Jurors and programmers

Young Jury 10+

Zofia Niewiadomska

I’m 11 years old. I’ve been training in running for over three years, and I really enjoy it. Besides that, I love acting and drawing. In my free time (after running, of course), I love watching movies, TV series, and sometimes reading books. I absolutely adore documentary cinema. I joined this jury out of curiosity, excitement, and enthusiasm.

Basia Szycman

I’m 13 years old. I love reading and spending time with my dog. I enjoy watching films based on true stories the most. They inspire me because they tell stories about people like me, making me believe in myself.

Lea Wróblewska

I’m a therian and enjoy watching documentaries, especially about animals. In my free time, I read books, go ice skating, rollerblading, and cycling, and I play on a volleyball team. I love drawing and playing with my dog, Diuna. I’m really excited to be part of the jury—I can’t wait to watch new films and experience them!

Young Jury 14+

Józef Szałajko

I’m 16 years old and a first-year high school student. I’m interested in film (obviously :)), photography, drawing, and painting. I train in judo and tennis and love skiing. Fun fact – I have five siblings!

Ida Romaszkan

I’m 15 years old and passionate about both watching and creating films. I also enjoy playing the guitar and reading books. I was invited to the jury for my sharp insights and fresh perspective on cinema.

Ida Skalska

I’m 13 years old and in the seventh grade. I’ve been acting in an amateur theater since childhood. Cinema has fascinated me since I was nine. My favorite film is La La Land, and my favorite actors are Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. I also love reading, and my favorite author is Maria Krasowska.

European Film Club – Warsaw Film Nest Jury 10+

Nina Jach

Hi, I am Nina Jach. I am a 12-year-old from Warsaw, and I am in the 6th grade. In films, I like when they address real issues and show genuine emotions. I also pay attention to the way scenes are shot.

Iwo Rajski

I am 13 years old. I ride a BMX bike, am learning to play the piano, and act in films. As a viewer, I enjoy unpredictable, emotion-filled stories with engaging characters.

Natan Sekuła

I am a 13-year-old film and comic book enthusiast, I have been immersed in the world of Marvel superheroes since childhood. I love music, and playing the drums allows me to express emotions as intensely as the film scripts I write. My head is full of original ideas for incredible stories that I hope to bring to the big screen one day as a director or screenwriter.

My first step into the film world was co-creating my debut project, The Time of Crazy Windmills, at the FabLab Kamera Akcja! studio. This is just the beginning of my artistic journey, but I am determined to make my dreams come true.

Member of the European Film Club – Warsaw Film Nest.

European Film Club – Warsaw Film Nest Jury 14+

Natalia Kałwa

I’m a high school student in Kraków. I am passionate about visual arts, including photography, film, and makeup artistry. I create music videos and short films because I love looking at the world through a camera lens. I explore unique compositions by playing with light, color, and editing. I also experiment with makeup as a tool to redefine characters. In my free time, I watch documentaries, enjoying the discovery of unknown stories, diving into human emotions, and gaining valuable knowledge.

Maja Trejter

“Be brave and kind” – I first heard these words when I was ten, watching Disney’s Cinderella with my mom at the Femina cinema. This phrase settled in my mind permanently, and I have no intention of letting it go or allowing others to forget it. Maybe beauty lies in simplicity?

Natalia Stygińska

I’m 17 years old and a third-year high school student. My interest in films is purely a hobby. I especially enjoy thrillers, dramas, and documentaries. Besides that, I love reading and drawing. I joined the WFN jury thanks to my participation in workshops at the Wajda Film Centre.

ECFA Jury

Radka Hoffmanová

Radka is the director of The Audiovisual Centre, based in the cinema Kino Kavalírka (Prague), head of industry at BOO International Film Festival (Prague) and a curator. She studied Radio and TV Dramaturgy and Scriptwriting at Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts (Brno, Czechia), where she is currently a PhD candidate. Her research focuses on contemporary cinema for youth in a European context. She is a board member of the European Children’s Film Association. As a scriptwriter, she has regularly collaborated with Czech Radio and Radio and Television of Slovakia.

