Laila Pakalnina
Chairman of the Jury:
Born in Liepāja, Latvia, in 1962. Graduated from the Directing Department of the Film Institute VGIK in Moscow (1991). Director and scriptwriter of 32 documentaries, five shorts, and six fiction features. In total, she has 43 films, two children, one husband, two dogs and two bicycles on her account. Her films have screened at film festivals in Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, Rome, Tallinn and others, where they have won numerous awards. She is known for such films as Dawn (2015), Pizza (2012), Theodore (2006), The Python (2003), The Shoe (1998).
Hana Makhmalbaf
Born in Tehran in 1988. At age 7 acted in her father Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s “A moment of Innocence”. Studied cinema at the Makhmalbaf Film School, worked on the Makhmalbaf family’s films as still photographer, script supervisor, and assistant director. At age 14, she shot a documentary titled “Joy of Madness” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival 2003 and received three awards. Her first feature “Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame” (2007) was shot in Bamyan, Afghanistan. The film received many prestigious awards, including a Crystal Bear in Berlin (2008) and the Grand Jury Award at San Sebastian (2007).
Sano Shinju
Born in Japan in 1965. Started out as a child actor. During a visit to Kazakhstan, he discovered the Kazakh New Wave. Since 1995 he has been working with Amir Karakulov, producing his film Last Holidays in 1996. The film won the Tiger Award at Rotterdam IFF and the Golden Prize at Tokyo IFF. Among his other productions are Serik Aprymov’s Aksuat (1997) and Three Brothers (1999), which received awards at festivals in Nantes, Tokyo and Torino. He continued working with Amir Karakulov on Jylama! (2002). Together with Erlan Nurmukhambetov, he directed The First Rains of Spring (2011), which won the Grand Prix of the 7th Eurasia IFF.
Milko Lazarov
Born in Bulgaria in 1967. Studied Film and TV Direction at the National Academy for Theatre and Film (Sofia, Bulgaria). His first feature Alienation (2013) premiered at the 70th Venice IFF (Venice Days) and won a Special Mention from “Europa Cinemas” Label and a Fedeora Award for Best Director of a Debut Film. His second feature Ága (2018) closed the official competition at the Berlinale and received more than 40 awards around the world, including for the Best Film at Fajr IFF, Sarajevo IFF, Chukotka IAFF, International Critics’ Week at Cairo IFF; Award for Best Director at Eurasia IFF; Special Jury Prize at Goa IFF, etc. Milko Lazarov is the President of the Bulgarian Union of Filmmakers.
Oleg Boretsky
PhD, Associate Professor of Al Farabi State University, film critic and author; host of the Filmclub program on STV television channel and of the Kino Blues program on Radio Klassika; creator of the special project Oleg Boretsky Film Club based at the Caesar cinema, whose goal it is “to turn cinema not for everyone into cinema for everyone and everybody”. Author of numerous articles on national and international cinema, as well as scholarly publications in the field of philosophy, cultural studies and film art. Member of the Association of Film Critics of Kazakhstan.