Jury 2026

National Competition Jury

Yelyzaveta Toptyhina

Ukrainian film director, screenwriter, and visual artist. Originally from the Odesa region, based in Kyiv. Yelyzaveta graduated from the directing department at the Kyiv National Karpenko-Kary University of Theater, Cinema and Television. She is an alumna of Sarajevo Talents 2026. Working across fiction and hybrid projects, as well as commercials and music videos, her work explores emotional connections between characters, infused with warm irony in both storytelling and imagery. She also engages with memory, intimacy and collective transformation against the backdrop of war. In 2025, her short film “Curfew” had its international premiere at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival. The film won the Audience Choice Award at the Wiz-Art IFF and was nominated for the European Short Film Audience Award (ESFAA). Currently, Curfew is screening at film festivals across Europe, including Fribourg IFF, Brussels Short FF, Curtas Vila do Conde – IFF, Clermont-Ferrand ISFF, Go Short – ISFF, Tampere FF, Interfilm – ISFF and others. The film was also nominated for the Ukrainian National Critics Award “Kinokolo” in two categories: Best Short Fiction Film and Best Screenplay.

National Competition Jury

Lukas Kacinauskas

Up-and-coming film director and screenwriter from Lithuania. He earned a BA and an MA in Film Directing from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. His debut film, I WAS MAX, was selected for the Future Frames program at Karlovy Vary IFF (2022). HAPPY NEXT YEAR!, his latest short film, had its international premiere at Uppsala Short Film Festival (2024). His debut feature film project was selected for the Talent Village program at Les Arcs Film Festival (2024). In addition to his creative activities, he consults on screenwriting and film editing. He also works as a film programmer. Alongside this, he works as a festival development manager at Vilnius Short Film Festival.

National Competition Jury

William Paul Clark

Film and television Assistant Director and Producer with over 80 credits across major studio productions. The projects he has worked on have collectively grossed over $2 billion worldwide. Over the course of his career, he has collaborated with a wide range of internationally recognized filmmakers and actors, including Quentin Tarantino, Sylvester Stallone, Barry Levinson, Marc Forster, Patrick Hughes, and Matt Dillon, contributing to films ranging from independent features to large-scale studio productions, several of which have received Academy Award nominations. Clark has played a central role in managing complex productions, coordinating large crews and intricate sequences, and translating creative vision into practical execution. His work sits at the intersection of storytelling, logistics, and performance—guiding projects from script to screen.

International Competition Jury

Yehor Harmash

Ukrainian film director and screenwriter originally from Nikopol. His work focuses on the psychological evolution of characters caught in the complex circumstances of wartime. His short fiction film Dad's Scratch (2024) won the Grand Prix at the Wiz-Art Film Festival and was nominated for the European Film Academy (EFA) Awards in 2025. The film also received the Best Director award at the Prologue International Student Film Festival in 2025 and was nominated for the Ukrainian Film Academy's Golden Dzyga award. His short film Where He Stepped (2023) received a Special Mention at the Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival.Yelyzaveta Toptyhina

International Competition Jury

Hans Broich

Co-founded the Berlin- and Vienna-based production company Superzoom Film to produce experimental cinema for a broad audience. Superzoom’s first narrative feature, Losing Faith (dir. Martha Mechow, 2023, 101 min.), was invited to numerous major international film festivals, won the Grand Prize for Best Feature Film at Diagonale, the ERSTE Award at the Viennale, and had its U.S. theatrical release in the summer of 2024 at Anthology Film Archives in New York. Since then, he has produced several films selected by major international festivals, including Locarno, Berlinale Forum, FIDMarseille, New Directors/New Films (MoMA), the Viennale, and DocLisboa. In addition to his work with Superzoom Film, Hans Broich curates the film program at the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin and works on selected projects for internationally renowned production companies, including Coproduction Office, Komplizen Film, and Filmgalerie 451, on films by Alexandre Koberidze, Valeska Grisebach, and Kamal Aljafari.

International Competition Jury

Mariia Ponomarova

Mariia Ponomarova is a film director, creative producer, and film industry professional. Mariia studied directing at Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema & Television in Ukraine, graduating in 2013. In 2016, she completed the Master of Film program at the Netherlands Film Academy. Fiction and documentary films she worked on were screened at festivals such as DokLeipzig, IDFA, Sarajevo FF, Sheffield DocFest, Chicago IFF, Krakow FF, Go Short ISFF, DokuFest and more. Her debut feature documentary Nice Ladies had an international premiere at HotDocs and received a Special Mention at DocudaysUA IHRFF. Mariia is a member of the European Film Academy and a Senior Consultant at the Documentary Association of Europe.Mariia's new short hybrid documentary 'Patronymic' had its World Premiere at TIFF in September 2026.

Jury of the National Union of Film Critics of Ukraine

Kateryna Slipchenko

Ukrainian journalist and film critic. Art historian by background. Member of FIPRESCI, the Ukrainian Film Academy, and the Ukrainian Oscar Committee.

Jury of the National Union of Film Critics of Ukraine

Ihor Kromf

Ukrainian film critic, writer for media outlets covering new Ukrainian culture such as Liroom and LB.UA, host of the "Director's Cut" ("Rezhyserska Versiia") podcast. Member of FIPRESCI and the Film Critics Guild of Ukraine. Member of the committee for the "Kinokolo" National Film Critics Award.

Jury of the National Union of Film Critics of Ukraine

Alik Shpyliuk

Artistic Director of the Ukrainian Film Academy, Programming Consultant for the Odesa International Film Festival (OIFF), member of the Expert Committee of the State Film Agency of Ukraine and the State Film Support Council, Secretary of the Board of the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine. Member and expert of the European Film Academy, expert for Eurimages and the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation (UCF), member of FIPRESCI. Honored Worker of Culture of Ukraine, Chevalier of the French Order of Arts and Letters.

The project is supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.

Festival partners: ZMIN Foundation, Ukrainian State Film Agency, M-Rental, Morshynska, America House Lviv, Lviv City Council, Megogo, Morshynska, Lviv Film Hub, Suspilne Culture, Sebto Media, Zaxid.Net