MYRSINI ARISTIDOU (JURY) was born and raised in Limassol, Cyprus. Her debut feature, HOLD ONTO ME, premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival 2026, where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Competition Audience Award. Aristidou earned her MFA in Film Directing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and a BFA in Film and Art History from Pratt Institute. Her short film SEMELE (2015) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, screened at seventy festivals worldwide, and won the Special Jury Prize in the Generation Kplus section at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2016. Her follow-up short, ARIA (2017), made with the support of Spike Lee, Canal+ France, and CNC, premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and later screened at the Sundance Film Festival. In addition to her work as a filmmaker, Aristidou is the founder of One Six One Films and the co-founder of the Sagapo Children’s Foundation.
CHIARA ATIK (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) is a playwright and screenwriter, working between New York and Los Angeles. Her play, Poor Clare, was the recipient of the 2022 American Theatre Critics Association’s New Play Award, the LA Drama Critics Circle winner for Best New Play, and a Susan Smith Blackburn Award finalist. As a screenwriter, she’s worked with Disney, Amblin, Netflix, and MGM. Her film scripts have appeared on The Blacklist twice (FAIRY GODMOTHER and DISPLACEMENT). She splits her time between New York and Los Angeles.
GIULIA CARUSO (JURY) is the Director of Catalyst and Industry at Sundance, overseeing the Institute’s year-round film financing program. Prior to joining Sundance, Giulia co-founded the independent production company Nonetheless Productions. She was nominated for a Piaget Producers Award with partner Ki Jin Kim and received a Spirit Award for Andrew Ahn’s debut feature SPA NIGHT. Her work as producer spans critically acclaimed debut features, including HOLY EMY (dir. Araceli Lemos) and COLUMBUS (dir. Kogonada), award winning short films, documentary series and branded content.
ILANA COLEMAN (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) is a filmmaker who works in documentary / fiction and between Mexico and the U.S. She was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” and was a 2023 BAVC MediaMaker Fellow. Her feature directorial debut, THE INVENTORY (co-writer/director), has received support from the Sundance Institute, Field of Vision, Creative Capital and JustFilms. She is a recipient of the Jovenes Creadores scholarship from the Mexican National Fund for Culture and Arts (FONCA) in 2017 and 2021. DOS ESTACIONES (Producer/Co-screenwriter) won the Special Jury Prize for Acting at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
ERSI DANOU (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) co-founded the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF) in 2006. As a Tisch School of at the Arts (NYU) and American Film Institute graduate, a filmmaker, and an entertainment writer, Ersi has served LAGFF in various roles, including Director of Programming, Artistic Director, Director of Development, and Development Consultant. In 2013, she helped establish DISCOVERY DAYS with the idea to nurture international film exchange and offer screenplay development opportunities to international filmmakers. She recently collaborated on the initiation of the Global Greek Film Initiative (GGFI) in order to further cultural exchange, bilateral collaborations, and the promotion of Greek film and culture in Los Angeles, the U.S., and the Hellenic Diaspora. Ersi has been a member of the Golden Globes Foundation (formerly known as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association) for two decades and has been an active member in several committees, including the Non-English Language Film Committee and the International Festivals Committee. Currently, she has several creative projects in development.
GARETH ELLIS – UNWIN (ROUND ROBIN) is an Academy and BAFTA award winning producer, best known for the film THE KING’S SPEECH, for which he picked up a Best Picture Oscar in 2011. Now living and working in Greece, Gareth is bringing his 30 plus years of international filmmaking experience to a new venture within the Antenna Group and Village Cinemas, the market leading Greek cinema operator.
JOEL GARBER (ROUND ROBIN) is a Milwaukee-born filmmaker based in Los Angeles. As consulting producer, he collaborated with director Araceli Lemos on HOLY EMY, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and earned a John Cassavetes Award nomination at the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards, along with a leading 15 nominations at the 2022 Hellenic Film Academy Awards. He and Lemos are currently co-writing the feature project BIG BABY BETTY, with support from the Greek Film Center and the Mediterranean Film Institute’s Script 2 Film Workshop. His editing and producing credits span fiction, documentary, and television for Amazon, Disney+, and CBS. His short films have screened at Palm Springs International ShortFest, Miami International Film Festival, San Francisco Shorts, the Wisconsin Film Festival, and NewFilmmakers New York and Los Angeles. He has served as a programmer at Slamdance and as a producer at Discovery Days. He holds degrees in Cinema from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (BA) and San Francisco State University (MFA).
