Jury
Focus Competition
Angelina Maccarone (Jury President)
Angelina Maccarone started out as a writer of song lyrics before graduating with an MA in literature. She wrote and co-directed her first feature KOMMT MAUSI RAUS?! in 1994. Her work as a filmmaker spans various genres, including comedy, thriller and drama. Her films have screened at festivals around the world, winning her numerous awards, like the Golden Leopard at Locarno Film Festival. Her first documentary THE LOOK was part of the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011. Maccarone is based in Berlin, where she is currently working on her new feature CLANDESTINE. She has been a professor for film directing at the Film University Babelsberg since 2014.
Edna Epelbaum
Born in 1972 in Biel, Edna Epelbaum studied German, economics and English in Zurich before graduating with an MA in Literature and Women’s Studies from the University of Illinois in Chicago. She completed her PhD in Literature at New York University in 2006. As the CEO of theatres in Bern, Biel, Delémont, La Chaux-de-Fonds and Neuenburg, Epelbaum is committed to promoting a diverse cinema culture. She is also the Artistic Director of the Festivals du Film Français d’Helvétie, President of the Schweizerischen Kinoverband and sits on the Board of Directors for the European Union of Cinemas (UNIC). She has been a member of Locarno Film Festival’s Board of Governors since 2019.
Sabine Moser
After completing her studies in comparative literature at Vienna University, Sabine Moser entered the film business in 2002. She joined forces with the producer Oliver Neumann and the directors Sebastian Meise and Sudabeh Mortezai to found the Vienna-based FreibeuterFilm in 2008. The company has a multi award-winning list of titles encompassing 20 feature-length fiction and documentary films that have been selected to screen at numerous international festivals, including at Berlin, Cannes, Venice and San Sebastian, as well as several that have won the Austrian Film Award.
Francesco Rizzi
Francesco Rizzi is a writer-director from the Italian speaking part of Switzerland. He studied Literature and History of Art at Fribourg University before graduating in Film Directing at Rome Film Academy in Cinecittà. After having its world premiere as part of the Zurich Film Festival’s Focus Competition in 2018, his debut feature CRONOFOBIA was selected for some 30 international film festivals and won numerous awards, including Best Director and Best Screenplay at Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis and the Special Jury Prize at Tallinn Black Nights First Feature Competition.
Dan Wechsler
An independent producer since 2003, Dan Wechsler holds a degree in business management from the High School of Economics in Lausanne and has worked as a manager for several companies. In 2003, he was admitted to the MEGA European Media program and completed his studies at Eurimages under the guidance of the Council of Europe. Founder of the company Bord Cadre films Sàrl in 2004 and Producer on the Move in Cannes 2011, Dan Wechsler’s credits include: THE WHISTLERS (2019) by Corneliu Porumbuiu, MONOS (2019) by Alejandro Landes, BIRDS OF PASSAGE (2018) by Ciro Guerra, FOXTROT (2017) by Samuel Maoz and THE UNTAMED (2016) by Amat Escalante.
Feature Film Competition
Michel Franco (Jury President)
Born in Mexico City in 1979, Michel Franco has put Mexican cinema in the global spotlight. His credits as a writer, director and producer include CHRONIC (Best Screenplay Award at Cannes Film Festival 2015), LAS HIJAS DE ABRIL (Jury Prize, Un Certain Regard at Cannes Film Festival 2017) and DESPUÉS DE LUCÍA (Top Prize, Un Certain Regard at Cannes Film Festival 2012). The list of films he has produced includes Gabriel Ripstein’s 600 MILLAS (winner Best First Feature Award at Berlinale 2015) and Lorenzo Vigas’ FROM AFAR (winner Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival 2015). His new film, the dystopian drama NUEVO ORDEN, recently scooped the Silver Lion (Grand Jury Prize) at Venice Film Festival 2020.
Karim Aïnouz
Karim Aïnouz is an award-winning filmmaker, screenwriter and visual artist. He debuted as a director with MADAME SATÃ (2002). His other works include NARDJES A. (2020), CENTRAL AIRPORT THF (2018), FUTURO BEACH (2014), THE SILVER CLIFF (2011), I TRAVEL BECAUSE I HAVE TO, I COME BACK BECAUSE I LOVE YOU (2009) and LOVE FOR SALE (2006). THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF EURÍDICE GUSMÃO, Aïnouz's latest feature film won the Un Certain Regard Prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. A few months later he presented the film as a Gala Premiere at ZFF. Aïnouz is a screenwriter tutor and member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Ellen Harrington
Ellen M. Harrington is an arts organization leader, curator, film programmer, educator and producer. She has been director of the DFF - Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum in Frankfurt since 2018. Prior to that she was the Director of Exhibitions and Collections for the forthcoming Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. As a curator and programmer, she has produced more than 500 public film events and educational programs and 80 exhibitions globally, was the founding director of the Academy's International Outreach program, and co-founded the Academy’s Media Literacy program. Harrington previously worked for Dustin Hoffman’s Punch Productions, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Public Theater.
Documentary Competition
Vitaly Mansky (Jury President)
Vitaly Mansky graduated from VGIK – All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography in 1989 and became one of the most prominent contemporary Russian documentary filmmakers and producers. He has shot more than 30 films as a director which were screened at festivals worldwide and were awarded several times. As a producer, Mansky produced films with directors like Renata Litvinova, Alexander Rastorguyev, Sergey Miroshnichenko, Dmitry Zhelkovsky, and Sergei Loznitsa. Since 2014 Mansky lives in Latvia, where he founded the Artdocfest in Riga. His latest works include UNDER THE SUN (2015), RODNYE (2016) and PUTIN’S WITNESSES (2018), which he presented at the Zurich Film Festival in 2018.
Gabriela Bussmann
Gabriela Bussmann was on the Board of Directors of Visions du Réel, the film festival in Nyon, from 1995 until 2010. She founded the Doc Outlook International Market, a hub of exchange for the international film industry, as part of the festival in 2001. She founded GoldenEggProduction in Geneva in 2012. Her wide-reaching professional network has enabled her to produce such multi award-winning, European Film Award-nominated movies as PUTIN’S WITNESSES (2018), THE DISPOSSESSED (2017) and TADMOR (2016). Gabriela Bussmann is committed to promoting filmmakers whose views are rooted in today’s society, but reach far beyond the visible horizon.
Susanne Regina Meures
Susanne Regina Meures is a German-Swiss filmmaker who gained attention with her debut film RAVING IRAN which premiered in 2016. It was shown at over 130 film festivals worldwide, won numerous awards, and went on to become a cinema hit. Her second feature-length documentary SAUDI RUNAWAY premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2020 and had its European premiere at Berlin International Film Festival 2020.
