Jury of 17th Festival

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 became a candidate 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.

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 programme 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 programme 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.

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.

Yelyzaveta Toptyhina

Ukrainian film director, screenwriter and visual artist. Originally from 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.

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.

Yelyzaveta Toptyhina

Ukrainian film director, screenwriter and visual artist. Originally from 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.