After successfully taking his first short film, Tea For Two, on to the film festival circuit, he later co-founded the Exit 6 Film Festival in 2015. This festival became a mainstay on FilmFreeways' Top 100 Best Reviewed Film Festivals list and a BIFA-qualifying festival in 2023. He is also a Festival Strategist & Liaison at the internationally renowned Festival Formula, an agency specialising in short film festival strategy.
Marta Sousa Ribeiro (1992, Lisbon, Portugal) did the 1st year of the Lisbon Film School, later attending the European Film College. She was one of the co-founders of the production company VIDEOLOTION (2014-21). She has produced shorts, features, video-installations, series, and more.
Matevž Jerman is a filmmaker and film curator, co-founder of the Kraken Association for the Promotion of Short Film, and Programme Director of FeKK – Ljubljana Short Film Festival.
Mónica Santos is a multifaceted author with two Sophia Awards from the Portuguese Film Academy, a César nomination from the French Film Academy, and over 70 international distinctions, including selections at festivals such as Hiroshima, Palm Springs, Clermont-Ferrand, Annecy and Curtas Vila do Conde.
Paolo Gaudio is an Italian director, screenwriter, and animator specializing in experimental animation techniques, including stop motion, cut-out, and CGI. His feature debut Fantasticherie di un Passeggiatore Solitario earned 14 international awards.
Son of winegrowers, Simon Panay ventured at the age of eighteen into independent cinema and was named Young Talent of the Year 2014 by ARP (the French Guild of Authors, Directors, and Producers).
Slavi Angelov has been an investigative journalist for more than 30 years. He is also the creator of the 11-part documentary series “On target” (2014/Bulgarian National Television), as well as the investigative documentary films “The Protected Witness”, “233 Meters Between Life and Death”, and “8 Years of Slavery” (2020/Nova Television).
Soňa Morgenthalová has been managing training programs for film professionals at the MIDPOINT Institute since 2017, focusing on the development of feature and short films as well as the skills development of emerging script consultants and producers.
Lee Knight is a 2026 Academy Award–nominated writer, director, and actor working across stage and screen. His writing and directorial debut, A Friend of Dorothy—starring Miriam Margolyes and Stephen Fry—earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Film and is available on Disney+ and airlines worldwide.
