International Competition
NETPAC
FIPRESCI
FFSI KR Mohanan Endowment
Mohammad Rasoulf
Mohammad Rasoulof is an independent director, writer and producer. His debut film, The Twilight, 2002 received the prize for the best film at the Fajr Film Festival in Iran. After his second film Iron Island, 2005 he started facing severe censorship issues in Iran and this eventually resulted in his limited production of films and prohibition of screening his films in Iran. To this date, Mohammad Rasoulof has produced five films of which none has been screened in Iran. Nevertheless, his films are widely applauded and received by a larger audience in cinemas and festivals outside Iran. In the early phase of his career, Rasoulof mostly used metaphoric style of storytelling. He gradually turned to articulating in more direct forms of expression. He and Jafar Panahi was arrested in March 2010, while working together in a film. In the following trial, he was sentenced to six years in prison which was later reduced to a year. Rasoulof received various awards at Cannes for the films Goodbye, Manu scripts Don’t Burn and A Man of Integrity. There is No Evil earned him Golden Bear at Venice and The Seed of the Sacred Fig won Special Award at Cannes in 2024.
Ángela Molina
Ángela Molina is an internationally celebrated actress from Spanish cinema. Her uninterrupted 50-year career reflects the impactful position she held in cinema. She has worked with most of the significant filmmakers in Spain and her collaboration with major international film makers have made her embark on international acclaim. Some of the notable awards received by Angela include David di Donatello from the Italian Film Academy, Silver Shell for Best Actress at the San Sebastián Film Festival and the Grand Prize at the Montreal Film Festival. She has been nominated five times for the Goya Awards and has served on the jury of prestigious festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and San Sebastián. In 2024, Ángela starred in Polvo Serán, a musical tragicomedy directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet, for which she received several awards, including the Monica Vitti Award for Best Actress at the Rome Film Festival and the Silver Spike for Best Performance at the Seminci Film Festival.
Bui Thac Chuyen
Bui Thac Chuyen began his film career in 1991 with the short film Eternal Sadness, which won the Golden Swift Wing Prize at the National Vietnam Festival of Short Movies. His debut feature film, Living in Fear was awarded the Asian New Talent Prize for Best Film in the 2006 Shanghai International Film Festival. Chuyen's films often reflect the reality of his country, and the complex historical context that surrounds it. His films won awards at Nantes, Busan, Tokyo, Nantes and Venice Festivals. His latest film, Tunnel: Sun in the Dark, is the highest-grossing war movie in Vietnamese cinema history. His notable works include: Dream State (2012), Adrift (2009), Living in Fear (2006), The Digger (2002, doc) and Night Run (2000, short).
Edmund Yeo
Edmund Yeo is a Malaysian filmmaker living and working in Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo. His short films, Kingyo (Venice Film Festival 2009) and Inhalation (Sonje Award winner, Busan International Film Festival 2010) secured his reputation as a promising filmmaker. In 2017, he won the Best Director award at the Tokyo International Film Festival for his sophomore feature Aqerat (We, The Dead). He then directed Malu in 2020 and Moonlight Shadow, an adaptation of internationally acclaimed writer Banana Yoshimoto's novella of the same name, in 2021. Yeo is also noted for his long-time collaboration with fellow Malaysian director Woo Ming Jin, often serving as producer, writer and editor for Woo’s film projects. He produced and edited Woo’s Woman on Fire Looks for Water which was screened at Venice Film Festival, The Tiger Factory (2010) which screened at Director’s Fortnight in Cannes, Stone Turtle (2022), which won the Fipresci Award at Locarno Film Festival, and The Fox King (2025), which world premiered in Toronto Interna tional Film Festival. Yeo is currently in post-production for his latest film, The Age of Goodbyes.
Sandhya Suri
Sandhya Suri is a British-Indian filmmaker known for her poetic and socially engaged storytelling, blending intimate narratives with broader societal themes. Her documentary I for India, praised at the Sundance Film Festival, is an unparalleled depiction of the migrant experience constructed from Super 8 film letters sent between India and England over 40 years. In 2018, her acclaimed short film The Field, shot in Haryana and nominated for a BAFTA, showcased her talent for capturing personal yet universal stories in a deeply visual and sensuous way. Her debut fiction feature, Santosh (2024), which screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section, is a gritty neo-noir which tackles patriarchy and inequality in rural India. The film was Bafta nominated and shortlisted for the Oscars Best international feature.
Christopher Small
Christopher Small Christopher Small is a writer, film programmer, and publisher from the United Kingdom but living in Prague. He works as an editor of publications for the Locarno Film Festival, where he also leads the Critics Academy. He is the founder and co-editor of Outskirts, a print magazine and podcast dedicated to the cinema of the past and present.
Aparajita Pujari
Aparajita Pujari is an award-winning film critic, poet, translator and accomplished literary author with more than 20 years of experience in analysing, writing, and advocating for cinema and literature. She is recognized for insightful contributions to film criticism. Adept at conveying nuanced perspectives through columns, she has been to festivals and public speaking, with a special focus on the social and cultural impact of cinema as well as the business of cinema.
