Juris Kursietis is an award-winning Latvian writer-director. His debut feature Modris (2014) premiered at Toronto and received a Special Jury Mention at San Sebastián, while Oleg (2019) premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. His third feature, The Exalted (2024), premiered in the Official Competition at Tallinn Black Nights. Kursietis also co-directed the internationally successful series Soviet Jeans (2024), presented at Berlinale and Series Mania. His latest series project, Aurora.Newsroom, was presented at Series Mania and is currently in pre-production. His latest feature, Tabita, produced by White Picture and currently in post-production, is a Latvia-Netherlands-Lithuania co-production supported by Eurimages.

Alise Ģelze is a Latvian film producer and founder of White Picture, established in 2019. Under her leadership, White Picture has built a strong international track record, producing and co-producing films selected for major international festivals. Recent titles include The Exalted (2024) by Juris Kursietis, which premiered in the Official Competition at Tallinn Black Nights; Sergei Loznitsa’s Two Prosecutors (2025), which premiered in the Cannes Official Competition; and Wild Wild East (2026) by Jan Holoubek, which premiered at Toronto. White Picture is currently in post-production with Juris Kursietis’ Tabita, a Latvia–Netherlands–Lithuania co-production supported by Eurimages, and Anna Ansone’s Summer Blues, a Latvia-Germany-Lithuania co-production. Ģelze is a graduate of EAVE and ACE Producers and a member of the European Film Academy.