The jury of the 52nd Molodist KIFF
The jury of the 52nd Molodist KIFF
This year, leading cinematographers from Ukraine and the world, as well as cultural managers and festival selectors, were selected as members of the jury of the 52nd full-length edition of the film festival.
We remind you that the festival will last from October 21 to 29 this year.
International Competition Jury:
Vika Khomenko
Ukrainian Film producer. Vika Khomenko was born in 1989 in Kyiv. She graduated in Journalism Studies from National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. She started her producer’s career in 2017, first as a line producer of short films. Her feature debut as a producer was the coming-of-age drama 'Stop-Zemlia' (dir. Kateryna Gornostai), awarded the Crystal Bear of the Youth Jury Generation 14+ at Berlinale'21. In 2019, together with the producer Darya Bassel, launched Moon Man, a company that produces creative documentaries and fiction films with a strong auteur approach. Also, she has experience in communication and as an event coordinator. In 2015, she joined the IDHRFF Docudays UA team, where she now works as a coordinator of the industry platform. Lives and works in Kyiv.
Thomas Stokowski
Director of Cinematography, Germany and Ukraine. Thomas Stokowski, born 1961, is a German-Polish director of photography living both in Berlin and in Kyiv. From 1994 to 2004 he filmed many documentaries for various TV-channels worldwide. Since 2005 he has worked as director of photography, filming advertisements for international clients such as Porsche, VW, Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, Renault, and many more. In the 2020s Stokowski returned to big cinematography. His latest works include: ‘Batik’s Room’ (2021), ‘Oxygen Station’ (2023).
Romanna Lobach
Producer, actress, Ukraine-Greece. Romanna Lobach is a Ukrainian actress and producer, born 1991, in Polonne, Ukraine. By 2013 she had graduated from Athens Conservatoire Drama School with a B.A. in acting. She began her acting career at the age of 11, and has performed in over 25 feature films and shorts that have premiered in festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Rotterdam, and New York, among others, winning awards at festivals in Greece and abroad for some of her most recent works: ‘I Don’t Want to Forget Anything’ (2021), ‘Olla’ (2019), and ‘March 4’ (2015). Romanna is an alumna of Berlinale and Sarajevo Talents, Locarno Industry Days and New Producers Room in Cannes Court Métrage, spotlit producer at Marche du Film 2023, and a member of the Hellenic Film Academy and Hellenic Producers’ Association.
Kamen Balkanski
A cultural manager from Bulgaria. Holds a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts. From 1997 to 2002 he was the executive director of the SCA Foundation for Contemporary Art (being responsible for the financial and program planning, as well as for the cooperation with Bulgarian and international cultural organizations and NGOs). In 2002, he became the administrative director of MM television, and from 2004 to 2006, with the same broadcaster, he became the advisor to the CEO. In 2004 he was appointed to the position of the Head of MEDIA Desk Bulgaria, and in 2015 as the acting director of the Bulgarian National Film Centre (2015–17 and 2021–22). Board member of EFAD. At present he is head of the Creative Europe MEDIA desk in Bulgaria.
Alla Samoilenko
A casting director from Ukraine. Alla Samoilenko was born in 1973 in Kyiv, Ukraine. She is a casting director, working both on Ukrainian and international projects. Member of ICDN (International Casting Directors Network), EFA member, and the UFA Board member. After completing Film Studies at the Kyiv National Karpenko-Kary Theater, Cinema and Television University, she worked as a personal assistant to the Miss Ukraine beauty contest president for six years. After that, in 2003, she started her career in casting. Her outstanding quality is the ability to discern talent in theater actors or ordinary people without any сinema experience, who later become sought-after actors. She also provides lectures and master classes for actors to raise their professional level.
Documentary Competition Jury:
Vyacheslav Tsvetkov
Director of cinematography. Vyacheslav Tsvetkov was born on October 21, 1984 in Ukrainka, Ukraine. He graduated in Cinematography from the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. The most famous movies Viacheslav worked as a director of photography are: ‘The Earth is Blue as an Orange’, ‘The Gate’, ‘Parthenon’, ‘This Rain Will Never Stop’, ‘Solitude’. Vyacheslav's works have been recognized by numerous international film awards. For example, ‘The Earth is Blue as an Orange’ won the Best Cinematography award at the International Documentary Association (IDA), as well as at the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival in Poland. The film ‘This Rain Will Never Stop’ was awarded Best Cinematography at the Black Canvas Contemporary Film Festival in Mexico City. Also, the Ukrainian Film Academy nominated Tsvetkov twice in the Best Cinematographer category for his films.
