The Jurors of FILMFEST DRESDEN

Each year, FILMFEST DRESDEN appoints several independent juries which decide on the winners of the Golden Horsemen awards. Beside the International and the National Jury, these include the Jury for best Sound Design, for GenderDiversity and our two Youth Juries. In 2021 two new juries were added: for the film award "fully political" and for the Film Critics Award.

Here you can find our pre-jurys who preselect the nominated films for our special thematic awards.



JURY INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

SOFIA EL KHYARI

is an award-winning animation filmmaker and visual artist born in Casablanca. Alongside her studies in cultural management in France, she taught herself the craft of animation before being awarded her MA from the Royal College of Art in London.

Her short films have been screened and awarded at more than 150 international festivals, including the Locarno Film Festival, TIFF Toronto International Film Festival, Annecy Animation Film Festival, Fespaco (Burkina Faso) and FICAM (Morocco). Her works have also been exhibited in galleries, as well as being screened and acquired by prestigious museums and institutions, such as Institut du Monde Arabe and Musée du Quai-Branly Jacques Chirac in Paris.

ADRIAN FIGUEROA

Figueroa completed his MA at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. His work as a theatre director has taken him, among others, to the Deutsche Theater Berlin, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Staatsschauspiel Dresden and the Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin. His staging of “One Day I Went to Lidl” at Ballhaus Naunynstraße was invited to the Theatertreffen der Jugend youth theatre event in 2016. Working together with the “Aufbruch” prison theatre project, he has realised projects in various prisons in Berlin. 

His film ELSEWHERE was awarded Best Documentary Medium Length/Short at the 2018 Achtung Berlin Film Festival. In 2019 Figueroa was a stipend holder at the Tarabya Culture Academy in Istanbul. His theatre production “Aurora” premiered in 2019 at the HAU Hebbel am Ufer and was nominated for the Friedrich Luft Award. His short film LETTERS FROM SILIVRI received the Connexion Award and the Student Prize at the 2021 Clermont Ferrand Film Festival. 

In 2021 Figueroa participated in the Emerging Artist Programme (German Films) and the Berlinale Talents. His short film PROLL! won the German Competition at the 2021 International Film Festival Oberhausen and received a Golden Lola at the German Short Film Awards. The film qualified for pre-selection for the 95th Oscars and won the German Camera Award. Since 2023 Figueroa has been a member of the German Film Academy. 

NICOLAS KHABBAZ

Born in Lebanon. He studied filmmaking and was awarded his PhD Cinema, in which he studied the cinema of small nations and the question of their identity. He is a Professor at Notre Dame University and headed the Audio-Visual Arts Faculty from 2012 to 2023. He is the Artistic Director of Beirut Shorts/NDU International Film Festival and the Programme Director of the Batroun Mediterranean Film Festival. He has been involved in theatre productions since 2005 and produced 16 plays with KAY Production. He has participated in numerous festivals around the world as a filmmaker, jury member, curator and industry expert. He has produced several short and feature films that premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and TIFF Toronto International Film Festival.


JURY NATIONAL COMPETITION

KAREEM BAHOLZER

is a cultural worker, programmer and filmmaker based in Berlin, aiming to approach the industry through a power-critical lens. They have worked as a presenter and film critic, and were a member of the Giornate Degli Autori Jury at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, as well as being a juror at many other festivals over the following years. Since 2020 they have worked in the Berlinale Panorama selection committee, as well as being a guest curator at the 2022 FILMFEST DRESDEN. They are currently programming for the Xposed Queer Film Festival and working on multiple creative and mediatory projects both within and beyond the industry.

IVANA KVESIĆ

born 1978, she is the Director of Fantoche – International Animation Film Festival in Baden, Switzerland. She is the former Co-Director of the Schweizer Jugendfilmtage youth film festival in Zurich and was part of the selection committee at the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur festival for the international competition and the youth competition Sparks. For several years, she was also a member of the oldest open-air cinema selection team at Rote Fabrik Zurich. Prior to this, she ran a cinema with friends in Winterthur. She holds an MA Economics from the University of Zurich, a CAS Cultural Management and a BA Postindustrial Design from the Academy of Art and Design in Basel. She is president of the executive committee at the Xenix cinema club in Zurich and a member of the Filmbulletin (film magazine Switzerland) foundation council. Until recently she was an executive committee member of SWAN (Swiss Women’s Audiovisual Network). She is also known as a curator, artist and cultural project manager and she loves to work in transdisciplinary environments.

