11th STIFF Film Festival Jury

The STIFF jury consists of three teams: one for fiction, one for documentary, and one for animated films. Each team includes a film professional, a previous years’ winner, and a local student. This structure allows students to actively learn from professionals as part of the jury, and fosters connections between local filmmakers and young international creatives. The goal is to encourage collaboration, networking, and the exchange of ideas. A strong competition places the jury in front of a difficult task: to award only three prizes, namely Best Fiction, Best Documentary, and Best Animated Film. The jury can also award special mentions for outstanding films, while the audience selects their favorite film with the Audience Award.

ANIMATED FILM JURY

Héloïse Ferlay grew up near the turquoise lakes of Savoie and has graduated from the Parisian school EnsAD. The making of Geôlier was her first hair-raising adventure in stop-motion animation, and Yola, in animated paint, messed it up just as much. Since then she cut her long hair and directed To the Dusty Sea, her graduation film created with great collaborators and a lot of sweat, laughs and tears, travelled all around the world while everyone was in lockdown. Her latest little one, The girls of the wind, came about in 2021, with even more wild-haired girls and emancipating children. She’s now growing her hair again and working on a new short film project, In our throats, hand in hand with Caïman Production.

Dea Jagić was born in 1985. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 2012 with the animated experimental film Objects. Since then, she has worked on various projects as an animator, illustrator, director, and designer. She is the author of three award-winning short films—Wake Me Up, Shadows, and The Past Grows—which have been screened at festivals worldwide. She is currently completing her fourth original film, titled Four. Additionally, she works as an illustrator and designer for children’s picture books and books, and as an educator at workshops.

Stipe Golem is a first-year graduate student of sculpture at the Academy of Applied Arts in Rijeka. He is interested in 3D modeling and material processing. He has participated in various sculpture colonies, such as Kipar 2024 in Imotski, the Brtonigla Sculpture Colony, and sculpting school Montraker. In addition to sculpture, he also engages in animation, illustration, and comics.

DOCUMENTARY FILM JURY

Igor Bezinović is a director born in Rijeka, known for his films Blokada (Oktavijan Award for Best Croatian Documentary in 2012), Veruda (Oktavijan Award for Best Croatian Documentary in 2015), and A Brief Excursion (Golden Arena for Best Croatian Feature Film in 2017). He has also directed numerous short films of various genres and lengths. Bezinović graduated in Film and TV Directing from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb and in Philosophy, Sociology, and Comparative Literature from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. His work has been screened internationally at festivals and events such as the International Film Festival Rotterdam, DOK Leipzig, IDFF Jihlava, CPH:DOX, Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, the Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean, the Venice Biennale of Architecture (in collaboration with Hrvoslava Brkušić for the Pula Group), Museum of the Moving Image, Guanajuato International Film Festival, and Viennale.

Matej Klucik is a young director whose passion for filmmaking began at the age of ten when he started shooting family films with a MiniDV camera. This hobby evolved into a more serious pursuit after he graduated from high school and was accepted into the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica, where he embarked on his journey into documentary filmmaking. During his studies, he focused on exploring the world and its people through a socially critical lens, reflecting on the current issues faced by Slovaks. His body of work includes his bachelor’s film After the Wedding and his master’s film My Uncles.

Karla Šoštarić is a third-year undergraduate student of Acting and Media at the Academy of Applied Arts in Rijeka. She is actively involved in the Pontes Drama Studio and has contributed to organizing the youth theatre festival Bina Mira. Karla performed in production by the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka, such as Fahrenheit 451, The Wizard of Oz, and Practicing Life – A Second Time.

FICTION FILM JURY

Juraj Bačić was born in 1993 in Rijeka, where he completed his undergraduate studies in Visual Communications and Graphic Design and is currently finishing his master’s thesis. As a student, he assisted in demonstrations for new media courses at the University of Rijeka, and worked on set designs for both commercial and non-commercial productions. He is currently in post-production of his first short fiction film. His interests lie in screenwriting and directing, with a particular focus on exploring character and the dualities hidden within people.

David Gašo was born in Osijek in 2000. In 2019, he enrolled in the Film and TV Directing program in Zagreb. At the Academy of Dramatic Art, he directed several film projects and short films, including the award-winning autobiographical hybrid film Laci’s Great Escape and the short fiction film Palikuća. His short film Short Cut Grass premiered at the 69th International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen, later receiving several accolades, including recognition at the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival, as well as the “Vedran Šamanović” award, the “Oktavijan” award, and the “Golden Pram” for Best Short Fiction Film in the Kockice 21 program at the Zagreb Film Festival. In addition to his film work, he directs commercials, music videos, and other commissioned forms, and leads workshops for children and youth at the Summer Film School in Gunja and as part of the educational programs of the Croatian Film Association. Since 2023, he has been the selector of the film program and the head of the educational program for the Film ROUND in Osijek. He is a member of the Croatian Society of Film Directors.

Nika Grbelja was born in 2001 in Zagreb. In 2023, she completed her undergraduate studies in Acting and Media at the Academy of Applied Arts in Rijeka under the mentorship of Olja Lozica. In 2021, she landed a leading role in the feature film Hotel Pula, directed by Andrej Korovljev and produced by Dijana Mlađenović. The following year she appeared in the HRT television series Metropolitanci, directed by Igor Šeregi. Currently, she is a member of the ensemble at the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka.

STIFF — Student International Film Festival is supported by Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), City of Rijeka, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County,  Serbian National Council, and Goethe Institute Zagreb. The festival takes place in Art-kino Croatia.