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FESTIVAL TEAM 2017

JURY

Andrei Șendrea

Andrei Șendrea

An alumni of the National University of Theatre and Film “I.L.Caragiale”, Andrei Șendrea is a film critic and scriptwriter based in Bucharest. He has been writing on cinema since 2012, and has covered a
lot of ground in terms of publishing outlets (from highly specialized magazines to daily national newspapers, both online and print, in Romanian and in English) and writing formats (from academic
research papers to reviews, interviews and festival coverage). He has been invited to sit on film festival juries and has participated in international film journalism workshops (Indiewire's Locarno Critics Academy 2014, Nisimazine Cannes 2014, Nisimazine Venice 2013). Since 2016 he is working for a weekly TV show on cinema.

Ben Vandendaele

Ben Vandendaele

Ben Vandendaele is a versatile producer based in Brussels where he studied Audiovisual Techniques at the Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema and Sound. He has gathered experience in various film-related settings: as a digital image technician, film editor and a media manager. He is the founder of two companies: the production company Bekke Films that supports provocative cinema and authors with a purpose and Radiator IP Sales with which he has represented, distributed and sold an total of 75 short and 3 feature films to date. All of the films were played and won awards at major film festivals worldwide. He’s was a Berlinale Talents participant of 2016 and is part of the ZFF Master Class 2017. Since 2016 he’s closely collaborating with organisations such as NISI Masa – European Short Pitch, Italian Short Film Centre, Wajda Studio and Balkans Beyond Borders.

Silas Michalakas

Silas Michalakas

Silas Michalakas obtained his MA in Visual Anthropology at the Goldsmiths College, University of London, while he also holds a MSc in History and Philosophy of Science and Technology and a BA in Archaeology. He has worked in research projects of universities and research institutions, in the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports and as a freelance documentary filmmaker, researcher and producer. He has extensive experience in filmmaking focusing in intangible cultural heritage, while he is particularly interested in the technological advances on documentary filmmaking. He is currently the Development Manager of the Athens Ethnographic Film Festival – ETHNOFEST.

Organizing Team

Veroniki Krikoni - Programmer/ Project Manager

Veroniki Krikoni - Programmer/ Project Manager

Vasiliki Maltasoglou - Communication/ Programmer

Vasiliki Maltasoglou - Communication/ Programmer

Dimitris Maragkos - Networking/ Social Media

Dimitris Maragkos - Networking/ Social Media

Boyka Boneva - Festival Organization

Boyka Boneva - Festival Organization

Nikos Papakostas - Festival Organization/ Networking

Nikos Papakostas - Festival Organization/ Networking

Lucía Ridruejo Arias - Communication

Lucía Ridruejo Arias - Communication

PRE-SELECTION TEAM 2017

Bozhana Shoshkova

Bozhana Shoshkova

Bozhana Shoshkova has first completed her Bachelor in marketing and pursued a second  master degree in Advertising Management. Between 2012 and 2013 she was enrolled as a European volunteer with the organization of the 10th edition of the German Short Film Festival for youth, FiSH – Festival im StadtHafen in Rostock and participated as volunteer in various other film and art festivals. In 2014 she was working as festival programmer and project manager for the International short film festival IN THE PALACE, held annually in Bulgaria, where she was actively involved in the whole organization process of the festival as well as in the implementation of different youth mobility projects. She was working for one of the leading European providers of tickets for various concerts, festivals, theatres, sports and cultural events. She is passionate about the audio visual culture as a communication medium in the modern society and what fascinates her the most is the artistic expression and power of the short film genre, used as tool for building bridges and establishing a dialog between different cultures.

Firuze Karaoğlu

Firuze Karaoğlu

Firuze Karaoğlu (1988, Turkey) gratuated from İstanbul Technical University with a degree on Urban and Regional Planning. She did European Voluntary Service in Thessaloniki, Greece and after she completed it, she participated at the BBB film making workshop in Athens in 2011 creating her own film. She has been involved in many international projects on media and filmmaking, including the project called ‘North Aegean Narratives’ (http://northaegeannarratives.org/) which was a collective documentary project between Greece and Turkey. Currently she is keeping up with her projects on filmmaking and continue with a Masters Degree.

Raluca Iacob

Raluca Iacob

Raluca Iacob currently works in the programming department for Astra Film Festival, the largest documentary festival in Romania. She obtained her PhD in Film Studies, from the University of St. Andrews, with a thesis on post-communist Romanian cinema, under the supervision of Prof. Dina Iordanova. She had previously obtained a Master degree from the University of Amsterdam, where she studied film, and a Bachelor in Journalism from the Babes-Bolyai University in Romania. Since her undergraduate studies, she has published work both as a film critic and a researcher, in both Romanian and English. She is primarily interested in peripheral films, and in the capacity of film festivals to provide a platform for non-mainstream cinema. With that direction in mind, she has been involved in organizing several film events over the years, including curating a season on Balkan cinema for the Byre Theatre in St. Andrews, during her doctoral studies.

Mariana Hristova

Mariana Hristova

After graduating from the Film Studies program at NATFA, Sofia in 2005, Mariana has been working as a film and cultural journalist for several years. Pursuing a career shift, in 2010 she moved to Amsterdam to continue her education in the field of film archiving and curatorship. As part of the educational program, she completed an internship at Filmoteca de Catalunya, Barcelona and she is currently living in the Catalan capital focusing on film festivals management and curating of content from Eastern Europe and the Balkans. She has already curated “Visiones Balcanicas,” the first Balkan focus within the MECAL Short and Animation Film Festival in Barcelona (2015), the film cycle “Bulgaria, the Invisible Europe” at Barcelona’s Filmoteca de Catalunya and Madrid’s Filmoteca Española(2016), the Balkan Short Films selection for the installation Lògiques Naturals at Capella de Sant Joan, Vilafranca de Penedés (2017), and co-curated the Croation Focus within MECAL (2016). In 2016 she won the film criticism award of the Balkan cinema website Altcine.com, so she became an ambassador of Balkan Film for the 5C Project. She is currently handling social media and press communications for the Eastern Neighbours Film Festival.

Volunteers

Sara Ana Ianone/ Social Media

Sara Ana Ianone/ Social Media

Rifat Erkek/ Communication

Rifat Erkek/ Communication

Stefanos Nastos - IT support

Stefanos Nastos - IT support

Vasco Batista/ Communication - Networking

Vasco Batista/ Communication - Networking

Vasco Batista is from Portugal and is living in Brussels, where he works in the team of foreign affairs of the Spokesperson’s Service of the European Commission. He holds a Master of Arts in European
Interdisciplinary Studies from the College of Europe and a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from the University of Coimbra. He has also did several training in the Western Balkans, namely in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Despite his interest in studying the political developments across the Balkans, Vasco enjoys also discovering the region in its all dimensions, in particular with regards to culture and art. Vasco speaks fluently Portuguese, English, Spanish and French and he is currently studying Croatian.