MICHAELA METZGER

After completing her Diploma in Fine Arts at the Braunschweig University of Art (HBK), Michaela was awarded her MA there and has worked as a freelance media artist since then. In 2009 together with her colleague Friederike Kersten she founded the NEOZOON female artist duo. Their work is based on the principle of collage and explores sociological issues that deal with speciesism in the Anthropocene. In their video films, the de- and re-contextualisation of found footage material/YouTube material is a recurring work element.

Michaela regularly gives talks and is invited by third-level schools to head film workshops and masterclasses. The works by the NEOZOON artist duo have been shown, among others, in the Centre Pompidou in Paris, ZKM in Karlsruhe and the Art Museum Bonn, as well as being screened at national and international film festivals, such as in Oberhausen, Rotterdam and Locarno. Michaela is currently living and working in Dresden.


YOUTH JURY INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

FELIZITAS MALEK (21)

The film medium surprises, impresses and permits reflection, often leaving something behind not expected prior to the viewing. Likewise with me too. I see a great opportunity in this process and I am really excited especially about the socio-politically relevant films at FILMFEST DRESDEN. By using highly realistic depictions or abstracting them as metaphors, themes about us as human beings and how we live together are handled in films in a very special way for me personally. Furthermore, I am looking forward to all of the connections and encounters that will arise during this week of culture, and I’m very grateful to be a part of it.

ELISA MARTIN-PRÉVEL (21)

I’m French and currently on an Erasmus programme at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in its video section. I’m very happy to be here and to discover a new country while learning more about what I like to do. I really enjoy multimedia, discovering films and feeding my imagination with them. By being a jury member at Filmfest Dresden, I will be able to meet people who have the same passion as I do, get interesting opinions on the short films being presented and have the incredible opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes at a film festival.

TABEA NANNIE (17)

Since my childhood, moving images have fascinated me, as they touch not only the visual senses but also the heart. This magic of cinema has motivated me to get involved in the Youth Jury of Filmfest Dresden. This provides an opportunity not only to see the results of a film project but also to appreciate the creative process, which deserves just as much attention. I look forward to being part of a group of film enthusiasts who discuss the best contributions together and share their passion for cinema. As a jury, we can support aspiring filmmakers in their work and applaud their passion.


YOUTH JURY NATIONAL COMPETITION

STELLA VON DÜRCKHEIM (21)

Every cinematic experience is unique. With the sweet aromatic smell of fresh popcorn in the air, everything is tingling in anticipation of the hours to come. An entire movie theatre sinks into its seats to immerse itself in this new world together. For me, there is nothing more magical that the moments when the lights go out and the silver screen begins to glow. The fascinating aspect of short film is being able to narrate a significant story in such a compressed format. The formal need to be effective frequently leads to an enormous intensity of the stylistic devices. From the drama to the camerawork through to the film score, the result is usually a sophisticated composition as a whole. Short films also act as a platform for new talent, presenting their artistic visions in a powerful and original manner by applying new creative forms, visual styles and structural plays. Moreover, they demand of their audiences a certain degree of attention and interpretative abilities. I am truly honoured to be nominated for the Youth Jury this year.

YEVHENIIA FEDOSOVA (19)

My name is Yevheniia Fedosova, I am 19 years old, live in Dresden and come originally from Ukraine. I am currently studying in my third semester at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. My main subject is painting, but I also try to attend motion-picture classes, because I am highly interested in this area. Cinema is my passion, generally speaking. I like combining both directions, for which reason it is very interesting for me to gain such experience and be a jury member at FILMFEST DRESDEN.

LIA CAN VOSGERAU (21)

My name is Lia, I am 21 years old and attending a voluntary social year in the field of politics with the SächsischeJugendstiftung Dresden foundation. I am currently exploring various themes, such as identity, realities of life and forms of discrimination, also through the work in my job. What fascinates me about film is the relationship between our personal experiences, the emotional approaches taken and its integration within a sociopolitical discourse. Because art is also always political for me. Short film offers us space to recognise our own experiences, establishing emotional points of contact in a short period of time, making us reconsider our perceptions and calling us to action. As a member of the Youth Jury, I am looking forward to moving short films and having lively exchanges with film enthusiasts.