Niki Padidar

Niki Padidar is an Amsterdam based director. Her debut documentary Ninnoc won 7 prizes, i.a. at Berlinale. Her first feature All You See was IDFA’s ’22 opening film. She has always made stories for youth and wrote a children’s sex ed book that sold out its first edition in the Netherlands. Currently, Niki is curating IDFA’s youth competition and giving masterclasses on subjects like ‘a young audience’, ‘education in films for youth’ and ‘representation & blind spots’, both in the Netherlands and abroad. Born in Tehran, she studied photography at the New School University in New York, attended the Gerrit Rietveld art academy in the Netherlands and specialized in ‘Youth & media’ and ‘Representation’ at the University of Amsterdam.

Pantelis Panteloglou

Born in Athens in 1976, he studied Social Anthropology at Panteion University, where he also did postgraduate studies. He has worked in the wider cultural and audiovisual field since the beginning of 2000, in various creative, technical and administrative positions. Since the beginning of 2024 he is the artistic director of Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People, where he has been working part-time since 2011 and full-time since 2018. As of 2023 he is president of the European Children’s Film Association (ECFA) for a five-year term.

ZEF Jury

dr hab. Justyna Hanna Budzik

The assistant professor at the Institute of Cultural Studies at the University of Silesia in Katowice. A film scholar and a teacher of Polish as a foreign language. An expert with the Film Educators’ Team, she collaborates with various visual education programs. She is the author of books Polish Film and Photography of the New Century in the Context of Visual Culture (2023), Film Wonders and Magic Tricks: Sketches from the Archaeology of Cinema (2015), and The Touch of Light: On the Sensory Experience of Cinema (2012). She also co-authored (with Agnieszka Tambor) The Polish Film Shelf: Short Fiction and Animated Films in Teaching Polish as a Foreign Language (2018). She has worked at universities in France and the USA.

Elżbieta Piotrowicz

A graduate of Polish studies at the University of Silesia and postgraduate studies in Practical Film Education at the Warsaw Film School. A Polish language teacher at the Second High School in Gliwice, for over 20 years she has been developing original programs for education about and through film. A participant in film studies conferences and film festivals, she is the author of lesson plans for working with film. She served as a juror representing the Polish Federation of Film Discussion Clubs at the Tromsø International Film Festival in 2020 and as a juror for the Film Educators’ Team at the Kids Kino International Film Festival in 2022. She collaborates with Young Horizons Education, Kino AMOK in Gliwice, and the KaFe In-nI Film Discussion Club in Ruda Śląska. She is also the vice-president of the Film Educators’ Team Foundation. Beyond watching films, she enjoys reading, listening, and traveling.

Michał Surówka

The film scholar, programmer, and promoter of film culture. A graduate of the Jagiellonian University and a member of the Board of the Association of Arthouse Cinemas. For years, he was associated with the Ważka cinema in Niepołomice, where he combined the roles of manager, programmer, and lecturer. He is the creator of the Film Tourist profile and the organizer of numerous Film Clubs and original film cycles such as I Don’t Like Mondays, Niepołomicki Grindhouse, and Beauty in Contempt—the latter in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków as part of the Open Eyes Art Festival. When he is not watching films, he enjoys cooking, traveling, reading comics and crime novels, and engaging in digital painting.

Iwona Bartnicka

A graduate in film studies and media knowledge, as well as screenwriting and film and television production. Head of the Film Culture Department at MOS in Gorzów Wielkopolski, where she runs the arthouse cinema Kino 60 Krzeseł, the Megaron Film Discussion Club, and film and media education programs. Director of the National Festival of Intriguing Films, Vice-Chair of the Council of the Polish Federation of Film Discussion Clubs, and an expert in the Film Educators Team. Under her leadership, DKF Megaron received the Polish Film Institute Award (2016), and Kino 60 Krzeseł joined the Europa Cinemas network (2018). In 2022, she was honored with the “Meritorious for Polish Culture” badge. In the cinema, she prefers to sit at the back, as she enjoys observing the reactions of other viewers.

Kamila Szwarc

A graduate of Cultural Studies (specializing in Film Studies) at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Silesia and Film and Television Production Organization at the Faculty of Radio and Television of the University of Silesia. A passionate enthusiast of Balkan cinema and the works of Michael Haneke. A cinema specialist at the arthouse cinema Kino Kadr in Dąbrowa Górnicza, where she organizes events as part of the Media and Social Education Program KinoSzkoła and runs the ZEF – Film Highway to Europe program. She also collaborates with Kino Muza in Sosnowiec. Founder of the Couch Film Club. She spends her vacations at film festivals.