Creative producer Agnė Adomėnė focuses on development and production of artistic animated films. In 2012 she founded production company ART SHOT, since then has been producing films of different animation techniques, most of the films are coproductions and received international recognition. Agnė is also one of the founders and a board member of The Lithuanian Animation Association, a member of The Independent Producers Association of Lithuania, a member of The European Film Academy, a member of The Lithuanian Film Academy and WIFT LT. A lecturer at the National Film School (KIMO).

Jakub Spevák studied Film Screenwriting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, where he is currently pursuing a PhD. A member of the Fest Anča International Animation Festival team since 2019, he has been its Programme Director since 2023. He regularly curates programmes for various international festivals and has served on numerous festival juries. Jakub Spevák is the author of two books (Po funuse and Všetko, čo som ti nestihol povedať), both nominated for Slovak literary awards, and is currently working on the screenplay for a feature film. He also performs under the name J. Singer, combining influences ranging from folklore to vogue.

Jenny Jokela is a multi award-winning Finnish animation director based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her short films have been screened world-wide at festivals such as Annecy, Ottawa, Chicago International Film Festival, Palmsprings, AFI Fest and Animafest Zagreb. She is known for her playfully colourful, hand-painted animated worlds that visualise and observe raw emotions and human behaviour. As well as making her short films, Jokela has directed a children’s TV series and a feature film; Hoppsorna (2022, YLE, Finland) and Arne Alligator (2024, SF Film & See you Later!, Sweden & Finland). She has also expanded her artistic practice by making animation for live music performances, and her commercial animation clients include Coldplay, BBC, Tate gallery, Adult Swim and Disney.

Anastasia Dimitra is an animation director, researcher, and educator. She holds a PhD and a Master’s degree in the Art of Animation from Middlesex University, London. She served as Course Leader of Animation & Interactive Media and Game Design at AKTO Art & Design College (1993–2026) and collaborates with universities in Greece and abroad. Since the 1980s, she has been actively involved in the field of animation as a creator, director, and producer of audiovisual works. Her research focuses on the theory and aesthetics of animation, emerging technologies, and the educational applications of animation. In 2025, she was elected President of ASIFA International (International Animated Film Association). She has published books and academic articles, participated in international committees and animation festivals, and, since 1990, has organised animation workshops for children, young people, and people with disabilities.

Mathieu Labaye is a Belgian director specializing in animation. He studied at La Cambre National School of Visual Arts in Brussels. Since 2002, he has been an animator at the Liège-based animation studio Camera-etc, where he has supervised the production of numerous projects (workshops, short films, music videos, commissioned films etc). He is the director of the films Orgesticulanismus (2008) and The labyrinth (2013), and will direct his third short film in 2027 (The Lookout, produced by Miyu and Camera-etc). As a lead animator, he has also collaborated on multiple occasions with the Romanian director Anca Damian (Marona's Fantastic Tale, The Island, Motherhood).

Spiritus movens and director of the Animation Across Borders project (2012-), O!PLA Animation Festival (2013-) and the Rising of Lusitania – AnimaDoc FF (2019-). Co-initiator and program director of the CRAFT ANIMFEST in Indonesia (2017-). Organizer of the Polish edition of the StopTrik IFF in Łódź (2016 – 2024). Associated with Se-Ma-For Film Production & Foundation (2010 - 2013) as a main distributor and, among other things, co-initiator and program director of the Se-Ma-For FF. Since 2010, Piotr has been cooperating with ASIFA as the IAD coordinator. Curator and juror at film festivals worldwide.

