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Juries

Here you can find information about this year's jury members.

Juris Kursietis

Juris Kursietis is a Latvian film director and screenwriter with a focus on character-driven stories. His debut feature MODRIS (2014) premiered in Toronto and San Sebastián. In 2024 he directed the TV series SOVIET JEANS the feature film THE EXALTED.

Maik Schöttke

Maik Schöttke studied media education, audiovisual culture and communication in Magdeburg. Since 2017, he has been responsible for internal film productions, studio technology, and livestreams at the media center of Volkswagen Financial Services, the main sponsor of BIFF.

Valentina Bronzini

Valentina Bronzini – from Trieste to Venice to Berlin: After working at Picture Tree International and Potential Films, she now works as a festival manager at The Match Factory and has accompanied international productions such as LA CHIMERA, DRIVE MY CAR, and MEMORIA on their festival tours.

Cornelia Rohse-Paul

Cornelia Rohse-Paul is the initiator of DIE TILDA Women's Film Award for young female directors since 2019. She is a supervisor in her own practice, founder of Wutambulanz for children and adolescents, and author.

Francesca Vantaggiato

Francesca Vantaggiato is the founder and artistic director of the Visionär Film Festival Berlin and works as a distribution and festival manager as well as an acquisitions manager. She created Kino Sonico, where she is dedicated to reinterpreting silent and experimental films from the past century through contemporary musicians.

Jamila Wenske

Jamila Wenske is director and producer of the Berlin-based production company ACHTUNG PANDA!. In 2018, she was named PRODUCER TO WATCH by Variety and took part in the first Female Leadership Program SHIFT by EPI. She is a member of ACE, EAVE, AN, EFA, and DFA.

Donald Houwer

Donald Houwer is chairman of the BVGCD, director, producer and teacher. He was the organizer of the “Storytelling for Future” congress in 2023 in cooperation with the BMBF. He founded the Institute for sustainability in Media and Education and held a panel about the Future of Green Producing & Storytelling at Cannes 2025 in cooperation with the FFA.

Johannes Bünger

Johannes Bünger is a graduate environmental scientist, filmmaker, and partner at Autoren Pieper und Partner and Falke&Kater. He has been director of fautallervoir in Strasbourg since 2024. After numerous documentaries, his most recent project was DIE NUKLEARFALLE — Putins Deals mit dem Westen (2025) for ARTE.

Anna Katharina Hanusch

Anna Katharina Hanusch, 49, City Councilor for the Environment, Urban Greenery, and Building Construction in Braunschweig since July 2025. Architect with a master's degree in historic preservation, from 2014 to 2025 honorary city councilor and district committee chairwoman for Bündnis90/Die Grünen in Munich.

Ann Claire Richter

Ann Claire Richter studied German and English language and literature at the TU of Braunschweig. She is culture editor of the Braunschweiger Zeitung (BZ) newspaper, specializing in film. Since 2001, she has been the host of the BZ film premieres at the Astor Filmtheater, where audience members are asked to give their opinions as film critics.

© Xavi Farre

Johannes Jancke

Johannes Jancke, born in Braunschweig, worked as a film producer on WIR SIND DIE FLUT (2016), 24 WOCHEN (2016|Deutscher Filmpreis Silber), SIBEL (2018), LAND OF DREAMS (2021), and the Netflix series DAS SIGNAL (2024). He is a member of the European and German Film Academies.

Wiebke Thomsen

Wiebke Thomsen studied cultural studies and film studies and has been working in various cinemas for 20 years. In 2014, she reopened the CITY KINO WEDDING in Berlin. Together with her husband Johannes, she opened the LODDERBAST living room cinema in 2018. Since 2023, they have been running the municipal cinema in Hanover as a team.

ECHT (Queer Film Award)

© Kseniia Tsymbalist

Kadir Özdemir

Kadir Özdemir is an author, theater maker, and political educator. He is the founder of the theater group Migrationserb:innen and the postmig writers collective, as well as the director of the postmigrant literature festival collecting:dreams Festival.

Patrick Heidmann

Patrick Heidmann lives in Berlin where he works as a freelance journalist, critic and presenter. For more than 25 years, he has been writing and speaking about film, television, and streaming for clients such as FAZ, taz, EPD Film, Queer.de, Spot Media & Film, Rolling Stone, InStyle & Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

Thea Ehre

Thea Ehre is an Austrian film and theater actress with roles in DAS LICHT (Tom Tykwer|2024) and DIE RÄUBERINNEN (Isa Schieche|2023). She has received the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Actress in BIS ANS ENDE DER NACHT (Christoph Hochhäusler|2022). Thea Ehre is actively committed to the visibility and representation of trans people in film, theater, and public life.

KINEMA (Franco-German Youth Award)

  • Gordian Maugg (jury presidency), Director and screenwriter
  • Keren Bréard, Student in Neufchâtel-en-Bray (Normandy)
  • Jeanne Cursan, Student in Argentan (Normandy)
  • Maciej Szczurek, Student in Évreux (Normandy)
  • Elska Dorge, Student in Braunschweig (Lower Saxony)
  • Moira Klein, Student in Braunschweig (Lower Saxony)
  • Emma Volkers, Student in Braunschweig (Lower Saxony)