Barbara Cupisti
Actress, documentary film director, and TV producer from Italy. She is also a TV host, as well as a renowned actress. Barbara Cupisti began her career as a leading actress in Italian and French films and television serials. For twenty years, she worked with prominent directors all over the world. In 2002, she appeared in her final film, the French production ‘Total Kheops’ with Marie Trintignant and Richard Boheringer. In 2008, Barbara served on the international jury at the Venice Film Festival and is a member of the Italian Film Academy. From 2007 to 2023, she completed 12 documentary films focused on social issues all over the world, earning patronage from UNICEF, UNHCR and Amnesty International. Her films have received several awards at international film festivals. Most notably, her film ‘Mothers’, shown at the Venice Film Festival in 2007, won the David di Donatello for Best Documentary. In 2022 and 2023, she filmed ‘Hotel Sarajevo’ and ‘Wartime Notes’, the first reflecting on the 30th anniversary since the siege of Sarajevo during the war in Bosnia, and the latter on the ongoing war in Ukraine and the role played by Ukrainian women.
Dmytro Tiazhlov
Documentary director and DOP, editor, film consultant, and lecturer from Ukraine. He was born in 1976. Having graduated from the Kyiv National Karpenko-Kary University of Theater, Cinema and TV, in 2007 Dmytro became lecturer for cinematography at his alma mater. Since 2011, he is program curator of the documentary program at the annual American Independence Film Festival, and in 2013, together with producer Ella Shtyka, he founded Indie Lab, a documentary film laboratory for emerging artists. Dmytro has participated in numerous festivals and events dedicated to documentary filmmaking and co-production. He is a member of the National Union of Filmmakers of Ukraine and Ukraine Guild of Filmmakers.
National Competition Jury:
Clemens Poole
Artist and curator, USA. Clemens Poole is an American artist living in Kyiv, Ukraine. His projects and exhibitions have been presented variously in the US and Europe. Since 2014 he has worked frequently with the art foundation ‘Izolyatsia’ as curator of the public installations series Zahoplennya (2014), artist and producer of the guerilla performance intervention #onvacation (2015), co-curator of the exhibition Architecture Ukraine: Beyond the Front (2016). He has contributed to numerous exhibitions, events, public programs, and publications related to contemporary art in Ukraine. In 2022 his film ‘Dima, Dmitry, Dmytro. Glory to Heroes’ was awarded a special mention at Molodist IFF.
Radu Sticlea
Radu Sticlea, born 1993 in Timișoara, Romania, is an initiator, art director and artist based in Porto, Portugal. With an educational background in Arts & Multimedia, his practice involves a close cooperation between film, interdisciplinary art, international exhibitions and art residencies, which build unexpected bridges. His work journey is based on sustaining a link between Eastern Europe and Portugal. In 2016, he settled permanently in Porto where he founded BEAST — Festival of Central and Eastern European Film. In 2018, he established OKNA Cultural Centre of East European Contemporary Art, currently cunning its ongoing programme. As cultural manager, he has established sustainable partnerships with several international institutions such as Creative Europe Desk, International Visegrad Fund, Romanian Cultural Institute, Canada Council for Arts, Lithuanian Culture Institute, Polish Film Institute, Camões Institute, among others. As programmer, he has been continuously present in the programming, moderation and selection teams for several film festivals and galleries around Europe — mainly focusing on emerging artists and experimental works from Central & Eastern Europe.
Alina Panasenko
Film director and artist from Ukraine. Alina Panasenko is an emerging artist and director, born 2000 in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region, Ukraine, and based in Kyiv. Member of Ukrainian Film Academy, member of the MYPH collective. Studied screenwriting at the Kyiv National Karpenko-Kary University for Theater, Television and Cinema. She directed the short film 20-11-7.mp4 (winner of the Ukrainian short film competition at the International Molodist Film Festival 2021) and the short film ‘Teatralna Station’ (awarded for best editing at Tel Aviv SFF 2023). Alina worked also as a script breakdown writer for the feature film ‘La Palisiada’ directed by Philip Sotnychenko.
The list of Children Jury will be published later.