Past years

Helena Bendová graduated in film science and currently works at FAMU as a lecturer and researcher, focusing on the history and theory of film and computer games. For several years, she was the editor-in-chief of the bimonthly film magazine Cinepur and editor of the Illuminace journal for film theory, history, and aesthetics. She also worked for several years as Vice-Dean for Science and Research at FAMU and Chair of the Council of The Czech Film Fund. She is the author of two scholarly books on the medium of computer games and co-editor of two anthologies on Jean-Luc Godard and theoretical thinking in relation to audiovisual.

Presenter and manager in the field of culture and media. He hosts the critical-reflective cultural programmes ArtZóna on ČTart and Akcent on ČRo Vltava. He works for the HBO television station and SVOD platform MAX as an acquisition manager and cooperates with the Karlovy Vary IFF. He moderates conferences and gala events of cultural events. Previously, he held the positions of Director of Radio 1 and Project Manager at the Ministry of Culture, focusing on digitalisation and innovation in the field of preservation and presentation of cultural heritage.

Ian Nathan is an author, presenter and filmmaker based in London. He makes his debut as writer-director with Aliens Expanded, the definitive documentary on the perfect sequel. He has written over twenty books, including Alien Vault, Anything You Can Imagine: Peter Jackson and the Making of Middle-Earth, Stephen King At the Movies, Ridley Scott: A Retrospective, Wes Anderson: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work, James Cameron: A Retrospective, and The Legend of Mad Max. His next book, Steven Spielberg: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work, will be published in October 2024. He is the former editor and executive editor of Empire, still one of the world’s biggest movie magazines. He has also contributed to The Times, Times Radio, The Independent, The Radio Times, and Cahiers Du Cinema. And is the writer-presenter of the Classic Movies series on the UK’s Sky Arts channel.

Terry Gilliam was born in Minneapolis and earned a degree in political science at Los Angeles’s Occidental College. Initially employed as a magazine illustrator, he also worked from time to time in an animation studio and as associate editor of Help! Magazine. In 1967, he moved to London. Two years later, together with Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, John Cleese and Graham Chapman, he created the famous comedy group Monty Python, of which he was the only American member. He also appeared and acted in the television series Monthy Python’s Flying Circus. He co-directed the group’s first film, The Holy Grail (1975) and he produced the short film The Crimson Permanent Assurance, which was presented as an opener to the troupe’s final film, The Meaning of Life (earning the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1983). A number of other films would follow, including Brazil (a surrealistic fable blending sarcastic humour and nightmarish visions, which received an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King (Golden Globe nomination for Best Director, and winner of a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival), Twelve Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (presented in competition in Cannes in 1998), The Brothers Grimm, Tideland, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. His last full-length feature film, Zero Theorem, was presented in official selection at the Venice Film Festival in 2013. Gilliam is currently working on a new film called The Carnival at the End of Days, which is set to premiere next year. In addition to film, Gilliam is a successful theater and opera director.

Recipient of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s PBS INPUT Producer Fellowship, Mackenzie is a fellow of the Hot Docs Accelerator Program, JETS at the Berlinale, Telefilm’s Producers Without Borders at EFM, and Frontières International Co-Production Market organized the Marché du Film. Mackenzie produced the feature film, Son of the Sunshine (CSA Nominee, Slamdance), which was the first feature directed by Ryan Ward and the first feature lensed by Chayse Irvin, ASC CSC (BLONDE, BLACKKKLANSMAN). Mackenzie also produced In the Beginning was Water and Sky (PBS), AMERIKA (INPUT TV Best Film) and recently produced Our Secret, Memories of Youth (CBC), To All That We Are (Inside Out TIFF Lightbox), and Time Traveling Through Time (PÖFF Shorts, SIFF, Flickers’ Best Experimental Film). Mackenzie is currently developing her directorial feature debut, Northen Lights, supported by Manitoba Film & Music. Mackenzie is an alumni of Women in Film Los Angeles’ Creative Producing Program where she was mentored by Michelle Raimo (Silver Linnings Playbook) and Laura Caulfield (The Wolf of Wall Street).