JURY FOR THE GOLDEN HORSEMAN SOUND DESIGN

NICO PAVLOVIC

is a film music composer and producer currently based in Berlin. He graduated in 2023 from the Film University Babelsberg with his MA Film Music. His initial training was as a pianist, composer and music producer. In 2021, he was awarded a Degree in Communications from the University of San Andrés, in addition to a further Degree in Film Music Production awarded in 2018 by the Catholic University of Argentina. Since 2018 he has recorded music for piano and orchestra with the Babelsberg Orchestra and participated in various films, as well as being nominated in 2023 for the musical film ASH WEDNESDAY at the Berlinale. In August 2023 the short Film ALEXX196 & THE PINK SAND BEACH received a Pardi di Domani Nomination at the Locarno Film Festival, where he wrote and co-produced its latest soundtrack. He combines film music with other performing arts projects, such as theatre (Traumnovelle, Berlin 2022), ballet, techno music and, recently, music for acrobatics.

MORITZ LOBECK

born in Dresden, he studied musicology, urban sociology and psychology at Humboldt University Berlin. He worked as a dramaturge on numerous new productions with the state opera houses in Berlin, Stuttgart, Vienna and Salzburg, among others. Together with the composer Brigitta Muntendorf, he has recently developed trans-digital projects for Kyoto Experiment (2021), the Bregenz Festival/HOLLAND Festival (2022/24) or the Venice Biennale (2023), among others. From 2011 he was a dramaturge and marketing director at the Staatsoper Stuttgart opera house, and from 2014 curator of the Wiener Festwochen festival. Since 2018 he has been Programme Director for Music, Music Theatre and Digital Projects at the HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts.


JURY FOR THE FILM AWARD LUCA

SARNT UTAMACHOTE

(they/them) is a Southeast Asian non-binary filmmaker and curator based in Berlin. They believe that cinema can be a tool for social engagement and collective healing. They are a cofounder of un.thai.tled, an artist collective from the German-Thai diaspora, and have curated several research-based exhibitions regarding postcolonial histories, the Southeast Asian diaspora and activism in the divided Germany (GDR/FRG). They work as a film programmer and on the selection committee at XPOSED Queer Film Festival Berlin, Short Film Festival Hamburg and Sinema Transtopia Berlin, as well as on special programmes that focus on migration and memories for various festivals and institutions.

SARAH HELD

is a cultural scientist, artist and activist. She works at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and teaches at the Max Reinhardt Seminar. She conducted research “on the materiality of the feminist resistance” in the USA, Mexico, Chile and Australia, focusing on the “textile agency against sexualised violence and femicide” (2021). With a stipend from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation at the University Frankfurt am Main and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, she completed her PhD. She is currently researching on “transformations of the extreme right in fashion, feminism and pop culture” (2021, released with Elke Gaugele) and on “masculinity, fatal body ideals, homophobic homoeroticism and National Socialist aesthetics revisited” (2022) as well as co-heading the “Fashion and the Far-Right” FWF Austrian Science Fund project (2023). For the creation of a queer-feminist “pornotopia revised” (exhibition in 2022; released with Sylvia Sadzinski in 2024), she researched, curated and worked performatively (2016-2023). 

In 2021 she initiated the “Rebellion of the Sisters” and since then has created action art against femicide. And Austria. She likes to make feminist-artistic interventions in public spaces, but also in the context of documenta fifteen.

PATRICK CATUZ

is a filmmaker and artist who lives in Vienna, Austria. His work focuses on political themes such as critical masculinity, feminist pornography, racism or the refugee crisis. His clip 99 PROBLEME, ABER EIN FLÜCHTLING IST KEINS achieved international attention in 2015 and reached second place in the Austrian FM4 charts. He has produced documentary shorts, with several of them having animated documentary elements, such as his work DU BIST OK, SO WIE DU BIST! (IT GETS BETTER) about the high suicide rates among LGBTQI+ youth and his film RÜCKKEHR IN EIN NEUES LEBN – EIN IS-RÜCKKEHRER ERZÄHLT about youths who were once radicalised.

Patrick is known for promoting the issue of feminist pornography. After a period with Erika Lust in Barcelona, he became a co-founder of the first Austrian feminist porno production company Arthouse Vienna together with the former opera singer Adrineh Simonian. Their works have been the subject of discussions in television and print within the complete German-language territories such as, for instance, in Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung or Der Standard newspapers, as well as in television reports on Sky, ORF or SFR and in radio features on Radio Nova und FM4.


