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Roxana Stroe
/ Festival Director /
A graduate of UNATC Bucharest and the National Film and Television School in the UK, Roxana's work explores characters living within rigid social structures and inherited beliefs, through a restrained visual language.
Her Berlinale-winning short A Night in Tokoriki received the Generation 14+ Jury Prize and screened at over 100 festivals worldwide, including San Sebastián, Karlovy Vary, Edinburgh and AFI FEST.
Appalachia was selected for Euro Connection at Clermont-Ferrand, supported by CNC and Wallonie-Bruxelles Images, and acquired by Canal+.
Her NFTS graduation film, They Made You into a Weapon and Told You to Find Peace, developed through European Short Pitch, screened at Kyiv Molodist and EnergaCAMERIMAGE.
Her debut feature, Houses Are Silent, has been selected for the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum at San Sebastián and Ventana Sur-Proyecta, and is currently being developed as an international co-production between Romania, Switzerland, Germany and Uruguay.
Emily Joshua
/Festival Coordinator/
Emily Joshua is an award-winning British screenwriter and filmmaker based in Cornwall, creating inclusive, character-first stories across film and television. A disabled and neurodivergent writer from a working-class background, she brings a distinctive perspective to stories exploring identity, resilience, class, power and belonging.
Emily's creative background spans theatre and the arts alongside research and broadcast experience at the BBC, giving her a performance-led approach to character and a strong understanding of audience engagement. She graduated with Distinction from Falmouth University's MA Writing for Script & Screen and was selected for the 2025 New Writers' Network South West, supported by Screen Cornwall and the BFI.
Her produced micro-short Olympian, directed by Simon Jenner, uses dark humour and metaphor to explore the everyday experience of disability. Following its debut screening with Women in Film & Television, the film entered the international festival circuit, receiving awards and selections globally. Her produced audio screenplay Did Alan Call? is available through OUTWRD.
Emily's television script work includes the multi-award-winning Regency drama Foxton Hall, horror sci-fi series Last Apocalypse, and Cornish regional detective drama Hobbs & Pengelly. Foxton Hall has received extensive international recognition, including the Television Script Award at the London Director Talents Awards.
Across her work, Emily champions entertaining mainstream storytelling in which underrepresented characters are integral to the story rather than defined by difference.
Kotaro Sakai
/Festival Programmer /
Born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1995. Graduated from Osaka University of Arts. During his time at the university, he studied filmmaking under the mentorship of director Kazuki Omori. After graduation, he worked as an assistant director under prominent filmmakers such as Takashi Yamazaki, Takahiro Miki, Ryuichi Hiroki, and Kensaku Kakimoto.His directorial work "Masumi's Sky" (2025) won BEST DIRECTOR SHORT FILM at the Los Angeles Short Film Award. It has also been nominated for several film festivals, including SSFF (Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia), the Tokyo Film & Screenplay Awards, the Hollywood Day Short Film Festival, the TOKYO Youth Film Festival, and the Aioi Nagisa Short Film Festival.
Erik Jasan
/Junior Programmer/
Erik Jasan is a film director, screenwriter, and producer whose work focuses on intimate stories with social themes. His debut film, The Professional Parent, qualified for the 98th Academy Awards in the Best Live Action Short Film category. His films have been officially selected by festivals including Balinale – Bali IFF, HollyShorts FF, Tirana IFF, Odense IFF, Huesca IFF, Out On Film: Atlanta's LGBT FF, St Kilda FF, Bengaluru ISFF, Reykjavik IFF, Alexandria ISFF, and many others.
He is the founder of Košice IFF and Prague Film Festival. He is a programmer for the Canadian Screen Awards-qualifying festival Vancouver Web Fest. He co-distributed a film that won the Special Jury Prize at the 65th Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and has also distributed films that premiered at festivals including Sarajevo IFF, Vancouver FF, and Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Montreal.
Erik received the Distribution Award at the FEST – New Directors Festival Pitching Forum, as well as Best European Film at Navarra IFF and Best International Film at New York Shorts IFF.