Ashanti Omkar
Ashanti Omkar is a distinguished and authoritative broadcaster and film TV and pop culture critic, seen commentating on BBC TV, Sky News, ITV, Al Jazeera and Channel 5 News. A regular on BBC Radio on various stations including BBC London, she presented her own eponymous radio show on BBC Sounds for seven years. She is a three time BAFTA juror, a long-time BRITs awards voter, and a Hollywood Critics' Choice, UK Critics' Circle, BIFA and FIPRESCI member. She has been seen moderating film and culture conversations on legendary stages at BAFTA, BFI, Royal Albert Hall and V&A, and has hosted AMPAS showcases in London.
Upali Gamlath
Upali Gamlath, from Sri Lanka, is working as a Producer for NYSCO Video of the National Youth Services Council (coming under the purview of Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sri Lanka). Since 1996 he is a tutor for the students about programme production and script writing. He has directed several Tele-films, songs, commercial advertisements, documentaries and feature films as a freelance film director. He has also directed television- dramas, documentaries and multi camera live telecasts for the National Youth Services Council. He is an experienced videographer, editor, Sound Engineer and Digital Colourist. He was the festival coordinator of the Sri Lanka Youth Film Festival since 2008 organized by NYSC. He is a member of Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema (NETPAC).
Supriya Suri
Supriya Suri is a Film Director, Producer, and Founder of the Creative Economy Forum. With over two decades in cinema and creative industries, she brings together artistic expertise, curatorial depth, and ecosystem leadership to her work. Trained in film direction on the prestigious Égide Scholarship at the Conservatoire Libre du Cinéma Français in Paris, she has produced documentary and feature films through her company Maison Su Entertainment. She has played a significant role in shaping India’s film culture as President of Cinedarbaar and has co-founded the film magazine Indian Auteur. As the Founder of the Creative Economy Forum, Supriya leads national dialogues on the creative industries, curating high-level roundtables, and industry panels at the Waves Summit organised by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. She has produced three editions of the Creative Economy Forum and instituted the Creative Global Voice of India Awards.
Ishita Sengupta
Ishita Sengupta is an independent film critic and culture writer based in India. Her writing is informed by gender and socio-temporal politics with a keen focus on non-fiction and independent cinema. She is a Sundance Press Inclusion Initiative (PII) alumni and was one of the eight film critics to be selected for Berlinale Talents in 2025. Her writings have appeared in The Hindu, Frontline, The Hindustan Times, Mint Lounge, IDA, Ottplay, among others.
K Hariharan
A prolific filmmaker, ever since he graduated from the FTII (Pune) in 1976 he has made 8 feature length films and over 350 short films and documentaries. His first film ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’ was selected for the Young Forum in Berlinale, 1978. His next film ‘Ezhavathu Manithan’ won the national award for the best Tamil film in 1983. ‘Current’ in 1992 won the best critics award at the Calcutta Film Festival. He has served on several important film juries nationally and internationally. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In 2004 he founded and directed the renowned LV Prasad Film Academy in Chennai to mentor students in filmmaking. From 2014 he moved over to be the Professor of Film Studies and director of the media lab at Mahindra Ecole Centrale in Hyderabad; Ashoka University, (2016-2018)
and at Krea University (2018-2020). Keen on finding more innovative pathways, he now devotes time to mentor young filmmaking aspirants in small workshops. Presently he is the President of ‘Dharithree’ an institution dedicated to the rehabilitation of over 200 students who are physically and mentally challenged in Bengaluru.
Latika Padgaonkar
Latika Padgaonkar is a film critic, translator and editor of several books. She taught French and English at JNU, New Delhi. She is a member of the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema and of FIPRESCI (Federation Internationale de la Presse Cinematographique). For many years she worked for Cinemaya as Deputy Editor, and later with Osian's Cinefan, the Festival of Asian Cinema, first as programmer and later as Joint Director. She has been on the juries of several national and international film festivals as well as on the jury of the National Film Awards in 2012. As a member of the Pune International Centre, she has organised several small film festivals at the National Film Archive of India. Latika Padga onkar has co-edited – among other books - Being and Becom ing: The Cinemas of Asia, An Asian Film Journey and Kenji Mizogchi and the Art of Japanese Cinema.
Sajitha Madathil
Sajitha Madathil is a prominent figure in the Malayalam film and theatre industry, known for her work as an actor, writer, and academician. Her breakthrough film role was in Joy Mathew's Shutter (2012), for which she earned the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress. Beyond cinema, she has an extensive background in theatre, notably co-founding Abhinethri, the first women's theatre group in Kerala, and writing the acclaimed play Matsyagandhi. Her earlier stints include Deputy Secretary of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Deputy Director of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, and Head, Acting Department of K R Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts.
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