A Romanian multidisciplinary artist working across music, performance, fashion, visual art and film. Her work has always grown around a strong personal aesthetic, where music and image are closely connected. She started working professionally as a model in 2012 and has since worked both in Romania and internationally, currently collaborating with the international modeling agency Attitude Models. Alongside modeling, she has built an independent career as a musician and visual artist, developing her own image, editing her own videos and creating the visual universe around her projects for more than a decade. In 2019, she launched her music project +SHE+, through which she explores darker, cinematic and alternative sounds. She released her third album, Cemetery of Broken Hearts, in 2026, with a fourth album currently in the works. Since 2022, she has also been behind Disko Anksyete, a monthly gothic and underground party series at Manasia in Bucharest, created as a space for goth, darkwave, post-punk and other alternative sounds. In 2026, Disko Anksyete grew into its first mini-festival, Disko Anksyete Fest. Her work has also crossed into television, fashion and live performance. She has been nominated at the ELLE Style Awards for Best Female Artist, Best Emerging Artist and Best Personal Style, and has appeared in editorial features for ELLE. In 2019, she took part in Bravo, ai stil!, finishing in second place. She later appeared on SuperStar România, where she performed a dark reinterpretation of Maria Tănase’s Doina. In 2026, she participated in Vocea României, performing Pompilia Stoian’s Prieten Drag intertwined with music from Twin Peaks. Her interest in visual storytelling has always been at the center of what she does. Whether through music videos, fashion imagery, performance or live events, Corina creates worlds rather than working within just one medium. As a jury member, she brings a strong sensitivity towards atmosphere, originality, visual language and the relationship between sound and image, elements that are at the heart of animation as well.

Matei’s story began in 1984 in Bucharest, when he was born. Then, once again, in 2005, when he started working in radio as a producer for ‘Guerrilla de Dimineață’, and then it began yet again in 2013, when he became the show’s co-host. To this day, Matei still gets excited every day and smiles when he remembers just how lucky he is.

Vlad Ilicevici is a screenwriter, director, producer (@Worksheep Studio), and musician (in the post-shoegaze/ambient noise dirge trio, Orkid). His latest films, the animated shorts ‘Suruaika’ (2022) and ‘Nephilim’ (2025)—both co-directed with Radu Pop—have screened at over 100 film festivals in 25 countries and won more than 20 awards. Both films feature soundtracks by Orkid. Vlad is the founder of “Animation Worksheep,” an educational platform dedicated to film and commercial animation. Of the 350 former “worksheepers,” more than half currently work as animators or in animation-related fields. Between 2008 and 2018, he served as the executive director of the Animest International Animation Film Festival. Throughout his 18 years in the animation industry, Vlad has sought to build a strong community for animation professionals in Romania and the Republic of Moldova. He currently writes and performs Rock ’n’ Roll fairy tales with Orkid (including the soundtracks for his own films) and has two more short films, a series, and other commercial animation projects in production. In 2019, he founded a Romanian alternative music community, Stray Lights Community, and this year he launched a festival, Stray Lights Festival, dedicated to innovative and non-anachronistic musical genres that have been overlooked by the Romanian music scene.

Ioana Nicoară is a multimedia artist whose practice spans traditional media, such as watercolor, as well as digital media, including 2D and 3D animation, augmented reality, and multimedia installations. She works at the intersection of animation, visual arts, and new media, exploring new forms of storytelling.

Valeriu Căliman is a lecturer in the Animation Department at I. L. Caragiale National University of Theatre and Film. A video editor by profession, he has worked on various advertising projects and feature films, such as The Rest is Silence (2008, dir. Nae Caranfil). He has experience as a sound engineer, having worked on the dubbing of several Disney productions. As an animated film director, he has made numerous short films selected for international festivals, such as How It Was Invented (2016), which was selected for the Animest festival.

Coming from an architecture background, Mihai co-founded and designed Romania’s first immersive museum - and some of Bucharest’s earliest new media art festivals & galleries/events. He focuses on launching experimental cultural projects and is currently exploring the intersection of AI and film, as co-founder & FD at BAIFF - Bucharest AI Film Festival.

Dora started her festival career as a volunteer in 2017. After taking on various roles within a number of festival teams during the years, in 2021 she became the project coordinator of the Rise&Shine pitching lab for young talents, which takes place at two distinguished animation festivals: World Festival of Animated Film - Animafest Zagreb and Animateka - International Animated Film Festival. In 2023, she started collaborating with the Slovene Animated Film Association - DSAF, working on a variety of projects, ranging from workshops to industry meets. From 2024, she is an active collaborator on various CEE Animation projects. Apart from the festival circuit, Dora worked on several live-action productions, including commercials and short films.

