The STIFF jury consists of three teams: one for fiction, one for documentary, and one for animated films. Each team usually includes previous years’ winners and a local student. This structure allows students to actively learn from professionals as a part of the jury, and fosters connections between local filmmakers and young international creators.

The goal is to encourage collaboration, networking, and the exchange of ideas. With such strong competition, the jury faces the difficult task of awarding only three prizes: Best Fiction, Best Documentary, and Best Animated Film. The jury can also award special mentions for outstanding films from the program, while the audience plays a key role in selecting their favorite film through the Audience Award.

Animated Film Jury

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 Montreker. In addition to sculpture, he also engages in animation, illustration, and comic art.

Héloïse Ferlay grew up near the turquoise lakes of Savoie and has graduated of the Parisian school EnsAD. The making of Geôlier was her first hair-raising adventure in stopmotion animation, and Yola, in animated paint, just as much messed it up. Since, she cut her long hair off and To the dusty sea, her graduation film directed in great company in sweat, laughs and tears, went all around the world while everyone was lockdowned. Her latest little one, The girls of the wind, was born 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, and she’ll make sure it exists.

Documentary Film Jury

Igor Bezinović is a director born in Rijeka, known for his films Blokada (winner of the Oktavijan Award for Best Croatian Documentary in 2012), Veruda (Oktavijan Award for Best Croatian Documentary in 2015), and A Brief Excursion (winner of the Golden Arena for Best Croatian Feature Film in 2017). He has also directed numerous short films of various genres and lengths.

Bezinović graduated with a degree in Film and TV Directing from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb and also holds degrees in Philosophy, Sociology, and Comparative Literature from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb.

His work has been shown 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.

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 theater festival Bina Mira. Karla has also participated in performances at the Ivana pl. Zajc Theatre in Rijeka, including productions such as Fahrenheit 451, The Wizard of Oz, and Practicing Life – A Second Time.

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.

Fiction film Jury

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.

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 the post-production phase of his first live-action short 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 he 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.