Ryan hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba—Canada’s poverty and violent crime capital, home to the windiest street corner in the country, where the only thing colder than the weather is the reception to the idea that there is actually a film industry here. But as Ryan proves, sometimes the most interesting stories come from the most unlikely of places. Growing up in a frozen, cultural wasteland where he shoots the lion’s share of his films has imbued his work with a gritty realism and poetic search for any kind of meaning inspired by pastel Prairie sunsets, the urban decay of his home city, and outlier filmmakers like Joel Potrykus, Vincent Gallo, Gasper Noé, and his former University Prof, Guy Maddin. Ryan’s debut feature, Son of the Sunshine (Slamdance), was nominated by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television for a Canadian Screen Award (CSA). It screened at over 50 festivals, winning 13 awards, and was distributed by Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Hulu, and MUBI. Ryan also wrote and directed, In the Beginning Was Water and Sky (PBS) and Time Traveling Through Time (Tallinn Black Nights, Seattle International Film Festival, Flickers’ First Prize Best Experimental Film). His new feature film, The Aquanaut and the Shipwreck shoots in Los Angeles this spring.

Based in Tallinn Miguel studied philosophy and cinema before leaving on his many adventures. A big fan of experimental-punk-weird music and films, his international recognition came when he started filming in Ethiopia. Among others his works has been shown at Sundance, Rotterdam, Locarno and received positive reviews from Variety, Screen Anarchy, New York Times, Hollywood Reporter etc. Miguel has mainly filmed in Ethiopia, his second home. Where is My Dog? and Chigger Ale were premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam and Locarno and screened at BAFICI, Tampere, Hamburg and more than 50 international film festivals. Crumbs (2015) - a postapocalyptic Afro-Futuristic adventure in Ethiopia - was Miguel's feature film debut, premiering at Rotterdam International Film festival and screened at Fantasia, Los Angeles Film Festival and more than 100 film festivals worldwide. Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway (2019) - SciFi political satire shot between Ethiopia, Estonia, Latvia and Spain - is Miguel's second feature film, and was screened at Future Gate Sci-fi Film Festival 2020, among others.

Darren Trumeter is an American comedian and screenplay writer. He is a member of the sketch comedy troupe series The Whitest Kids U' Know and starred in its television series for five seasons on the Independent Film Channel. He's quite excellent at keeping his head still while getting a haircut.

Born in Athens in 1979, Yannis Veslemes is a film director and music composer. He has directed feature films such as She Loved Blossoms More (2024, premiered in Tribeca), The Field Guide to Evil (2018, anthology film /Greek segment, premiered in SXSW, Norway (2014, premiered in Karlovy Vary). He has released music records in international labels (Optimo Music, Invisible Inc, Macadam Mambo a.o) and has composed numerous soundtracks for films (Wednesday 04:45, Suntan, Cosmic Candy a.o).

Originally from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Denver Jackson is a self-taught animator and visual effects artist who got his start making films in high school before emigrating to Canada with his parents. As a filmmaker, he leans heavily on the fantastical while still being grounded by real world characters and situations. He works in both live action and animated films, blending the conventions of both mediums to create his own unique style, and is known to write, direct, film, edit and animate almost entirely on his own. THE WISHING JAR (2016) has screened around the world, including at three Academy Award-qualifying festivals and won Best Animated Film at both San Diego Comic Con International Film Festival and Heartland Film Festival, while his first animated short film CLOUDRISE (2013) cut through the 400 hours of content uploaded every minute on Vimeo to become a prestigious Vimeo Staff Pick. He wrote, directed and animated three feature length projects from a webseries (Esluna: The First Monolith) to two feature films (Esluna: The Crown of Babylon and Esluna: The Worlds Divide).