Gabriele Brunnenmeyer is a script mentor, pitching coach and project consultant. Alongside consulting on script development, packaging and pitching for individual projects, she consults for various international workshops and events such as HerArts FilmLab, Midpoint Shorts, Midpoint Feature Launch, KVIFF Eastern Promises Industry Days, Cutting Edge Talent Camp, Baltic Pitching Forum, SFC / Rendez-Vouz-Industry Cannes, New Horizons Studio, Istanbul Film Station, Berlinale Talents & Sarajevo Talents: Pack& Pitch and others.
Anna Bielak is a screenwriter and script consultant. She has a Master’s degree in Film Studies and has participated in several workshops for script consultants and writers, including Midpoint Training the Trainers and Feature Launch programs, Script Circle and Six Days of Practice, led by Francoise von Roy and Franz Rodenkirchen, and LIM – Less is More. Since 2013, she has been consulting projects for various programs on the international market, such as the Baltic Pitching Forum. She is also the co-founder of Script Atelier and Script a Story, development workshops. Since 2020 she has been Head of Development at Aurum Film. She leads the conceptual work on feature films and series for the company and is credited as a script consultant for, among others, “Colors of Evil: Red”, the worldwide Netflix hit. She debuted as scriptwriter with feature TV comedy “If I Were You” (2023), which won the Intermedia Globe Grand Award at the World Media Festival in Hamburg and was developed into a premium miniseries (4 episodes). “Today We’re All Gonna Hide”, a short film she co-wrote, premiered at the 49th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia in 2024. The feature film “Echo” reached the finals of Script Wars 2024 – a script competition organised by the Mazovia Warsaw Film Commission. She’s one of the ten writers taking part in ONLY WRITERS IN A BUILDING at BERLINALE 2025 – an exlusive showcase spotligthing the freshest voices in series screenwriting trained at MIDPOINT Institute.
Elena Ciofalo has ten years of experience in cultural project management across Turin and Aosta. Since December 2023, she’s been Project Manager and Head of Strategic Planning for the Italian Short Film Center, located in Turin. She’s also the co-founder of the AIACE VDA association in Aosta Valley. Previously, from 2018 to 2023, she was Project Manager in the Cultural Promotion and Audience Development department at the Fondazione Polo del ‘900 in Turin. From 2021 to 2023, she also worked as a producer for the production company Cinefonie.
Catherine Colas studied literature and dramatics at the Sorbonne in Paris. Additionally to her studies she was educated as an actress and leaded her own theatre group afterwards. She began to work for ARTE in1995, mainly for the film department, the Metropolis magazine and as a production manager for documentaries. From 2001 until 2006 she worked in the Cultural department of the Institut Français in Germany. Since 2007 she is working for ZDF/ARTE as commissioning editor for short and medium length films as well as first feature films. She is in charge of a weekly magazine dedicated to shorts “Kurzschluss”.
Graduated in Political Science and Journalism from the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb and holds an MA in Audiovisual Management from the Media Business School, MEGA Plus, Spain. Worked as a producer and programmer for film festivals in the region for 15 years (Zagreb FF, Motovun FF/Cinehill; IDFF Beldocs). In 2022 launched a production company Cobra Chicks producing fiction films and series. Has a background in cinema distribution, worked as a cinema programmer for 7 years, for Dogwoof London and Taskovski Sales. Member of Croatian producers association, Filmmakers Association of Croatia and a representative at FIAPF.
Valentin Leblanc created Black Boat Pictures in 2017 to develop emerging international directors and build new synergies. He then opened White Boat Pictures in Belgium with Delphine Duez in 2019. The two sister-companies collaborate together, on two territories, in the development and financing of international films from all horizons. Their projects are selected in the coproduction forums of Cannes, Berlin, Brussels and Clermont-Ferrand, whereas their finished films sail international festivals around the globe and are screened on the main French and Belgian TV channels. Arte, Canal+, France Télévisions and RTBF now share productions of Black & White Boat Pictures to their audience.
