces author-driven films only and subtly, but persistently, furrows its way into the soil of film history. Katrin is an alumna of Inside Pictures, EAVE and ACE Producers.

George is managing and developing the International Projects & coproductions department of Stefi Productions, one of the biggest production companies in Greece, creating a pool of talents that will produce projects with global potential and value. As a producer in the Onassis Foundation, he has produced work of visionary artists such as Brian Eno, Akram Khan, Dimitri Papaioannou, Paul Allen among others.

Experienced in co-production, investment, and finance through her work with international companies, Natalia Libet is a film producer and a co-founder of the women-led production company 2Brave Productions based in Kyiv, Ukraine. Natalia earned an MBA in the United States as the recipient of the 2000 Edmund Muskie/Freedom Support Act Graduate Fellowship Award. She is a member of the European Producers’ Club, European and Ukrainian Film Academies. Currently, Natalia also serves as the Head of Tatino Films’ First Cut+, a semiannual workshop focusing on marketing and positioning of feature films. She has produced and co-produced several successful feature debuts, including Kateryna Gornostai’s Stop-Zemlia (Crystal Bear at the 2021 Berlinale Generation 14+), Mantas Kvedaravičius’ Parthenon and Anna Buryachkova’s Forever-Forever – both screened in Venice.

Klára Mathé was born in Prague, she graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts at Charles University after studying English and Comparative Literature. At present, she is an acquisition specialist and buyer with Czech Television, the public broadcaster in the Czech Republic. Specifically, she is in charge of feature films and series acquisitions, as well as kids’ content.

Mikuláš graduated from FAMU with a degree in Film Producing and Theory of Interactive Media from the Faculty of Arts – acknowledging both the business and cultural aspects of creativity. His productions have been screened in major festivals worldwide. His work includes the six-hour film essay by the Czech New Wave legend Karel Vachek – Communism and the Net or the End of Representative Democracy, which was screened in the International Film Festival Rotterdam and Jan P. Matuszyński’s Leave No Traces, which was screened in Venice International Film Festival and was Poland’s Oscar entry.

Freddy has been in the film business since 1983, after a bankruptcy as publisher. He started in front of the camera but soon became a producer instead. A lot of low-budget filming followed, in the 80’s they were the Roger Cormans of Sweden. A long parallel life with the Göteborg Film Festival that he joined in 1987. Freeddy served as a chairman of the festival for many years but now has retired to the role of senior programmer. He’s traveling the world, watching films in Central Europe and Asia.

Núria Palenzuela Camon heads festivals and co-handles marketing at Paris-based Indie Sales. Núria started in sales working 4 years as Head of Festivals & Marketing at Totem Films on titles such as Cannes’ Grand Prix 2021 Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment No. 6. In 2020, she completed the Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris programme at La Fémis and the Filmakademie Baden-Württenberg. Previously, Núria worked in production at Barcelona’s Polar Star Films (Meritxell Colell’s film Facing The Wind, which was screened in Berlinale in 2018).

Aleksandra has worked for the Polish public broadcaster TVP since 2015, initially overseeing VOD programming with a focus on scripted content. In 2022, she joined the International Relations team, curating the film festival presence of TVP’s productions and co-productions. She is also part of the organizing team for the Heart of Europe TV Festival and Forum, uniting broadcasters and creators from Central and Eastern Europe. Since 2021, she has been a Prix Italia jury member, serving as Jury President in 2021, 2022, and 2024.

Alessandro Raja co-founded Festival Scope Pro – the B2B streaming platform for film professionals in 2010. The platform allows programming of selected festivals to be viewed online. Festival Scope Pro partners with a network of more than 120 festivals and markets. In 2016, he also co-founded Festival Scope – streaming platform for film lovers. Since 2012, he programs for the Sarajevo Film Festival’s Kinoscope section, focusing on emerging filmmakers from around the world. His professional experience covers other segments of the film industry, ranging from international sales and acquisitions at Celluloid Dreams (Paris, 2005-2009) and Coproduction Office (Paris, 2004), distribution at Artificial Eye (London, 2000-2003) and exhibition at The Everyman (London, 1999-2000).

Marek Skupień is a Polish production manager known for his work on both local and international films. His expertise spans through various genres including documentary and the feature films such as Agnieszka Holland’s Mr. Jones (screened at the Berlinale in 2019) and Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s international debut The Silent Twins (screened at Cannes International Film Festival in 2022). His most recent projects include a dark comedy My Neighbor Adolf by Leon Prudovsky (screened at Locarno International Film festival in 2022); James Napier-Robertson’s ballet drama Joika (Palm Springs in 2023), starring Talia Ryder and Diane Kruger. In 2023 Marek Skupień worked on the upcoming project by Burhan Qurbani – No Beast So Fierce.

Bogna Szewczyk-Skupień is an accomplished film producer and line producer specializing in international productions. She has built a dynamic career by collaborating on high-profile projects, gaining experience with acclaimed films such as, Claire Denis’ High Life, as well as two titles directed by Agnieszka Holland – Charlatan and Mr. Jones. In 2019, Szewczyk-Skupień joined the Warsaw-based production company Madants, where she focuses on producing independent films with strong international festival and distribution potential. She co-produced the Ukrainian film Pamfir by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, which premiered at Cannes in 2022. Continuing her streak, in 2024, she produced Woman of… by Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert (premiered at the Venice International Film Festival). Her work reflects a deep passion for bringing diverse, compelling narratives to the global screen.

Jevgeni Supin embarked on his journey in the entertainment industry in 1998, armed with a BA in Audiovisual Media. For over a decade, he lent his expertise to one of Estonia’s oldest production houses. Establishing himself as an independent producer in 2013, Jevgeni’s work has spanned a wide spectrum, from broadcast content to feature films and stage plays. In recent years, Jevgeni has ventured onto the international arena and is currently spearheading the development of a slate of projects in co-production with Germany, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Finland. One of his most ambitious undertakings is Detective von Fock, a historical crime series scheduled for production in 2024, poised to become one of Estonia’s most expensive drama series. Beyond his production endeavors, Jevgeni also helms the TV Beats Forum, a conference and co-financing market hosted by the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

Paul Thiltges is a film producer, sales agent, and is currently managing director of PTD, which he founded in 1993. Active in the film industry since 1986, he has co-founded numerous film institutions and presides over Luxembourg’s Producers Association (ULPA). Throughout his career, Paul has worked with internationally acclaimed directors such as Michael Glawogger, Ari Folman, Enzo d’Alò and Radu Jude, hence building up a solid catalog worthy of the most prestigious film festivals around the world.

Daria Voumard, a Media Management graduate, began her career in communications and journalism, working for several media platforms. She has worked at the Locarno Film Festival’s industry hub Locarno Pro for 7 years, now as Industry Manager. She coordinates industry activities and curates the First Look work-in-progress section and the Heritage Online classic films database.

Aleksandra Zakharchenko, originally from Kyiv, Ukraine, holds Master’s degrees in International Economics and Cultural Project Management. She relocated to France in 2012, where she started as a programmer at the Nancy International Short Film Festival. She later coordinated the European Short Pitch project for three years before transitioning to the commercial department of the Institut Lumière and Lumière Film Festival. In 2017, Aleksandra brought her expertise to the forefront of the Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes team, where she now serves as Head of Industry Programs.