JURY FOR THE FILM AWARD “FULLY POLITICAL”

JORGE CADENA

born 1985 in Barranquilla, Colombia, Jorge Cadena initially studied photography in Buenos Aires. In 2016 he was awarded his BA Cinema from HEAD – Geneva University of Art and Design with his film EL CUENTO DE ANTONIA, which went on to win the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Festival. He was then awarded his MA from ECAL/HEAD in 2018 with SOEURS JARARIJU, which received a special mention at the Berlinale. He was selected to take part in the EFP Future Frame programme in Karlovy Vary in 2019, the TIFF Lab in Toronto in 2020 and the Berlinale Talents in 2021. He directed FLORES DEL OTRO PATIO in 2022, which won Best Swiss Short Film at the Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, the Special Jury Award at SXSW and was nominated for the 2023 European Film Awards in the Best Short Film category, after winning the Brief Encounters Grand Prix. He is currently writing his first feature film, MALESTAR TROPICAL.

In 2023, FLORES DEL OTRO PATIO won both the Golden Horseman Youth Jury in the International Competition and the „fully political" film award.

NASTARAN TAJERI-FOUMANI

is a curator, programmer and lecturer*researcher. Nastaran focuses on political issues, such as intersectional queer feminism, social justice and anti-discriminatory practice, as well as queer issues in film and art.

As a presenter, Nastaran has worked for the Berlinale in its Panorama section since 2011, as well as being part of the XPOSED QUEER Film Festival in various positions since 2013, in addition to curating short film programmes internationally (Kortfilm Festivalen Grimstad, Oslo Fusion). With the “Büro für vielfältiges Erzählen”, Nastaran is currently planning and designing a further qualification for people at the intersection of anti-discrimination in filmmaking.

JELENA ILIĆ

lives and works as a director in Cologne, where she studied at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne until 2021. Her film EUPHRAT has been included in the AG-Kurzfilm – German Short Film Association – catalogue, was screened at numerous festivals and awarded both nationally and internationally. She is a mentee with Mentoring Into The Wild and a stipend holder of the Filmbüro NW funding body. Her graduation film KEIN ETWAS was supported by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM). 

She is currently working on her debut film EINE KRANKHEIT WIE EIN GEDICHT, which is being co-produced by the ZDF Kleines Fernsehspiel TV section and being supported by the Kuratorium deutscher Film, BKM, MDM and Film-und Medienstiftung NRW funding bodies. Parallel to this, she is working together with Cécil Joyce Röski on her first feature-length film entitled 5 LIFEHACKS TO STOP BEING POOR (WT).


JURY FOR THE FILM CRITICS AWARD

URSULA VON KEITZ

Professor of Film Research and Film Education at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, as well as Director of the Potsdam Film Museum until 2020. Among others, she curated the “Alles dreht sich ... und bewegt sich. Der Tanz und das Kino” (2017/18) and the “Plakativ” (2019) exhibitions there, as well as a series of gallery exhibitions. As director, she initiated the new building for the film museum’s collections and oversaw the planning. Furthermore, she was involved in the cooperative acquisition of the Werner Nekes collection. From 2012 to 2019 she was co-head of the German Research Foundation (DFG) History of the Documentary Film in Germany 1945-2005 research project. Numerous publications on the aesthetics, theory and history of film, as well as on the aesthetics of individual films. Member of various festival juries.

HANNES WESSELKÄMPER

studied literature, arts and media studies at the University of Konstanz and the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf. Has worked for many years as a film and music critic. Parallel to this, curatorial work and the presentation of film discussions for various film festivals, including the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Prize and the International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg. In addition, he works as a lecturer in the film critic field and curation, as well as in the theory and history of (short) film. In 2023, he was awarded with his PhD from the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf with a work on the concept of spectacle in film studies (“Spektakel filmischer Oberflächen. Eine medienästhetische Reflexion”, De Gruyter 2024).

HORST SCHÄFER

Member of the educational staff at the Volkshochschule Duisburg adult education school until 1977. From 1970 establishment and management of the Duisburg arthouse cinema (Filmforum), continuing until the first Duisburger Filmwoche documentary festival. Worked for Atlas Film+AV in Duisburg at the end of the 1970s. From 1982 to 2007 Head of the Children’s and Youth Film Centre in Germany. From 2003 to 2009 worked in the Drama Department at the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM). Lectureships in aesthetics and communications, film history and film analysis at the Münster University of Applied Sciences, Bielefeld University, the University of Duisburg-Essen and from 2000 to 2020 at the TU Technical University Dresden. Regular contributor to the radio and the press. Author and editor of numerous publications on media policy, media education and film (including Fischer Film Almanach and Lexikon des Kinder- und Jugendfilms). Lives in Cologne as a freelance author and publicist.