JURY

INTERNATIONAL AND BALTIC SHORT FILM COMPETITION JURY

Heinz Hermanns

Heinz Hermanns is the festival director and
CEO of the INTERFILM International Short Film
Festival Berlin. His upcoming festivals include
INTERFILM Berlin 31 and Kuki 8, Short Visions
– Ningbo international short film festival
(China), VeloBerlin Film Award, Zebra Poetry
Film Award, and others.

Tanja Hladnik

She finds fine arts irresistebly charming
for as long as she can remember herself. She
studied literature and journalism, almost a decade
ago entered the field of visual communications,
and later on focused on films. She
took various positions in communication and
programming as a core team member of the
Kino Otok – Isola Cinema International Film
Festival from Izola (Slovenia). She acts as the
Festival Programme Advisor currently while
studying for her Master’s degree in Arts and
Heritage in The Netherlands. She feels cosy in
a permanent state of wonder.

Vladimir Leščiov (Leschiov)

Born in 1970, in Daugavpils, Latvia. Gratuated
from the Art School in Riga in 1989. He had
worked as Illustrator, Designer, and Director
for various video production and broadcasting
companies in Latvia, studied animation at Konstfack
University College of Arts, Crafts, and
Design in Sweden, been a teacher of animation
at Latvian Academy of Arts. His artworks from
animated films were exhibited in Latvia, Portugal,
and Japan. The founder of the Animation
Studio Lunohod in 2007 in Riga, Latvia.

INTERNATIONAL MID-LENGTH FILM COMPETITION

LIUDA DRIŽYTĖ

Liuda Drižytė is a Programm Maker and
Auteur based in Vilnius, Lithuania. Since graduating
from the Lithuanian Music and Theater
Academy in 2007, she works as a freelancer in
film industry simultaneously participating in
various social and environmental projects and
improving her knowledge in philology and philosophy.
Since 2010, she is collaborating with
the Vilnius International Short Film Festival.

LAURIS ĀBELE

Lauris Abele is a Latvian filmmaker, born
in Riga, Latvia. He holds the Masters degree
in Audio-Visual Arts (film directing) from the
Latvian Academy of Culture and the Bachelor’s
degree in Humanitarian Sciences (philosophy)
from the University of Latvia. Lauris
together with his brother Raitis Abele, also
a Director, won the Grand Prix in the International
Competition of the Tampere Film Festival
2015 with their short fiction Castratus the
Boar. Apart from that, he has made several
music videos and commercials. Both brothers
as film artists focus on modern existential
problems and strong visual elements.

LAURA WALDE
Laura Walde holds the MA degree in Film
Studies and English Literature from the Universities
of Zurich and Aberdeen. She works as
the Programm Maker and the focus Programm
Curator for the Internationale Kurzfilmtage
Winterthur, Switzerland. She is also the Co-Director
of the Swiss Youth Film Festival, where
she is responsible for the programm making.