Professional Jury Feature Film International
Daniela Adomat
Leipzig | Germany
Daniela Adomat worked for twenty years in various positions of the German television industry and was jointly responsible for formats such as “tagesschau“, “MDR Aktuell“, and “Brisant“ as a reporter, planner and editorial manager. Today, she is head of Licensing, Film and Series departments at MDR Fernsehen as well as the broadcasterʼs “film buyer” and, as ARD Short Film Commissioner, the contact person for all questions about short films.
Eduard Barnsteiner
Ascheffel | Germany
Eduard Barnsteiner began his career in the film industry while studying Law in Augsburg at the “Tag des Unabhängigen Films” and the “Kinderfilmtage Augsburg” a good 35 years ago. He then worked at Thalia FTB in Augsburg, Ancora Kinowerbung Munich, Senatorfilm, MaxX – Munich and Buena Vista Germany (Disney). In 2007, he started his own business and, together with his wife Britta Wilkening Barnsteiner, has been running the film distribution company “barnsteiner-film” in Schleswig-Holstein ever since.
Katrin Kleeberg
Leipzig | Germany
Katrin Kleeberg studied journalism at the Leipzig School of Journalism. She then worked, among other positions, in corporate communications and at the ddp news agency in the Dresden regional office as a correspondent and Chief on Duty. Since 1998, she has been working as a freelance journalist, book author and public relations consultant. Since July 2023, she is vice president of the SLM (Saxon State Media Authority).
Corinna Schier
Erfurt | Germany
Corinna Schier has studied Communication and Media Sciences, German Philology and Business Studies at Leipzig University and at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in Spain. After having worked as a research assistant for Leipzig University, since 2008 she is an editor at the children’s channel KIKA within the department of fiction works, where she, among other things, supervises formats of various genres and target groups in the real and animation sector.
Cosima Stracke-Nawka
Bautzen/Budyšin | Germany
The drama expert Cosima Stracke-Nawka was dramaturge and director at the Deutsch-Sorbisches Volkstheater (German-Sorbian Popular Theatre) until 1991. Between 1992 and June 2020, she was a consultant for youth media protection and film funding at the Saxon State Agency of Private Broadcasting and New Media (SLM). Since 2015, she has been spokesperson of the Sorbian-German Filmmaker’s Network Łužycafilm. Until August 2025, she was a member of the allocation committee of the MDM.
Professional Jury Feature Film National
Hamro Alimova
Taschkent | Uzbekistan
Hamro Alimova has been working as a project manager in the cultural department of the Goethe-Institut Uzbekistan since June 2023, where she is responsible for cultural projects and events. For two years, she has been organising the “Shum Bola” festival of German-language films for children and young people in the cities of Fergana and Tashkent. In addition, she initiates and supports a wide range of projects in the fields of film, music, art and civil society that promote intercultural dialogue and provide new creative impulses.
Katharina Andraschke
Ljubljana | Slovenia
Katharina Andraschke has worked as a freelance translator in Ljubljana for 25 years and teaches German as a foreign language. As a long-time supervisor of the Slovenian side of the European Childrenʼs Jury, she is a regular part of the SCHLiNGEL festival. She was active for many years on the board of the Association for the Promotion of the German Mother Tongue, which is responsible for organising German courses as well as cultural and media projects with a German connection.
Etelka Kobuß
Chemnitz | Germany
Etelka Kobuß is a certified primary-school pedagogue (college) and a certified social pedagogue (university). Since 2009, the Hungarian by birth is Chemnitz’ commissioner for migration. One of her responsibilities is the organisation of both the annual intercultural weeks as well as the intercultural film week. She is member of the Day of Peace committee and of the jury of Chemnitz’ Peace-Award.
Emre Koca
Munich | Germany
Emre Koca studied Communication and Political Sciences as well as Film Directing. He then worked as a writer, director and producer, developing formats for childrenʼs television as well as reportages, documentaries and image and advertising films. Since 2021, he has been working in the film, television and radio department of the Goethe-Institut. Here, he is responsible for media productions and subtitling as production manager, is involved in the introduction of digital distribution and is part of the selection team.