Vessela Dantcheva is an animation director and producer. She graduated in Animation at Rotterdam Art Academy in 2002 and gained her animation experience in the Netherlands. Her first professional film was ‘Anna Blume’, then she was part of the creation of ‘Father’, ‘Travelling Country’, the poetry collection ‘Mark & Verse’, ‘Hierarchy Glitch’ and many others. In 2008 she co-founds Compote Collective and since then she has been managing the production of diverse artistic animation films, which are screened and awarded worldwide. Compote Collective is one of the leading animation production companies in Bulgaria with a record of 42 animated films. Vessela is invited often to participate in workshops, presentations and as a jury member at international festivals and pitching events. She is a lecturer in animation studies at New Bulgarian University and National Academy of Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Ema Nemčovičová is a Slovak screenwriter, script doctor, and film programmer based in Paris, currently developing her first feature. At Fest Anča, Slovakia's Academy Award–qualifying animation festival, she oversees much of the programming as a part of the pre-selection committee and co-curator of theme-based programs. She also programs for AnimationHUB/CEE Animation and is a member of Paris collective La Clef.

Filip Columbeanu is a screenwriter born, raised, and trained in Bucharest, with over ten years of experience in theater and television. His projects include the satire ‘Împăratul Neîmpărat’ (directed by Radu Stoian, Nottara Theater, 2014), the thrillers ‘Vlad’ (2019) and ‘Groapa’ (2023) on PRO TV, and the sitcom ‘Bravo, Tată’ (2023) on Antena 1. He is currently developing the dark fantasy YA animated series ‘Samca’ for PRO TV, based on Romanian mythology.

Vasi Alboiu is a creative director who enjoys working at the intersection of art, storytelling, and technology. He got his start in advertising, where he created major campaigns at Ogilvy and Lowe, and later focused on projects that combine creativity with innovation. He has worked on many animation projects, ranging from stop-motion to 2D and 3D. ‘Împreună trup şi suflet’ is one of the latest animation projects he directed, which has won awards at several animation festivals. In 2025, he directed—and continues to do so—the second season of the animated series ŢUP, the first Romanian animated series produced after 1989. Today, as creative director at PRO TV, he explores how new technologies—including artificial intelligence—can be used to transform ideas into innovative projects, whether in TV production, streaming, or digital media.

My name is Daria Maria Țibreanu, and I am 11 years old. I am a fifth-grade student from Bucharest. My hobbies include reading, acting, and drawing, which is why I take classes to develop my artistic skills. Math is the subject that interests me the most. In my free time, I participate in activities organized as part of the 'Scouts of Romania'. My favorite movies are anime films like “Spy” and “Family”. I enjoy swimming and winter sports, such as skiing and snowboarding. In my free time, I travel with my parents.

My name is Ilinca, and I'm almost 11 years old. I really enjoy painting, riding my bike, and making up stories.

My name is Patricia, I’m 12 years old, and I’m a sixth-grader. I’m a sociable and friendly person, and when I set my mind to something, I do everything I can to make it happen. My passions are drawing, acting, and anime. I watch a lot of animated films in general—I’m really passionate about them. Being a juror at the festival excites me because I’ll get to watch short films and offer an opinion that really matters and helps the film’s message reach more people.

Daria likes observing the world around her - films serve as an exercise in this sense. She listens to music all the time and goes to any concert she’s invited to. Daria is also passionate about handmade crafts and wants to learn as many techniques as possible for making things by hand (she already knows how to sew and crochet).

Nak loves birds, dragons and drawing. Nak is easily adaptable, encourages open communication and is excited to be part of the Teen Jury.

Maia likes drawing fantasy creatures, studying history and geography. She describes herself as cheerful and playful. Maia is excited to be part of Animest’s Teen Jury, meet new people and share thoughts and opinions about films with the rest of the jurors.