SND Films is a boutique sales agency founded in 1994 by Sydney Neter, who started out as a production assistant for features and commercials in Amsterdam. Among others, Sydney has been on the Dutch Film Fund shorts commission from 2001-2010. Mostly selling strong animated, live action and doc shorts these days. One favorite genre: animated short docs. Furthermore, proud to be the exclusive agents for all of Bill Plympton’s animated shorts outside the USA as well as other animated gems like the 2024 Toronto Premiere QUOTA by the Oscar nominated Job, Joris & Marieke and Anna Samo’s animated short “The Wild-Tempered Clavier” that made it to the 2025 Oscar short list. Also repping a great deal of high quality LGBTQI shorts like the Swedish GAME RULES, the Swiss PIPES (Winterthur 2022) and the Dutch short doc SEAHORSE PARENTS by Miriam Guttmann (on pregnant trans men). And many more!
Julie Rousson holds a Masters degree in cultural project production, with a master’s thesis about the impact of Internet and numeric revolution on the short film industry. She permanently joins Sauve Qui Peut le Court Métrage, the association behind the Clermont-Ferrand Int’ Short Film Festival, in 2015 after several years working on punctual missions. She is a member of the International competition selection committee. She coordinates the Pop-Up program dedicated to new fiction models, the industry events at the Short Film Market (including coproduction forum Euro Connection) and the relation with administrative institutions. She is a board member of the Short Film Conference.
Versatile producer, sales agent and distributor. He’s based in Brussels where he studied film editing at the Rits School of Arts. He is the founder of two companies: the production company Bekke Films and Radiator IP Sales with which he represents, distributes and sells a total of 200 short films and several feature films to date. The films have been selected and awarded at multiple international film festivals, including Berlinale, Cannes, Clermont-Ferrand, Sundance, SXSW, Locarno, Venice, etc. He is a Berlinale Talents alumni, member of European Film Academy.
Millán Luis Vázquez-Ortiz, a passionate film professional born in Badajoz (Spain) in 1978, has built a distinguished career in the audiovisual industry. He holds a degree in English Philology from the University of Extremadura, followed by a postgraduate degree in Audiovisual Distribution from the Open University of Catalonia, as well as studies in authorship, and specialization in History, Aesthetics, and Documentary Genres at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
In 2000, together with Mónica Gallego, he founded and has since directed Agencia Freak, a leading company in the international distribution of short films and documentaries. Over the years, he has also played a key role in the creation and management of platforms such as Feelmakers.com and Uptofest.com, as well as the sales agency Feelsales. His work also includes serving as technical director of the Cineposible Festival in Extremadura for five years.
His commitment to the promotion and dissemination of cinema is reflected in his active participation in various film associations and events at both national and international levels. A member of the Spanish Film Academy and the European Film Academy, he has contributed to the production of several documentary works and has trained emerging filmmakers at institutions such as the International Film and TV School of Cuba (EICTV).
Commissioning editor of short films at Yle (Finnish Broadcasting company). She is in charge of a strand called “New Cinema” on Yle Teema channel. The main focus of New Cinema is on cinematic short films and some feature documentary films fitting the profile.
Brigita Beniušytė has been working in film for more than ten years. She joined M-Films in 2017, where since 2022 she has been producing films alongside Marija Razgutė. Her recent work includes a feature film THE VISITOR by Vytautas Katkus, which won Best Director at Karlovy Vary IFF 2025, and the short HAPPY NEXT YEAR! (Uppsala ISFF 2024).
As an associate producer, she produced SLOW (Sundance 2023 Directing Award), BECOMING (Locarno 2025), TO THE VICTORY! (Toronto IFF 2025), and HUNGER STRIKE BREAKFAST (2025). Brigita is currently developing new projects, among them MARCH 14TH by Alberto Gross Molo and Marius Pocevičius’ absurd comedy I’M NOT LIKE THAT.
She has taken part in international programs such as Locarno’s Match Me!, FIDLab, First Cut+, TFL Green Film Lab, EAVE Marketing Workshop, ACE Training Days, among others. Since 2025, she is a proud member of the Lithuanian Independent Producers Association.
Andris Gauja has written and directed both documentaries—including Family Instinct (2010, IDFA nomination, AFI Docs Grand Prix, Cinema Eye Honors nomination)—and narrative films, such as Nothing Can Stop Us Now (2019, nine nominations for the Latvian National Film Prize) and The Lesson (2014, Montreal IFF competition, Chicago IFF, Bergen IFF, among others). His work often explores thought-provoking themes. Currently focused on scientific documentaries, Andris is a doctoral candidate in film studies. His science documentary short The Art of Looking recently premiered at Jihlava IDFF and has already been selected for 20 film festivals.