Rüdiger Steinmetz
Leipzig | Germany
Prof. em. Dr. phil. habil. Rüdiger Steinmetz studied German Studies, Communication Studies as well as Political Science at the University Göttingen, the LMU Muinch and the University Marburg. From 1992 to 2018, he was chairholder of Media Science and Media Culture at the institute of Communication at the University of Leipzig, now Emeritus. He researches, publishes and produces in the field of film, including on local television in the early period of transformation. In 2025, he released the documentary film “Abbruch-Umbruch-Aufbruch. Szenen einer Zeitreise 1989–1994” together with Dr Judith Kretzschmar.
Professional Jury Short and Animated Film
Ines Baumann
Chemnitz | Germany
Ines Baumann has been working at the Chemnitzer Filmwerkstatt for 30 years and has helped establish the association as one of the most important media education institutions in Saxony. The Filmwerkstatt has produced many short films and, together with Olaf Held, received the German Short Film Award in 2013. It has also received numerous awards for its media education film projects.
Vanessa Kuhfs
Leipzig | Germany
Vanessa Kuhfs is a freelance interaction designer, lecturer and researcher. At the AI Competence Centre at the University of Leipzig, she researches the effects of generative AI on creative work processes, media narratives and social negotiation processes. Her design practice is shaped by her studies at art college, her experience in animation and media production, and her research-based approach to film, media, technology and communication. She is a member of the AG Animationsfilm and the Filmverband Sachsen, among others.
Jürgen Pinkert
Lugau | Germany
Jürgen Pinkert worked as an art teacher, consultant and lecturer at the Chemnitz Teacher Training Centre until 2022. As chairman of the art teachersʼ association BDK Saxony, he coordinated the work at regional level from 2003 to 2011. His art education work has always focussed on diverse artistic experiences and the development of age-specific visual skills. From 2012 to 2021, he was in charge of the SCHLiNGEL junior and youth jury, consisting of pupils from the Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff-Gymnasium.
Lina Walde
Dresden | Germany
Lina Walde is co-founder of Studio Animauz and develops dreamy, imaginative formats for young audiences. She is particularly interested in hybrid projects that combine animation and music.
Jury of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI)
Vladimir Angelov
Skopje | North Macedonia
After graduating the Faculty of Drama Arts in 1992, and a short period of working as a producer, in 1995 Vladimir Angelov found a place in Cinematheque of Macedonia.. At the beginning he was working on recognizing and restoring the 1948–1953 film fund. For eleven years he was responsible for the program of the Cinematheque. From 2017 to 2024 he was a director of Cinematheque, and for a short period of time director of the National Film Agency. Currently he is senior filmologist at Cinematheque. Since 1995 he has collaborated with Kinopis where he publishes all kinds of texts. He was also involved in different projects regarding publishing books with a film as a topic.
Ingrid Beerbaum
Berlin | Germany
After graduating from university, Ingrid Beerbaum worked in various areas of cultural journalism for radio, television and newspapers in Berlin. Specialising in cinema, she now works mainly as a film critic for various online magazines, such as Vision Kino. Her particular focus is on documentary films and Eastern European cinema in general. For twelve years, she was the curator of the documentary film competition at the international short film festival “interfilm” in Berlin.
Michela Manente
Venice | Italy
Michela Manente, a journalist and writer, composes essays on film criticism, reviews, and journalistic articles on news, culture, and lifestyle for various print and online magazines. She attends the main Italian film festivals from where she reports on the new films presented. The main genres she focuses on are fiction and both Italian and international documentaries. She engages with cinemaʼs protagonists by interviewing them and exploring their artistic vision and themes. She is a member of FIPRESCI and the SNCCI Triveneto.
Jury of the European Children’s Film Association (ECFA)
Tatiana Chagina
Munich | Germany
Tatiana Chagina studied Philology in Perm, Russia. She also holds a masterʼs degree in Cultural Management from the Academy of Sciences in Moscow and the University of Manchester. In 1998, she founded the contact point of the Goethe-Institut Moscow in Perm and led it until 2001. From 2002 to 2022, she worked as a film project curator at the Goethe-Institut Moscow and, in this role and as a jury member, was involved in numerous film festivals. Since 2021, she has been working as a freelance author and, since 2022, as a freelance lecturer for German as a foreign language and as a freelance coordinator of film programmes with a focus on integration at the Godor Cultural Centre of the Society for Integration and Culture in Europe e.V.
