International Competition
Céline Roustan (FR)
Céline Roustan is a dedicated curator and champion of short films. She has made significant contributions as a programmer and writer for the popular website Short of the Week. In addition to being a programmer at SXSW Film & TV and the Palm Springs ShortFest, Roustan has also programmed for the San Francisco, Palm Springs, and Dublin International Film Festivals. She has also been on the screening committee for the Toronto International Film Festival for several years.
Clara Helbig (GER)
Clara Helbig is an emerging Documentary Filmmaker, «disjointed» being her debut release. Ever since studying Anthropology, Clara has been interested in the transformations of our diets through the global food industrial complex. Her practice explores the power relations within these shifts, between human, animal and nature. Clara was born in Dresden, Germany. She lives between Dresden and London, working as a freelance film curator.
Manuel Asín (ES)
Manuel Asín is the artistic director of Punto de Vista International Film Festival and head of the film department at Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid. He has curated programmes for institutions such as the Spanish Cinematheque, Museum Reina Sofía and Moreira Salles Institute. Asín has written for multiple magazines such as Trafic and Caimán, where he is part of the editorial board. He also teaches at the Elías Querejeta Film School (San Sebastián).
Micheal Omonua (GB/NG)
Michael Omonua is a film director and screenwriter based in Lagos, Nigeria. He is a graduate of the University College of the Creative Arts. Omonua’s last short film «Rehearsal» (2021) had its world premiere in competition at the 71st Berlinale. Rehearsal is a multiple award-winning film including the Grand Prize at Kurzfilm Winterthur. His short segment in the three-part supernatural anthology feature film «Juju Stories» (2021), had its world premiere in competition at the 74th Locarno Film Festival.
Willy Hans (GER)
Willy Hans was born in Freiburg, Germany, in 1982. He studied at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts (HfbK) with Angela Schanelec and Wim Wenders, as well as with Andreas Slominski. In 2014 he co-founded the artist collective Spengemann Eichberg Goldkamp Hans. His short film trilogy «The Satanic Thicket - ONE, TWO, THREE» was shown at numerous international film festivals and won several awards. Hans is currently working on his first feature film «Skill Issues» (WT).
Swiss Competition/ Swiss School Film Award
Émilie Poirier (CA)
Emilie Poirier has been working in programming at the Montreal Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC) since 2017 where she is head of short film and feature film programmer. She is also on the preselection committee at the Busan International Short Film Festival as well as an independent curator, moderator and writer. Poirier holds a B.A. in political science (international relations) and a certificate in art history.
Pierre-Yves Walder (CH)
Pierre-Yves Walder was born in Neuchâtel and started his career in Paris in media relations. He began working at various Swiss festivals (Cinéma Tous Ecrans, Visions du Réel, Zurich Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival), in addition to working regularly with RTS. For two years Walder worked at the Swiss cultural foundation Pro Helvetia (Zurich).
Stefano Knuchel (CH)
Stefano Knuchel is a director of documentaries that have already been screened at major international festivals. For eleven years, he has curated the Locarno Film Festival's prestigious Filmmakers Academy, a hotbed for young talent in international cinema. Since 2019, Knuchel has directed the BaseCamp project, which he conceived and which aims to create original dialogues between cinema and other forms of artistic creation at the Locarno Film Festival.
Sparks
Lars Antoni Weber
Noa Kündig
Seraina Lendfers-Berndonner
Postproduction-Award
Christof Hächler
Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur
Eva Schweizer
SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen
Nina Cutkovic
Jingle Jungle
European Short Pitch 2023/24
Eddie Bertozzi
Locarno Film Festival
Linn Löffler
Berlinale Shorts
Sari Volanen
Yle - The Finnish Broadcasting Company (FIN)
Residency @ P.AiR.S
Alice Gachot
Solothurner Filmtage
Reta Guetg
Zurich Film Festival
Ruth Beattig
Filmexplorer