Awards and Juries


International Feature Films Competition Jury

JUAN BALDANA

(Argentina) Director, screenwriter, and producer of both fiction and documentary. His cinema combines a social perspective, sports epic, and philosophical explorations on existence, always marked by a powerful visual imprint. His films and documentaries have premiered at international festivals and on global platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, and Flow. Among his latest works are Reflejado (2024) and the documentary series Sean eternos (2022) and Romper la pared (2024).

HELHER ESCRIBANO

(Spain) A member of the Spanish Academy of Cinematic Arts and Sciences, she studied Architecture in Spain and Mexico, and trained in cinematography, editing, production, and screenwriting in Madrid. She has been nominated for the Feroz Awards, was a candidate for the Goya Awards, and has garnered 136 selections and 10 awards at national and international festivals. Since 2017, she has been the founder and director of the Ibiza Film Festival, Ibicine, and its Astarté Awards. In 2024, she created the production company Dicho y Hecho Producciones SL together with Bárbara Hermosilla.

PAUL ZAENTZ

(USA) Graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Producer with a decades-long career, he co-founded The Saul Zaentz Company, which went on to produce multiple Academy Award-winning films, including One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1976), Amadeus (1984), The Mosquito Coast (1986) and The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), among many others. Currently, he is developing several projects, including a novel adaptations and series.

NASHLA BOGAERT

(Dominican Republic) An actress, executive producer, and a leading figure in Caribbean cinema, with more than twenty films and numerous productions in her filmography. Among her most emblematic performances are ¿Quién manda? (2013), Colao (2017), Hotel Coppelia (2021), El año del tigre (2023), and Las pequeñas cosas (2024). Her work has been recognized with the Soberano, La Silla, and Platino Awards for Ibero-American Cinema. She is the co-founder of Cacique Films and has served as the executive producer of Dominicana’s Got Talent. She directed the documentary No me conoces (2023).

BARBARA GASSER

(Austria) Vice President of the Austrian Film Critics Guild, director of the Board of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, voter of the Golden Globes, and a member of MPA and FIPRESCI. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Vienna, and is the only Austrian journalist to date to have served two terms the boards of directors of both, the Los Angeles Press Club and later the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Throughout her career she has served on numerous international juries including the Cannes Film Festival, Yerevan, Palic, Mestia, Vienna, Munich and Tromso.

International Short Films Competition Jury

PABLO DE VITA

(Argentina) Image and Sound Designer (UBA), film critic at La Nación and general director of Radio Cultura. He won the Best Cultural Journalist Award (Embassy of Italy, 2008; Embassy of Serbia, 2020), received a distinction from the Jorge Luis Borges Foundation and the Jan Masaryk Medal from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. He worked as Artistic Director of the Tandil Cortos Festival and currently directs Arfecine. He has been a jury member at festivals in Georgia, San Sebastián, Valladolid, Punta del Este, Viña del Mar, and Gijón. He is a member of the Pablo Ducrós Hicken Film Museum, the San Martín National Institute, and a full member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Communication.

CLAUDIA PINO

(Chile) Director and Founder of the Lebu International Film Festival. A teacher and audiovisual communicator, she has a degree in Administration and Management of Cultural Institutions, Companies and Platforms, as well as in Executive Production for Film and TV. She worked as a producer on Gritos del bosque (2014), Mocha Dick, la ballena mapuche (2016), and Cecilia, la incomparable (2023). She was a jury member at Fidocs, FICVIÑA, Bogotá, Spain, Cuba, and Guatemala, and was honored with several international awards.

LARRY LABOE

(USA) Executive Director of NewFilmmakers LA (NFMLA). He is a member of the Producers Guild of America and previously served as a faculty member at the San Francisco Art Institute. Board Member of the BRIC Foundation and Film Festival Alliance. He has produced content directed by leading talent including James Franco and Joseph Gordon-Levitt for Disney, NBC, MTV, Comedy Central, and many of these productions have been official selections at prestigious festivals and have received major awards.

Latin American Competition Jury

MARÍA GOWLAND

(Argentina) She holds a degree in Visual Arts with a specialization in Audiovisual Studies and a postgraduate degree in Media from the University of Canberra, Australia. She has complemented her training by working in areas such as directing actors, playwriting, photography, production, editing, and clown. She has more than 25 years of experience in the international audiovisual industry. She has worked with directors such as Walter Salles, Carlos Sorín, Fernando Spiner, Lucrecia Martel, Sergio Renán, Emanuele Crialese, and Sergio Machado.

