Team

Festival Director

Patrik Krivanek is a Czech film director, producer, and screenwriter based in London. He studied film with a focus on screenwriting at the Film and Television School Wales and earned a BA in film from the prestigious Westminster Film School, specializing in directing. He also participated in the Sundance Institute’s Directing Actors program, further refining his directing voice. He has worked on both international and Czech productions, including the talent show Britain’s Got Talent, the feature films Smiles of Sad Men and Two Words as the Key, and Masters of the Air, an Apple TV+ series produced by Spielberg, Hanks, and Goetzman.

His films and screenplays have earned accolades at prestigious Academy Award-qualifying festivals and screenplay competitions, such as the Austin Film Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival, and the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards, among others. In 2020, he founded Ephor Pictures Ltd, an independent British production company. As a producer, he has participated in the Producers Network at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022, 2023, and 2024. 

As the founder of the International Film Gala, he leverages his extensive knowledge and experience from his work with several prominent film festivals, including the Cardiff Independent Film Festival and the Westminster Film Festival, to shape and enrich the Gala’s vision. 

He is also currently in pre-production on his directorial feature debut, Muddy Shoes.

Head of Programming

Luca Ferrara is an Italian filmmaker specializing in short and feature films, as well as commercials. He is the founder and director of the international Brixia Film Festival in Brescia and previously led the Westminster Film Society and Westminster Film Festival in 2018 and 2019, returning as Jury President in 2020. 

Currently, he serves as the Programming Director of the International Film Gala in London and collaborates with various international film festivals and screenwriting competitions, including the Oudeis International Film Festival in Rome.

Grand Jury Member

Academy Award nominee Daria Kashcheeva is a Tajikistani-born Czech animator whose groundbreaking work has garnered international acclaim. Her graduation film, Daughter (2019), celebrated for its innovative handheld camera techniques, won the Crystal Award for Best Student Film at Annecy, the Jury Prize at Sundance, a Student Academy Award, and received an Oscar® nomination for Best Animated Short Film.

Originally trained as a musician, Daria studied piano at the Moscow Conservatory and music direction at the Gnessin Moscow Academy. Her creative journey shifted to animation during her time as a sound designer, leading her to enrol at FAMU in Prague, where she discovered her distinctive artistic voice.

Her follow-up film, Electra (2023), premiered at Cannes and earned multiple accolades, including the Best International Short Film award at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). As a participant in the prestigious Cannes Résidence program, Daria continues to redefine the art of animation through her compelling storytelling and pioneering techniques.

Grand Jury Member

Nigel Orrilard is a highly experienced film educator, script consultant, and filmmaker with a passion for transforming the lives of his students through education. Since 2000, he has dedicated his career to film education, teaching over 3,000 students and leading the MA/MFA Film Programme at the University of South Wales (formerly the Newport Film School).

His filmmaking accomplishments include the award-winning MA graduation film May Day, which won the £30,000 DM Davies Award at the International Film Festival Wales and earned a BAFTA Cymru nomination. He also wrote the feature screenplay for King’s Shadows, which received £11,500 in development funding from the Arts Council of Wales.

His expertise extends to script consultancy, and since 2006, he has worked as a contracted script consultant for 57 feature film projects at the Oscar® and Palm d'Or®-winning Andrzej Wajda Film School in Warsaw, as part of the EKRAN European Training Programme for Film Professionals, guiding some of Europe’s most promising filmmakers.

An advocate for collaboration, he has been at the forefront of film education, organising international symposiums and lectures. He has been a visiting scholar at the NYU Tisch School and regularly collaborates with institutions such as ESMAE Porto. 

His academic research on director-actor collaboration has led to multiple published papers and prestigious conference presentations. With a focus on innovative teaching methods and cross-disciplinary collaboration, he continues to inspire new generations of filmmakers.

Grand Jury Member

Anna Hints is an acclaimed Estonian filmmaker whose debut feature documentary, Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, has won numerous prestigious accolades and gained widespread international recognition. The film earned her the Directing Award in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, marking a significant milestone in her career.

Among its many achievements, Smoke Sauna Sisterhood won the Audentia Award from Eurimages, celebrating exceptional female directors, and the European Film Award for Best Documentary. It was also selected as Estonia’s official entry for the 96th Academy Awards, solidifying its place as a major cinematic achievement.

The documentary’s acclaim extends to multiple nominations, including the LUX European Audience Film Award, the Critics’ Choice Documentary Award for Best First Feature, and four nominations at the Cinema Eye Honors, where it won Best Cinematography. Additionally, the film received a PGA Award nomination for Outstanding Documentary Motion Picture and secured a Best Cinematography award at the IDA Awards.

Through her ability to craft powerful and visually stunning narratives, Anna Hints has established herself as a leading figure in contemporary documentary filmmaking, earning her a well-deserved place on the global stage.

Grand Jury Member

BAFTA Award-winning writer and director Yasmin Afifi gained acclaim for her short film Jellyfish and Lobster, which won the Best British Short Award at the 2024 BAFTAs. Her work has been showcased at leading Oscar® and BAFTA-qualifying festivals, including the London Film Festival, Aesthetica, Encounters, Palm Springs, and Leeds, among others.

Yasmin holds a BA in Film from the University of Westminster and an MA in Directing from the National Film and Television School (NFTS), earned through a full BBC Film scholarship. 

Her storytelling blends comedy, magical realism, and absurdism to explore taboo and darker themes, often placing relatable characters in imaginative worlds that captivate audiences.

Currently, Yasmin is developing her debut feature film.

Grand Jury Member

Livan Garcia-Duquesne is a UK-based French-Spanish filmmaker, writer, and educator with an MPhil in film & screen studies from the University of Cambridge, where he graduated with distinction. His academic research explores the representation of historical trauma in cinema and Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy of film. 

He also holds a film BA from the University of Westminster and has published film reviews and articles for outlets such as DMovies, Alborada, and the peer-reviewed Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema. 

Livan’s professional experience includes working as a freelance development assistant/producer’s assistant at 1185 Films Ltd, where he contributed to TV project development and collaborated with broadcasters. He has also covered the Debut Film Selection at the 2022 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and has written extensively on Latin American cinema. 

Currently, Livan teaches filmmaking to students aged 8 to 16 as a tutor at the BFI Young Filmmakers Club, while continuing to explore themes of historical and cultural representation in his work.