Lavrente Indico Diaz (born December 30, 1958) is a Filipino filmmaker and former film critic. He is known as one of the key members of the slow cinema movement, having made several of the longest narrative films on record. Although he had been making films since the late 1990s, Diaz didn't attract much public attention outside of the Philippines and the festival circuit until the release of his 2013 film Norte, the End of History, which was entered into the Un Certain Regard section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
His three subsequent films have received much critical attention and many awards, with 2014's From What Is Before earning him the Golden Leopard at the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival as well as a nomination for the Asian Film Award for Best Director, 2016's A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery competing for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival and winning the Alfred Bauer Prize, and 2016's The Woman Who Left competing at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival and winning the Golden Lion. His penultimate film (so far), Season of the Devil, competed at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival and it won Best Film (Gems Section) at the Cartagena Film Festival.
He has won several international awards such as the award for Best Picture at the Singapore International Film Festival, the Independent Film Festival of Brussels and Gawad Urian in 2002 and Netpac Jury Prize and Best Acting Ensemble (2001 Cinemanila International Film Festival) for his film Batang West Side (including Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Music, Best Sound at the Urian), in Gawad Urian in 2005 for the film Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino (Evolution of a Filipino Family), and Special Jury Prize at the Fribourg International Film Festival in 2006 for Heremias, Book One.
His films often tackle the issues regarding the current social and political state of the Philippines. His film Kagadanan sa Banwaan ning mga Engkanto (Death in the Land of Encantos), the Closing Film of the orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival 2007, was awarded with a Golden Lion Special Mention. Death in the Land of Encantos was also in competition at the Artistic Innovation Award (Visions) of the Toronto International Film Festival 2007. He received several awards at the Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. His film Melancholia won the Orizzonti Grand Prize at the 65th Venice International Film Festival in 2008. In January 2011 he joined the board of directors for Cine Foundation International.[2] He went back in 2011 at the Venice International Film Festival for his film Siglo ng Pagluluwal (Century of Birthing)[3] and which earned the Grand Jury Prize at the 13th Cinemanila International Film Festival. The following year, his film Florentina Hubaldo, CTE won Best Asian Film at the Jeonju International Film Festival[4] and gained the On-Screen Award at the Images Festival.[5] His 2013 film Norte, the End of History was screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 66th Cannes Film Festival.[6] He received the Golden Leopard at the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival for From What Is Before. At the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, his film A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery was awarded the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize. In the same year, he also received the Golden Lion at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival for The Woman Who Left. Diaz has made crime stories, ghost stories and a musical. On the topic of genre Diaz has said, "it’s nice to dwell on genres because there are formulas there and you can work with them. But at the same time you’re free to break them."
Diaz has an economics degree from Notre Dame University in Cotabato City. He is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2010, the Prince Claus Award of the Netherlands in 2014 and The Radcliffe Fellowship of Harvard University, 2016-2017. Diaz was invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to join as a member on July 2017.

For over fifteen years Inna Sahakyan has directed and produced feature-length documentaries, doc. series, and shorts that have been broadcasted internationally. She focuses on uncovering untold and forgotten stories while exploring the nature of humanity through intimate and innovative filmmaking.
Her feature-length debut, co-directed with Arman Yeritsyan, was the award-winning The Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia in 2010. Recently, she completed Mel, a story about a transgender weightlifter from Armenia. In 2022, her animated documentary about Armenian Genocide survivor and early Hollywood star Aurora Mardiganyan, Aurora’s Sunrise, became a festival favorite and screened at over 40 festivals, winning several awards, including the Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2022 for Best Animated Film, Movies that Matter 2023 for Special Mention and Audience Award, Audience Favorites at IDFA 2022, Audience Awards at Animation is Film 2022 and FIFDH - IFF and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva 2023 for Grand Prix among others. Inna Sahakyan has also worked as a producer on documentaries such as One, Two, Three and Donkeymentary.

Claire Simon comes to cinema through editing. Her films Récréations and Coûte que coûte, released in theaters, have been part of the documentary revolution in French cinema. Since then, she has alternated between documentaries and fictions for the cinema.
Claire Simon films the others as heroes: the little children of Récréations, the stressed boss of Coûte que coûte, the child thief of Sinon Oui, the young girl, fire raiser of Ça brûle, Mimi in love with women, Nathalie Baye adviser of family planning, the passion of Nicole Garcia for Reda Kateb in Gare du Nord, Stéphanie selling her charms in the woods, young people attacking the fortification that is the Femis film school, young high school students like Hugo who cry over the silence of their families, the son of the grocer and the mayor of a modern village, the questioning of Yann Andréa, Duras's lover… And the epic of the female body.... Documentary or fiction, a single question: what is a story? A life? At the same time she taught at Paris 8 and Paris 7, at the Varan workshops, and directed the directing department at Femis.

