Film producer from Slovakia

Katarina Tomkova has worked for the Slovak Film Institute as an international promoter between 2009-2015. Since 2015, she has collaborated on several films acclaimed at the festival circuit: 5 October (Rotterdam IFF), Hotel Sunrise (IDFA, Hot Docs), Nina (KVIFF, TIFF), Silent Days (KVIFF, Marrakech IFF), Servants (Berlinale Encounters), 107 Mothers (Venice IFF - Best Screenplay Orizzonti, EFA European Discovery 2022 nomination), Photophobia (Venice IFF – Europa Cinemas Label Award at Giornate degli Autori), often balancing between documentary and fiction. As a tutor, she collaborates with the MIDPOINT Institute and the Thessaloniki IFF’s market Agora. She is an EAVE Producers Workshop graduate. In 2021, she was the Slovak representative in the Producers on the Move programme organised by the EFP.

Cypriot Director of Photography

Emre Erkmen was born in Istanbul, and currently lives in Berlin. He graduated from Deutsche Film und Fernsehakademie Berlin (dffb) Cinematography. He was Director of Photography for award-winning films such as Lifelong and All of a Sudden (Aslı Özge, Berlinale Panorama Special), Tale of Three Sisters (Emin Alper, Berlinale Competition), Do Not Forget Me Istanbul (Hany Abu Assad, Eric Nazarian), Envy (Zeki Demirkubuz), Men on the Bridge (Aslı Özge) and Two Girls (Kutluğ Ataman). He won Best Cinematographer awards for his work in Lifelong, Tale of Three Sisters, Envy and Two Girls at various film festivals. His latest productions are Black Box and Faruk (Berlinale, Fipresci Award) directed by Aslı Özge.

Film Critic from France

Born in Paris, Sandra Onana is a journalist and film critic since 2019, now serving as deputy chief of “Service Culture" for the French newspaper Libération. She studied humanities, cultural policy, and cultural journalism, gaining her first experiences at the National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC), and in the programming team of the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) before returning to writing, her first love. She is also a regular contributor of the France Culture radio show Plan Large since 2022.

Film director and writer from Greece

Asimina Proedrou is a writer and director from Greece. She has written and directed two multi-awarded shorts and her debut feature film, Behind the Haystacks (2022). The film, critically acclaimed, was officially selected, among others, for the Palm Springs IFF. It won six awards at the Thessaloniki IFF, the Debut Film Director Award at the IFF of India, and ten awards at the Hellenic Film Academy Awards, including Best Film. The film was also selected for the European Film Academy Awards and was the official Greek entry for the 96^th Academy Awards (International Oscar).

Palestinian filmmaker

Juna Suleiman is a Palestinian filmmaker currently based in Berlin. Her feature-length documentary film Mussolini's Sister, which debuted at IDFA in 2018, has received international nominations and awards. Since 2008, Juna has served as the casting director for numerous internationally renowned films, including The Time that Remains and It Must Be Heaven by Elia Suleiman, Omar by Hany Abu Asaad, among many others. She has acquired extensive expertise in the field and pioneered the establishment of film casting as a local Palestinian production department. Additionally, Juna has been closely collaborating as an editor with various academic, archival, and artistic projects. Notable examples include her work with academic and researcher Ariella Azoulay from Brown University on The World Like a Jewel in the Hand (2022), and There is a Baba in our House by Leil Zahra (Centre of Human Rights and Arts, Bard College, 2020).