our JUDGES

Alex Mill

Alex Mill has her background in photography and editing, she spent years in a drama group during high school and she's been directing short films since the age of 15. Currently she is working in London, United Kingdom, as an assistant director and producer, having also been involved in projects such as Justice League, Transformers: The Last Knight or Tomb Raider. As a recurring theme, Alex often brings the troubles of obsessed minds to the screen, much like in her first feature, The Immovables.

Jack Hannon

Currently working at creative agency Mother London, Jack is a producer and writer. As a producer, his work has been BAFTA nominated, screened at Sundance, TIFF, Berlinale and LFF, and as a writer he’s written for BBC3. Jack regularly writes and produces short films and music videos, has a short film coming up at LSFF in January 2022, and another finished in February 2022.

Ruya Koman

Ruya Koman made her directorial debut with a short film that she wrote and in 2016 she produced and line produced several short films for director Slick Solvan Naim (The Get Down, Snowfall, The Blacklist, Blindspot, and Power). Ruya also appeared on "Gotham" as the D.C. Comics character "Mother" and has acted in numerous independent films. She recently co-directed, produced and starred in a short film which was selected out of more than 3,400 short films as one of the 15 semi-finalists at the 2018 NBC Universal Short Film Festival. Other screenings include the Harlem IFF and Chelsea Film Festival.

Benjamin Rider

Benjamin Rider was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. At the age of three, he moved to South Africa for a year, and then onto Israel for most of his childhood before moving to London (UK). He now resides in Hampshire (UK), and has recently become the new Festival Director of the nearly 20-year-old Maverick Movie Awards. His recent feature film releases include Our Little Haven (distributed by Bayview Entertainment) and People in Landscape featuring Gina Gershon and Oscar nominee Eric Roberts (distributed by Summer Hill Films).

Sherice Griffiths

Sherice Griffiths is a Surrey-based comedy writer-director and blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She graduated from Westminster Film School with a BA in Film Production and won the BAFTA Rocliffe new writing competition for her script "The Big Three O". Sherice has also directed several short films and sketches shown at festivals such as the Toronto Sketch Festival, Derby Film Festival, and London Film Festival. Additionally, she has experience creating commercials for well-known brands like Krispy Kreme and Sign Health.

Ivan Zhurko

Ivan Zhurko has more than 15 years of Entertainment Industry background. He was writing & directing commercials, staging shows & performances, acting in television projects, organizing festivals. He was a nominee and winner of several event & marketing awards. In spare time Ivan builds custom motorcycles. Innovations and new technologies in content creation & multimedia sphere – one of his main passions. He was hosting the event about new technologies in filmmaking at Berlinale 2022. Now he is the head of product at Filmustage where they are developing innovative tools for filmmakers based on artificial intelligence.

James McCarthy

James McCarthy is an actor with dozens of credits for stage and screen. Film highlights include G.I. Jesús, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the CineVegas International Film Festival, and The Ride Along, selected for the official program at the Cannes Film Festival. Stage highlights include The Comedy of Errors for Southwest Shakespeare Company (Phoenix, AZ) and Uncle Vanya for Lit Moon Theatre (Santa Barbara, CA). James previously worked in several capacities for the International Screenwriters' Association (Los Angeles, CA) and is a self-taught screenwriter with seven completed screenplays.

Julian A. Leu

Julian A. Leu's love for films and storytelling started in childhood. While in high school, he wrote and adapted plays for the theatre club. Despite pursuing business management for his degrees, Julian continued to pursue his passion for filmmaking. He has since become an award-winning screenwriter and film critic, receiving accolades from festivals in Italy, Russia, and Venezuela. Julian is based in the Netherlands and is interested in innovative approaches to storytelling and filmmaking.

Jack Scano

Jack Scano is an Italian writer-director with a background in narrative video advertising. He won a Moflm award at 17 for a Dove ad and has since advanced his career as a commercial director. He also writes, directs, and produces short films like Beyond Depth, which are screened at festivals worldwide. Scano's successes in both fields have been documented by Italian newspapers. He has a BFA in Artistic and Performing Arts Heritage and studied film at institutions like the New York Film Academy, Prague Film School, and Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where he obtained an MA with his latest short, A New Place.

Alberto Battistutti

Alberto Battistutti is a writer born and raised in a small town in the northeast of Italy, where he lives with his wife and three kids. In addition to a degree in communication, he has a background in journalism and screenwriting. While during the day he works in the field of Marketing, in his spare time he enjoys writing, inspired by his father in search for the truth about his own father during World War Two. With “Don”, a feature drama screenplay set on the icy Russian front and based on the true story of his family, Alberto won more than forty international awards. His writing is focused on human values like friendship, hope and perseverance, and his favorite genres are drama, thriller and

sci-fi.