Diana El Jeiroudi began her work as a filmmaker drawn to documentary, as a space where form and politics are inextricably linked. Moving between archival research, essay film and personal history, she is best known for her film “Republic of Silence” (Venice 2021, Goethe-Institut Documentary Film Prize, Special Mention at DOK Leipzig). As a producer, she was involved in “Silver Water, Syria Self-Portrait” (Cannes 2014), among others. She is co-founder and co-managing director of No Nation Films, as well as co-founder and co-chair of DOX BOX e.V., and works as a mentor at international film labs including Berlinale Talents. She is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the German Film Academy.

Ivan Ramljak is a filmmaker and independent curator. In 2003, he founded the Human Rights Film Festival in Zagreb, Croatia. From 2013 to 2022, he curated the “Short Tuesday” film programme at Cinema Tuškanac; he then served as artistic director of Tabor Film Festival in Veliki Tabor until 2023. Since 2022, he has been a member of the short film committee at IFFR. To date, Ramljak has directed fourteen films, mostly documentaries. His work has screened at more than 100 international festivals worldwide, including IFFR, DOK Leipzig, Cinéma du réel, MoMA Doc Fortnight, Sarajevo FF and Dokufest, and has received numerous awards. With “Peacemaker“, he won the Golden Dove at DOK Leipzig and the Big Golden Arena for Best Film at Pula FF; “El Shatt – A Blueprint for Utopia“ received the Vladimir Nazor Award.

Raul Niño Zambrano has been Creative Director of Sheffield DocFest since 2023. Prior to this, he was a Senior Programmer at IDFA, where he began his career in 2008. At Sheffield DocFest, Zambrano has led the introduction of TV documentary series premieres, the innovative Podcast Pitch, and most recently the creation of the Queer Realities Director’s Lab, designed to push creative boundaries in queer non-fiction storytelling. An active member of the documentary community, he has served as a juror at renowned international festivals, including the Berlinale Teddy Award, Nordisk Panorama, BFI London Film Festival and Taiwan International Documentary Festival. He has also shared his expertise as a tutor and industry mentor at events around the world.

Waltraud Grausgruber is co-founder and co-director of Tricky Women Tricky Realities in Vienna (until 2026). Since 2001, the festival has held a unique position in the festival landscape with its focus on animated films by women and/or genderqueer artists. From feminist and artistic perspectives, it engages with social and political issues while opening up new ways of making structural inequalities visible and tangible. With Culture2Culture, Waltraud Grausgruber continues this work, expanding the use of animation beyond the festival context into education, activism, public discourse and civil society, where the medium can enable new, vibrant forms of dialogue and critical engagement.

Edmunds Jansons is an animation director, educator and founder of the animation studio Atom Art. He studied at the Latvian Academy of Culture and the Estonian Academy of Arts under Priit Pärn and holds a doctorate from the Art Academy of Latvia, where he has taught animation for more than a decade. Jansons has directed internationally acclaimed short films, television projects and feature films, including “Choir Tour” (2012), “The Isle of Seals” (2014) and “Guard of Honour” (2021). Two years ago, his “Freeride in C” saw winter sports enthusiasts race across the screen to the driving rhythm of electronic music at DOK Leipzig. His second feature film, “Born in the Jungle”, premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2026. Alongside his work as a filmmaker, Jansons is also a well-known children’s book author and illustrator.

Matea Radic is a painter, sculptor, director and animator. Born in Sarajevo, she now lives and works in Winnipeg, Canada. She studied drawing and photography at the University of Manitoba and Digital Media Design at Red River College. She is self-taught in animation. After creating several animated music videos, she made her first short film in 2025. “Paradaïz” tells of exploding tomatoes, bullet-riddled walls and snails looking for houses. Her debut is a return to a childhood during the Bosnian War, where beautiful memories lie next to traumatic ones. The film received, among other awards, the Golden Dove at DOK Leipzig. Alongside her artistic practice, Radic leads collaborative drawing and animation workshops for young and old.

David Bernet is a German-Swiss documentary filmmaker, writer and producer. His work has received numerous awards and is distinguished by its in-depth engagement with social and political issues. His best-known documentaries include “Solidarity” (2025), “Democracy” (2015) and “Raising Resistance” (2011). He studied Comparative Literature and Philosophy in Vienna and Berlin and worked as a researcher and writer before beginning to direct his own documentaries. David Bernet has been politically active in the film industry for many years; since February 2020, he has been one of the two co-leaders of AG DOK (the Professional Association of Documentary Filmmakers), serving as Chairman of the Board and Managing Director.

Born in East Berlin in 1980, Stefanie Eckert was appointed managing director of the DEFA Foundation in 2020. While studying Audiovisual Media Studies at the “Konrad Wolf” University of Film and Television, she began working at the foundation in 2001, progressing from an internship to a long-standing position as a board advisor. She has overseen major restoration projects, including classics such as Konrad Wolf’s “Stars” (1959). A key focus of her work is embedding DEFA cinema in academic discourse and making the film heritage accessible to wider audiences. In 2008, she documented her extensive knowledge of the cultural and political challenges surrounding film heritage in a publication on the foundation’s history during the period of transformation: “Das Erbe der DEFA” (The Legacy of the DEFA).

Since October 2025, Adele Kohout has been festival director of DOK.fest München, overseeing both its artistic direction and management. She studied Art History and Modern History with a focus on film in Düsseldorf and Zurich before completing a Master’s degree in Cultural Studies and Cultural Management in Ludwigsburg. Her professional career has taken her to Prague, New York and Munich’s Kunstareal, among other places. She has worked for DOK.fest München since 2008, initially in public relations, later as assistant to the festival management and in the areas of financing, project coordination, programming, sponsorship and partner communications. Most recently, she co-directed the festival with Daniel Sponsel.