VICTOR TENDLER

(Argentina) He has worked in the audiovisual field for over 30 years. He was part of the sound teams for La ciénaga (2001), The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), El aura (2005), No sos vos, soy yo (2004), The Intruder (2020), Robe of Gems (2022), El amor después del amor (2023), and El jockey (2024), among other productions. He also served as Technical Head at BAFICI and the Mar del Plata Film Festival. He has taught at ENERC and at the SICA Professional Training Center, and has given intensive sound courses both in the Dominican Republic and in various cities in Argentina.

GABRIELA TAGLIAVINI

(Argentina) Award-winning writer and director who has helmed nine feature films and several TV series. Some of her movies were #1 in the box-office and several platforms. She has worked as a writer and director for Netflix, Amazon, Sony, Disney, Viacom and HBO, among others. She directed celebrities like Sharon Stone, Eva Longoria, Mike Tyson, Billy Zane, and Christian Slater. Her latest Netflix movie Christmas With You launched #1 in 26 countries and top 10 in 80 countries.

Argentine Competition Jury

ALBERTO GIECO

(Argentina) Film and theater director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He wrote and directed the feature films De la piel suave (2025) and El infierno de los vivos (2024), as well as the short film La frontera del deseo (2024), among other productions. He also worked as script supervisor and assistant director on over 30 features, including Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) and At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991), both by Héctor Babenco, and El viaje de Eliseo (2025) by Matías Medici. He was associate producer on El mensaje (2025) and an actor in La mujer hormiga (2024).

COCA ODERIGO

(Argentina) A graduate of the University of Buenos Aires (FADU, UBA), she works as an architect, set designer, production designer, and costume designer in film, theater, and advertising. She received the Coral Award for Best Production Designer at the Havana Film Festival for the film Leonera (2008). She has collaborated with renowned figures such as Lucrecia Martel, Héctor Babenco, Walter Salles, James Ivory, and Jean-Jacques Annaud. She has taught seminars in Production Design and delivered lectures and masterclasses at prestigious international institutions.

CARLOS MORELLI

(Argentina) Film critic, creator and host of television programs such as Función privada, El gran cine español, El cine que nos mira, and Ibercine, among others. He designed and directed the festivals Verano de Cine Español, Europa, un Cine de Punta, Argencine, Pantalla Pinamar, and Madridcine. He worked as Coordinator of Spanish Film Promotion in the Southern Cone. He received a distinction from the Cannes Film Festival and was decorated with the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic.

In Transit Competition – WIP Jury

ANA AIZENBERG

(Argentina) She coordinated the Film and Television Section at the first Bienal de Arte Joven. In 1998 she founded the first Argentina Film Commission. She was associate producer in Argentina for Seven Years in Tibet (1995) and later became partner and CEO of Cuatro Cabezas Films, where they co-produced La ciénaga (1999) and Plata quemada (2001). In television, her original idea Mujeres asesinas became a successful international series. In 2008 she created the Buenos Aires Film Commission, and since 2010 she has been a founding member of the Latin American Film Commissions Network, of which she is also coordinator. In 2016 she assumed the position of Executive Director of the Argentina Film Commission.

FEDERICO MAYOL

(Argentina) Film and television production designer. He was nominated for the Silver Cóndor and Sur Awards and won the Silver Cóndor Award for Production Design for El apego (2022). He is also a television set designer. He worked on the feature films Sudeste (2002), Soy tu aventura (2003), La vida por Perón (2004), and El amigo alemán (2012), among others. He has also designed sets for television and worked as a producer and set decorator.

CATALINA DLUGI

(Argentina) Entertainment journalist and critic of film, theater, and television. She worked at Canal 13 in the News area, in print media such as Canal TV, Antena, and Radiolandia 2000, and on radio stations including Rivadavia, Mitre, Continental, and the cable channel TN. She wrote the book Los hombres del deseo and co-wrote Mujeres, cámara, acción. Member of ACCA, FIPRESCI, APTRA, ACE, and the Hugo Awards. She is currently the host of the program Agarrate Catalina and a columnist on CNN Radio and Radio 10. She is also a Golden Globe Awards voter.