Dora is a Hungarian producer and strategist, with a background in aesthetics and film theory/history. She’s lived in Tallinn since 2020, and co-owns the production company Mindwax. Dora is an EAVE Producers Workshop 2016 graduate, and her works have been acquired by Mubi and recognised by Sight&Sound Magazine’s end-of-year lists. She produced 8 Views of Lake Biwa by writer-director Marko Raat, an Estonian-Finnish co-production, at Allfilm, alongside Ivo Felt, that premiered last year at IFFR before travelling to TIFF in Cluj, Palic and Helsinki among others, picking up two awards in Hanoi IFF, Vietnam. Biwa was Estonia’s Oscar submission for 2025. She’s also the co-producer of Who Am I Smiling For?, Eeva Mägi’s hybrid doc that premiered at Giffoni in 2023 and was the opening film for Tallinn Black Nights’ Just Film Festival, then was screened in the documentary competition programme of Molodist Film Festival in 2024.
Her other work includes a number of short films by cult British director Peter Strickland and features by found-footage auteurs Péter Lichter and Bori Máté. Strickland’s segment in horror anthology The Field Guide to Evil (2018) premiered at SXSW and the team’s shorts GUO4 (2019, Venice) and Cold Meridian (2020, San Sebastian) followed. Lichter’s Empty Horses (2019) was at IFFR and Jihlava, and The Philosophy of Horror – A Symphony of Film Theory (2020, co-directed with Bori Máté) screened at Torino, Cottbus and IFFR. Dora has collaborated with Texas-based directors Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan since 2015, on short docs The Send-Off (2016, Sundance), The Rabbit Hunt (2017, Berlinale) and Happiness Is a Journey (2021, Locarno).
Dora is also active as lecturer and mentor at a number of programmes, for instance she’s the producer tutor for MIDPOINT Shorts since 2022.
Laurence Boyce has been working in the film industry for almost 25 years with a focus on short film. He began at the Leeds International Film Festival (UK) as a programmer and still works there to this day as an advisor. He currently works as the Head of Programme (Live Action for PÖFF Shorts (Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival) in Tallinn, Estonia. Aside from his festival duties, Laurence works as a journalist for outlets such as Screen International, Sight & Sound and Cineuropa. He is a member of BAFTA, the European Film Academy, the London Critics’ Circle and FIPRESCI (the International Federation of Film Critics). He is also the chairman of the board of the Short Film Conference, an international network of organisations focused on short film.
Jing Haase is a curator and short film expert who has been working in the industry for more than two decades. She has previously worked with Nordic shorts and docs as market manager at Nordisk Panorama and as festival manager for short films at the Swedish Film Institute with a primary focus on international distribution. She has also worked as a programmer and in film production. Jing is often used as moderator, panellist, facilitator, and jury member at international festivals and industry events.
Ewa Bojanowska graduated in Media Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and Film Producing from Polish Film School in Łódź. She is also an EAVE Marketing and Torino Audience Design graduate. From 2015 till 2022 Ewa worked for New Europe Film Sales, where as Head of Marketing she worked on launch campaigns for such films as SWEAT by Magnus von Horn (Cannes 2020 Official Selection), The Disciple by Chaitanya Tamhane (Venice 2020 Competition), Lamb by Valdimar Jóhannsson (UCR Cannes 2021) and Oscar® Nominee Corpus Christi by Jan Komasa. Working as an independent she handled, among others, the Oscars® campaign for The Balcony Movie by Paweł Łoziński. She is working as audience designer and festivals & promotion consultant, among others for Torino Film Lab, International Screen Institute and independent producers across Europe. She is a member of The Audience Design Collective.
Jūratė Pazikaitė is a Film Commissioner and the Head of the Vilnius Film Office. She began her career in economics and investment before transitioning into the film industry, where she has been working for over 13 years since the establishment of the Vilnius Film Office. She was honoured with the National Film Award for the impact on the film industry and is a Board Member of the European Film Commissions Network EUFCN. Jūratė Pazikaitė holds an MA in International Business and Management.
Austėja Milvydaitė is Head of MEDIA Office at Creative Europe Desk Lithuania and has been consulting audiovisual industry professionals on all things funding for over 6 years. The MEDIA strand of the Creative Europe programme supports the European film and audiovisual industries to develop, distribute and promote European works. The MEDIA Office at Creative Europe Desk Lithuania promotes Creative Europe programme at national level, assists the audiovisual sector regarding participation in MEDIA and stimulates cross-border cooperation between professionals, institutions and networks.
