Jury

Dmitrii Yakunin

Russia, Moscow | the jury chairman

A Russian producer, the executive director of Youth Center of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia, deputy executive director of  Fund of Regional Cinematography Support (FRCS), chief producer of the production centre “MovieStart”, which is engaged in the film production as well as the support of young Russian filmmakers throughout the country. An organizer of 16 Moscow and more than 60 regional pitchings within the framework of the project "All-Russian pitching of debutants", in which more than 7000 works took part. The winning films receive awards at prestigious festivals and attract the attention of big producers and digital platforms.

Sarfaraz Alam

India| a member of the jury

A film director, producer, Indian cinema promoter. Sarfaraz Alam studied filmmaking at the New York Film Academy and shot his first feature film “Tears of Nandigram” after that. Sarfaraz Alam has received numerous awards around the world, including the award for his participation in the Jagran Film Festival in New Delhi and the Indian Film Festival in Berlin. Having grasped the idea and being inspired by the festival of Indian cinema in Berlin, he became the organizer of the Indian Film Festivals in Russia and Uzbekistan. The organizer of the Russian Cinema week in India.

Daria Pavlotos

Russia, Moscow | a member of the jury

Editor, creative producer, screenwriter, copywriter, lecturer at Moscow Film School. Senior Editor, Internet Development Institute.

Sardana Savvina

Russia, Republic of Sakha | a member of the jury

A film producer, Yakut cinema promoter. The chief executive officer of Sakha Cinema Company, co-founder of the “Yakut Cinema Club” community, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) State Prize named after A.E.Kulakovsky laureate; a program curator of the Yakutsk International Film Festival (2013-2016), the NATIVe section of the Berlin International Film Festival program consultant (Berlinale, 2017); the consultant and producer of the Yakut cinema program "Sakha Cinema: World of Mysterious Nature and Myths" at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, 2017), An organizer of the Days of Yakut Cinema in Tyva, Tatarstan, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, St. Petersburg, Moscow, etc.

The director of the regional Short Film Festival “Republic of Cinema” (2021-2022), a member of the Asia-Pacific countries Film Academy (The Asia Pacific Screen Academy) since 2016, the head of the "Sakhafilm" (2021-2023).

Mariia Finkelshtein

Russia, Moscow | a member of the jury

A film director, producer. Was born in 1985 in Chelyabinsk.

In 2007 she graduated from the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography of S.A. Gerasimov (Department of Non-fiction Film Directing, Boris Karadzhev and Yefim Reznikov’s studio).

The editor-in-chief of the TV Channel 24_DOC from October 2014 to July 2017. From 2017 to the present, Mariia heads the Documentary Film Service of the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

Ольга Филонова

Россия, Москва | член жюри

The lead producer of Regional Cinema Support Fund of the Russian Filmakers Union and a producer of documentaries. In 2009 she graduated from Russian State University for the Humanities (the Moscow State Institute for History and Archives) as a specialist in the field of history. In 2010 she started her career in the film industry first as an author of TV programs, then as an assistant producer. In 2019 she finished the course «Modern Cinema» at Moscow Film School. In 2020 Olga finished the course International Co-Production at HSE University (organised by Roskino). Olga’s a member of the Russian Documentary Guild.