In 1982, Sergei Dvortsevoy graduated from the Kryvyi Rih Aeronautical College, and in 1988 - Novosibirsk State Technical University. In 1990, he started the Master's Courses for Film Directors. His coursework Paradise and diploma thesis Bread Day short films have been awarded with a number of international prizes.
In 2008, the film Tulpan was the winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes FF. In 2018, when Ayka was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes FF and Samal Yeslyamova won the Award for Best Actress. the film was included in the shortlist of Oscar nominees.

Carmen Gray is a freelance arts journalist, critic, and film programmer from New Zealand who now lives in Berlin. She has written for publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, Sight & Sound, Criterion, Art Review, Screen, and MUBI, often focusing on Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Caucasus.
She is a contributing critic for trade magazine The Film Verdict, and was formerly Film Editor of Dazed & Confused magazine in London. She is on the selection committees of the Generation section of the Berlin International Film Festival, the International Short Film Festival Winterthur, and Open City Docs in London. She consults on projects and festival strategy, and is an industry adviser on films at the editing stage for First Cut Lab, and Doculab in Guadalajara, Mexico.

An Emmy Award winning actor, filmmaker, and writer of Armenian decent, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Michael Goorjian won the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in David’s Mother. He is also well known for playing in the Golden Globe winning series Party of Five, as well as Heroin Bob in the cult classic SLC Punk. Recently he starred alongside Robert De Niro in The Wizard of Lies. Other film & television credits include: Newsies, Chaplin, Forever Young, Leaving Las Vegas, Hard Rain, The Invisibles, Lucifer, Covert Affairs, Lie to Me, House, Monk, CSI, Without a Trace to name a few. On stage, Goorjian has won numerous awards, including; an L.A. Weekly Theater Award for Best Lead Actor in Modigliani, and a LA Critics Choice Award for choreographing the world premiere of Reefer Madness the musical.
Most recently he appeared at Berkeley Repertory Theater World premiere of Imaginary Comforts by Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket). As director, Michael Goorjian achieved international acclaim for his award-winning feature film debut, Illusion, in which he starred alongside Hollywood-legend Kirk Douglas. His debut novel, What Lies Beyond the Star was released world-wide in 2016.

Veronika Zakonjšek is a regular contributor for Kino!, Dialogi and Ekran magazine, and a film journalist for the national newspaper Dnevnik. She regularly collaborates with Slovenia-based film festivals such as Animateka and Kino Otok, and is a selection committee member for the Festival of Slovenian Film.
She is currently the president of the Association of Slovenian Film Critics and a member of the FIPRESCI.

Wanda Bendjelloul is a film critic, author, filmmaker and TV producer with a background in current affairs who on a weekly basis review films for the biggest Swedish morning paper Dagens Nyheter and Swedish Channel 4.

Anush Vardanyan – screenwriter, writer, lecturer, artist She was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in 1967 in the family of an architect. In 1977, she moved with her father to Yerevan, where she graduated from school in 1983. She received higher education in St. Petersburg Theater Academy (history and theory of theater), at the University of Cinema and Television (film directing). In 2011, she studied at NYFA (New York Film Academy, USA).
Anush worked at the film studios "Lenfilm", "Lendok. Open studio" and at other studios in Armenia and Russia. Screenwriter of the more 30 films, author of 6 books. A special place in the work of Anush Vardanyan is occupied by scientific research on the history and theory of cinema. She has created books about the initial period of the Lenfilm film studio ("Paper Caresses") and about the founder of Armenian cinema Daniel Dznuni ("The History of One Denunciation"). As an artist, she participates in art exhibitions. Participates in educational programs of the Vladimir Propp Center in St. Petersburg and in Yerevan at the Marzoyan Library, where she gives open lectures on the theory of modern cinema.
One of the most important topics of Anush's research is the formation of semantic patterns and visual images reflecting the actual everyday life. Her articles are published in various Armenian publications. Currently, she works at the National Film Center of Armenia.