Thom Palmen
Riga | Latvia
Thom Palmen studied Cultural Management, Art of History and Sociology at Umeå University in Sweden. In 1986, he co-founded the Umeå International Film Festival and was its Artistic Director from 1986 to 2007. He currently works as a curator for various film festivals and as a producer. He also develops cinema projects and initiated the 72-Hour Short Film Competition, among others. He supports the training of young filmmakers in various initiatives, e.g. the Tampere BootCamp.
Alfred Sesma Siuraneta
Barcelona | Spain
From 2001 to 2015, Alfred Sesma Siuraneta was involved in various projects in the field of cultural management and communication, including as director and coordinator of the International Animation Film Exhibition in Catalonia (Animac). He worked as director of Toon a Ville, a series of professional conferences on childrenʼs television, and founded a company of the same name that put AI at the centre. He was also responsible for the content of the Semilleru Kids Audiovisual Development Lab at the Festival de Gijón. He is currently in charge of international distribution and acquisition at the distributor Pack Màgic, coordinates the Spanish part of the Film in Hospital project and works as a programmer for various film festivals for young audiences.
CIFEJ Jury
Nathalie Habib
Dubai | United Arab Emirates
Nathalie Habib is a storyteller, producer, and co-owner of Blink Studios in the UAE. For over 20 years she has been dedicated to creating meaningful content for children, with a focus on representation and inclusion. She is passionate about giving a voice to children from across the Middle East, a region of more than 20 countries, including those who have had to leave their homelands, ensuring their stories remain visible and valued.
Andrey Hadjivasilev
Sofia | Bulgaria
Andrey Hadjivasilev holds a bachelorʼs degree in Film Directing and a masterʼs degree in Film Production from the New Bulgarian University in Sofia. He also studied at the FAMU Film Academy in Prague. Since then, he has been working as a director and producer, with a focus on childrenʼs films.
Martina Lassacher
Vienna | Austria
Martina Lassacher studied Comparative Literature, English and Spanish, she got her PhD in 1986. After that, she lectured Film Theory at different universities in Austria. She is the founder of the Institute Pitanga, which is responsible for the for International Children’s Film Festival Vienna, and also of the Children’s Cinema Worlds Austria and other projects. Furthermore, she has been working as an author and translator for the International Children’s Film Festival in Vienna.
Ecumenical Jury
Dietmar Adler
Bad Münder | Germany
Dietmar Adler studied Protestant Theology in Münster and Tübingen and became Pastor at the Lutheran Church of Bad Münder in Lower Saxony, Germany. He is founder and speaker of the study group “Church and Film” in the Lutheran Church of Hannover. Furthermore he gives lectures and writes articles about religious motives in films. He is co-editor and author of the book “Mit Bildern bewegen” about church film services. Since 2019, he has been serving as jury coordinator for INTERFILM.
Andreas Greif
Fulda | Germany
After studying Catholic Theology, German and Philosophy at the WWU Münster, Andreas Greif completed his education as a secondary school teacher in 1991 with the mandatory practical training in Paderborn. He was a religion teacher at the vocational schools in Hanau until 1993 when he became head of the AV media office of the Diocese of Fulda. In this function he has been involved in the selection committees of the AVMZ and in the short film committee of the working group of Catholic media office managers. Short films have always played an important role in his training courses for teachers. Since 1998, Andreas Greif has been a member of the selection committee for the short film series AUGENBLICKE. He has been actively involved in the board of the working group of Catholic media offices since 2022.
Agnieszka Godfrejów-Tarnogórska
Warsaw | Poland
Agnieszka Godfrejów-Tarnogórska studied theology and genealogy in Warsaw and worked as a catechist and diaconal worker in Kraków, as well as an assistant in the Polish Diakonia Office in Warsaw. Since 2015, she has served as the spokesperson for her church. She is president of the European Christian Internet Conference (ECIC) and vice-president of WACC Europe. She is involved in organizing of the Belief on Screen Festival. Agnieszka collaborates with Polish film and TV productions as well. As a Godly Play storyteller she engages in work with children in one of the suburban parishes.
Agostina Torrer Nari
Lyon | France
Agostina Torre Nari is a Spanish-Argentinian filmmaker and film critic based in Lyon. She holds a BA in Cinematography from the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires and a BA in Performing Arts (Image track) from Université Lumière Lyon 2. She has worked as a production assistant on several international feature films and collaborated with independent productions in Latin America and Europe. Alongside her creative practice, she develops critical content on cinema through social media, with a strong interest in film history and cinema theory.