Jury
Faridah Shakoor Nabaggala
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Faridah Shakoor Nabaggala is the founder and the artistic director of Abloom, a Norwegian film and cultural festival focused on inclusion and representation of children and youth with disabilities. She is a social entrepreneur, author, and cultural leader, and has received several national honors for her work, including the King’s Medal of Merit. Faridah, who s passionate about using film as a tool for empowerment, joins the ECFA Jury with a strong passion for diverse, inclusive storytelling in children’s cinema.
Darko Basheski
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Film professional Darko Basheski (Macedonia) specialised in Cinematography at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje. Since 2008, he has served as managing director of the Macedonian Film Fund, director of the Macedonian Film Agency, and on the board of EURIMAGES. He is executive director of the Giffoni Macedonia Youth Film Festival - a branch of the Italian Giffoni Experience - engaging young audiences with cinema. By showcasing thought-provoking films and fostering cross-cultural collaboration, the festival inspires young cinephiles across the Western Balkans region. The festival, that puts emphasis on education and creative expression, is a hub where future talent is nurtured.
Gailė Janulevičė
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Gailė Janulevičė is Head of Educational Programmes at Kaunas Cinema Centre "Romuva", the oldest film theatre in Lithuania, dedicated to promoting film culture and European cinema, where she curates film screenings and educational programmes (stop-motion animation, script writing workshops, film quizzes,...) for children and youth. Gailė Janulevičė is involved in developing educational initiatives within several international projects, with a strong focus on fostering media literacy, encouraging young people to discover the richness of European cinema.
Anneke de Lind Van Wijngaarden
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Anneke de Lind van Wijngaarden is a Dutch documentary filmmaker from Amsterdam. She studied Film at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. In her work, Anneke searches for poetry, humour and lightness in sometimes heavy subjects.
Kaja Łuczyńska
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Filmeducator Kaja Łuczyńska graduated and got her PhD at the Jagiellonian University (Film Studies & American Studies). She works at Kino Pod Baranami in Cracow (Poland) as a coordinator of film education programmes, and is a member of ZEF – Zespół Edukatorów Filmowych (Team of Film Educators). Kajaz runs a Facebook fanpage called “Orbitowanie bez cukru” and a weekly programme on Radio Kraków about TV shows called “Seriale na raz”.
Timothé Brocard
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As musician and film lover, Timothé Brocard is passionate about festivals for film and performing arts. After volunteering for several festivals and completing his studies in political science, he became a production assistant at the FIDMarseille festival, dedicated to independent cinema and debut films. Today, as manager of the Ciné-Jeune de l'Aisne organisation, he is jointly responsible for one of the oldest youth film festivals in France. He looks after the logistical production of the festival, is a member of the film selection committee, and sometimes acts as a chaperon for exchanges with other European festivals.
Francisca Delgado
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Due to her keen interest in working with young children, Francisca Delgado began her professional career by supervising summer activities at schools and colleges. She found her niche in the performing arts and graduated in Artistic Studies from the University of Lisbon. She did an internship at IndieJúnior, a section of the IndieLisboa Festival specifically aimed at children and young people. She joined the team at A Porta Amarela, an arts education project, where she organised workshops and classes for children, and at the Central Creative Collaboration Studio, which supports and sponsors projects and associations.
Emma Tirand
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Emma Tirand is acquisitions manager for Benshi, the platform for children's films. Every month, she searches for new films for families and helps edit the platform.
Samira Zaibat
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Samira Zaïbat is an expert in audience development and audience outreach in the film industry. As president of Jolifanto and director of MOUV and Jolikino, she runs a bilingual travelling cinema and a media education programme for children and families. Through MOUV's innovative strategies, she attracts new audiences by bringing cinema closer to local communities. Thanks to Jolikino and the Ciné-Club Ados, young people learn to discover cinema, programme films and develop a critical analysis of visual media.
Eva-Maria Schneider-Reuter
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Eva-Maria Schneider-Reuter lives in Berlin, Germany. She works as a freelance moderator in cinemas and at festivals, as a film educator in numerous participatory projects with children and young people, an author of school materials and moderation guides as well as a programmer for festivals and short film series. When she wants to get people excited about cinema and film, she draws on her background as an actress and storyteller, and is particularly interested in the stories and narrative intentions. In her engagement with films and screenplays, the question always rises: What does this have to do with me?