PAVEL JECH (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) is a professor at Chapman University since 2016, and is currently serving as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Previously, he was elected to two terms as dean of The Film and Television School of the Academy of the Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). He is the co-founder of the Midpoint Institute, and was the founding chair of FAMU International. Aside from being a trainer at Midpoint and , an expert advisor for Berlinale Talents, the Mediterranean Film Institute, the Sundance International Labs, Cine Qua Non, and the Asia Pacific Film Lab, he also conducts workshops and lectures around the world. He has consulted many feature projects which have premiered at top Festivals, such as Cannes, Berlinale, Venice and Karlovy Vary. His manual on short scriptwriting, “The Seven Minute Screenplay,” has been published by the Academic Press of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and is used by students worldwide. Jech also works internationally as a script writer/-consultant/-editor/-doctor, and has credits on the Czech films and series, THE PRAGUE ORGY, MEDIEVAL, GRANDHOTEL, THE LYNCHING, and two of the final films of Czech New Wave legend Jan Nemec: THE FERRARI DINO GIRL, and HEART BEAT 3D. Professor Jech holds one degree from The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and two from Columbia University in NYC.
PRASHANTH KAMALAKANTHAN (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) was born in Tirupati, India, and raised in North Carolina. He has been named Filmmaker of the Year at Duke University, a Gotham Marcie Bloom Fellow in Film, and as one of the “25 New Faces of Film” by Filmmaker Magazine. Prashanth is Director of Production and Screenwriting Studies and Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Irvine, and has taught previously at Brown University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and NYU’s Tisch Graduate Film. His debut feature, HAVE A NICE LIFE (2021), distributed by The Film Desk, was followed by NEW STRAINS (2023), which won a Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and is distributed by MEMORY, and REMOVAL OF THE EYE, playing now in theaters via Cinema Conservancy.
LOUAY KHRAISH (JURY) is the Director of International Programs at Film Independent in Los Angeles, where he oversees a diverse range of initiatives in collaboration with global partners. He is an award-winning writer and producer, best known for the feature film ARZÉ, Lebanon’s official submission to the 97th Academy Awards. He also worked on PINCH (Tribeca 2025), PEACE BY CHOCOLATE (Tribeca 2021), and SOLITAIRE (DIFF 2016). Formerly Director of Digital Media at Baynounah Media Group in Abu Dhabi, Louay holds a Ph.D. in Humanities from UT Dallas and an M.A. in Media Studies from The New School in New York. Born in Lebanon, Louay has lived in Beirut, Dallas, Dubai, and New York.
KI JIN KIM (ROUND ROBIN) is a Korean filmmaker based in Los Angeles. As a filmmaker of color and a proud Asian immigrant, Kim’s work revolves around community-based projects that highlight marginalized ethnic communities in the United States and Europe, focusing on their diasporic experiences. Kim is a founding member of the independent production company Nonetheless Productions and has contributed as a producer and cinematographer to award-winning feature films such as THE WEDDING BANQUET, BITTERROOT, HOLY EMY, DRIVEWAYS, COLUMBUS, and SPA NIGHT. Kim’s accolades include a nomination for the 2018 Piaget Producers Award and winning the Cassavetes Independent Spirit Award and an LA-Emmy.
JESSE KNIGHT (ROUND ROBIN) is the director of programming for the Palm Springs International ShortFest. He has been a film programmer and curator since 2014, serving on teams at Seattle International Film Festival, AFI Fest, SFFILM, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Olympia Film Society, Sundance Institute, and beyond. Also a creative producer, story consultant, and dedicated mentor, he is passionate about guiding filmmakers toward fostering their singularity to stand out among a crowded and competitive landscape. On roller skates, he is 5’11”.