Anna Hints is a multi-awarded Estonian film director and scriptwriter with deep roots in the distinct culture of South East Estonia and a background in contemporary art and experimental folk music. Anna’s debut feature documentary Smoke Sauna Sisterhood won the Directing Award at Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Documentary Competition and European Film Award for Best European Documentary in 2023. It was sold to 33 territories worldwide. The film has been to numerous festivals, won more than 40 awards and acclaimed many prestigious nominations. Anna’s latest work in cooperation with Tushar Parkash, short fiction Sauna Day, premiered at Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week 2024 and has been selected to many prestigious festivals like Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Clermont-Ferrand and Tampere. Another recent short fiction Weight of Light won national grand prix at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) and several awards worldwide. Anna is a member of the European Film Academy.
Kristijonas is an audiovisual artist, filmmaker, and photographer. In his work, he combines music and sonic art with visual expression in narrative and non-narrative short films, projections for stage, and audiovisual installations. While studying Film and Music BA at Brunel University (London), he worked on interdisciplinary art projects and festivals with students and lecturers. Psychogeography module taught by Will Self had a great influence on his work – exploring the city as a character through street videography is a recurrent theme in his non-narrative work. In 2014 he moved to Paris, where he worked as a director and editor, along his masters in Film Directing in Université Paris 8. In 2020 he came back to Lithuania after 10 years abroad, where he made his first Lithuanian short film “Reminiscence”.
After an adolescence full of computers and electronic music, Jani started his first business – a sound studio. Since then he has been a media composer, co-founder of two animation production companies and an awarded sound designer for animated short films and video art. In 2019 Jani extended his love of animation into producing. He is specialised in ecological production and the winner of Verso Sustainability Award at Tampere Film Festival 2024. Jani has produced three short animations that have been shown on respectable festivals all around the world and have been awarded in places such as Annecy, Tirana, Chitose, Baltimore and Fredrikstad.
Eroll Bilibani is a film producer of award-winning films ON THE WAY, DISPLACED, IN BETWEEN, HOME. He is the Head of DokuLab, the flagship program of DokuFest, where a new wave of Kosovo filmmakers is supported through support programs and where he develops educational programs in which cinema and storytelling are the means to a greater understanding of complex questions. Eroll is the coordinator of DokuFest’s Short Film Forum.
Lauma Kaudzīte is an international project manager with a focus on short film and talent development. Parallel to coordinating European Short Pitch, Lauma is managing director of Short Film Conference, as well as the short film programme manager at Riga International Film Festival. She often serves as a jury member in different festivals and industry events, as well as participates in talks and panels. She also works as a project coordinator at Latvian Animation Association, is a member of Baltic Pitching Forum selection committee and consults for Latvian Short Film Agency, 2ANNAS and Baltic Shorts. Lauma is based in Paris.
Alicia Martinez has been with the Brussels Short Film Festival and Brussels International Film Festival for five years. She is Head of Industry Events for both festivals managing professional events and industry programming. She also contributes to the Brussels Short Film Festival’s artistic vision as a member of the selection committee.
In parallel with her role as head of Industry Events, she coordinates the European Short Film Audience Award (ESFAA), a network of European festivals promoting short films through audience engagement.
Céline has worked in various capacities within the short film industry for the past decade. She has been part of the programming teams at Aspen ShortsFest, Dublin International Film Festival, Leeds International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Palm Springs ShortFest, San Francisco International Film Festival, SXSW, and the Toronto International Film Festival. Most recently, Céline contributed to the programming at IDFA and the Festival de Cannes, where she also joined the Short Film Corner | Rendez-vous Industry team. Céline currently serves as Senior Curator for the website Short of the Week, where she writes about shorts and coordinates various industry initiatives. She is also a regular mentor for the Doha Film Institute. Céline’s previous experience includes handling distribution and sales for the French production company Films Grand Huit.
Lea is the Head of Industry at Nordisk Panorama, an organisation by and for the Nordic documentary and short filmmakers. She has been working with Nordisk Panorama since 2014, first as coordinator and later manager of the NP Forum for Co-financing of Documentaries and since 2022 as Head of Industry in charge of project development workshops, Norddok workshops and conference programmes for both short films and documentaries. Based in Copenhagen, she works year around with the Nordic film community by fostering collaborations, developing new talent, and strengthening the visibility of documentaries and short films on the global stage.