Monica Wahi
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Monica Wahi is a children’s film expert who has been working as a curator, acquisition consultant & creative producer for young audiences for more than 20 years. She has served as Creative Head of Children’s Film Society India, Going to School and Lennep Media. She has worked with various international film festivals as Children’s Film Curator or Artistic / Programme Director, including the Int’l Children’s Film Festival of India; Sharjah Children’s Film Festival; Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival; Dharamshala Film Festival; Children’s Film Festival Kerala; Smile Film Festival; Bulbul Children’s Film Festival; and Cinevesture Film Festival. From 2016-2018 Monica had the honour of curating a World Cinema channel for children broadcasted by Tata Sky, India’s leading DTH network. She has served on various film juries across the world including as a voting juror for the International Emmy Awards.
Andrey Hadjivasilev
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Andrey Hadjivasilev holds a BA in Film Directing and a MA in Film Production from the New Bulgarian University, Sofia, and specialised at the FAMU Film Academy in Prague. In recent years, he has focused on reviving Bulgarian cinema for children by making two feature films for a young audience. He is a member of EFA - European Film Academy and CIFEJ - International Centre for Films for Children & Young People.
Adam Dvorak
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Adam Dvorak is a Czech film & television producer and editor. Since 2002, he has been producing more than 11 feature films with his own company (The Movie Company). As an editor, he worked on over 40 feature films and several TV series. Between 2006 and 2012, Adam Dvorak was Head of the Bioscop film distribution company.
Barbara della Faille
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Barbara developed a strong love for the creative possibilities of animated films at a young age. After studying film directing at the IAD, she started working as a columnist at Ameniclap, where she interviewed Belgian filmmakers. She later joined the Belgian Short Film Agency, first as head of festival distribution and later as coordinator.
Thomas Prud’homme
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This Bordeaux native recently moved to Brussels and works as a project manager at Escale du Nord, Anderlecht's Cultural Centre. In this large municipality, he aims to transform the cinema into a meeting place that opens doors to previously unknown worlds. His latest project: Ciné-Yazan, solidarity screenings in the presence of filmmakers to raise money for a family in Gaza.
Céline Lespagnard
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Céline is passionate about arthouse films and has been working as an animator for the non-profit organisation Cinémarche for 15 years. She is responsible for communication, programming and animation within various film clubs for children, documentaries and short films.
Yanis Karkache
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Yanis is convinced of the power of cinema as a means of communication. He worked as a mediator for young audiences at Rencontres Audiovisuelles (FR) before settling in Belgium to study socio-cultural animation. He is currently a project manager at the Cultural Centre of Schaerbeek, where he uses cinema to forge links between young and old.
Antoine Schwarz
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Ever since he was a child, Antoine has preferred to spend his afternoons watching films and reading books rather than playing with his friends. He has found a warm home at the Maison de la Création, the cultural centre of Laken and Neder-Over-Heembeek, where he can continue to watch films... And above all, continue to share them!
Yves Calbert
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Film journalist since 1999, Yves is now affiliated with the "Union de la Critique de Cinéma" ("UCC"). After his yars as a dancer in the troupe "Up With People" in the USA and Latin America, and a tour guide for different tour operators in Asia and Europe, he worked as the director-animator of a francophone cultural radio program and as an associate professor of French.
Kévin Giraud
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Kévin Giraud is a freelance film journalist and editor-in-chief of Surimpressions magazine. He is an animation enthusiast, lives in Brussels and has been writing as a freelancer in French and English for five years, mainly about animation.
Nicole Bourdon
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Nicole Bourdon has been passionate about cinema since her childhood. With a Master's degree in French and Romance languages and a training in audiovisual communication, since 2020 she has been co-producer and co-host of the programme ‘Les Cinéfilmes’, devoted entirely to cinema for Radio Equinoxe, for which she conducted numerous interviews with directors, actors, and producers. Member of the UCC. She writes reviews of cinema releases and film gems from streaming platforms on a specialised Instagram page (‘les _cinefilmes’). Nicole likes attending film festivals and is a regular jury member.
Marije Brouwer
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As a content buyer for youth programming at NPO (Dutch Public Broadcasting) Zapp and Zappelin, Marije Brouwer selects high-quality series that inform, inspire, and entertain children, with storytelling that resonates with young audiences. Her role involves curating a strong mix of animated and live-action series that support NPO’s educational and cultural mission. From preschool programming on Zappelin to content for older children on Zapp, Marije seeks out stories that reflect today’s world while fostering creativity, empathy, and curiosity.