JANE CASEY MODDERNO (ROUND ROBIN) is a Los Angeles-based writer/director of TV and film. In 2024, she was selected to the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the Sundance Directors Lab where she was awarded the Sundance Institute Comedy Fellowship for HERE FOR THE WEEKEND. The film additionally won Gotham’s Award for Narrative Feature in Development. HERE FOR THE WEEKEND is currently in post-production. Previously, as a writer, Casey helmed both seasons of the series, THE BIRCH, for Facebook Watch, and served as head writer and co-executive producer of Peacock’s THE GIRL IN THE WOODS.
TERRIE SAMUNDRA (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) is a Director and Screenwriter who grew up between a rural village in Punjab, India, a small farming town in Missouri, and along the coast of California, informing her work as a multicultural storyteller. Samundra’s debut feature, KAALI KHUHI was released on Netflix in 2020 and her sophomore feature is currently in development with producer Alan McAlex at Suitable Pictures (BAAFTA 2026, ‘Boong’). She is working with Ignition Press as the creator of the graphic novel series ‘The Ballad of Pooja,’ set for an early 2027 release. Samundra’s short films have played to strong international film festival runs and her most recent work, EXTINCTION STORY ORIGIN STORY premiered at New York’s Anthology Film Archive in 2024 and received a Jury Award at the 2025 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. Samundra is an alum of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, the Sundance WIF Finance Lab and is a current directing fellow of ReFrame Rise, a partnership between the Sundance Institute and Women in Film. She is a SFFILM Rainin fellow, a Princess Grace recipient and has worked as a staff writer for Netflix. She is represented by the Gersh Agency and Circle of Confusion and teaches screenwriting and directing at AFI.
ARTEMIS SHAW is a filmmaker and educator from New York City. Shaw has taught film students at NYUA, Virginia Commonwealth University, Tribeca Film Institute, and Museum of the Moving Image. Her work has been supported by the Venice Biennale College Cinema and TorinoFilmLab. She co-directed NEW STRAINS and REMOVAL OF THE EYE with Prashanth Kamalakanthan.
ELIA URQUIZA (GROUP INTRO) is one of the founding partners of La Panda Productions, a creative collective company formed by a group of Spanish filmmakers in Los Angeles in 2012. After operating in the U.S. for four years, La Panda opened offices in Spain in 2016 to help bridge the gap between Hollywood and their native country. The company specializes in developing international independent co- productions focusing on the Spanish speaking market. As such, La Panda has co-produced such acclaimed films as Carlos Marques Marcet’s 10,000 KM and ANCHOR AND HOPE, Julia Solomonof’s NOBODY’S WATCHING, Koldo Serra’s 70 BINLADENS, and Lila Aviles’ LA CAMARISTA, among many others. As part of the company’s creative development team, Elia is specialized in script writing, script doctoring, and creative development.
COLIN WEST (A/V WORKSHOP) is a writer and director. His most recent feature film, the fantasy dramedy OUTSIDE OF CLEVELAND, starring Alex Wolff, Jim Gaffigan, Brooklynn Prince, and Sarah Wayne Callies, just wrapped production in 2026. His previous film, a sci-fi dramedy starring Jim Gaffigan and Rhea Seehorn, premiered at SXSW and was released in 2023. His feature, DOUBLE WALKER, co-written by and starring Sylvie Mix, was released in 2021. His films have screened internationally at festivals including SXSW, BFI London Film Festival, Fantasia, Seattle, and Palm Springs, among others.
SARAH WINSHALL (JURY) is a creative producer with Smudge Films, and the founder of the Los Angeles Festival of Movies. She was awarded the 2025 Independent Spirit Producer’s Award, received the Dear Producer Award in 2023, and was a 2022 Gotham/Cannes Producers Network Fellow. Her latest film, JOYBUBBLES (dir. Rachael J Morrison), premiered at Sundance and SXSW in 2026. Other recent films include: BY DESIGN (dir. Amanda Kramer), I SAW THE TV GLOW (dir. Jane Schoenbrun, A24), and GOOD ONE (dir. India Donaldson). Her previous work has played at Cannes, Sundance, Berlinale, SXSW, ND/NF, Rotterdam, and on the Criterion.
