2027 Jury Members
Below are some of our treasured international jury members.
They have committed numerous hours to our event and we express our deepest gratitude to them.
Danica Lee Clauser
Danica is a New York-based actor and filmmaker, with credits that include the viral short film “Trick or Treat 2!” and the award-winning horror pilot “Inkblack,” where she earned “Best Actress” at the New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival. She is the co-founder of Bare Bones Filmmakers, an indie arts collective dedicated to micro-budget independent film. Their work has shown across the country, including at Cinequest, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, and our very own New York and North Hollywood Cinefest, and can be viewed online through Film Shortage and Beyond the Short.
Denis Mityushev
Independent short filmmaker, serving on the jury with a focus on storytelling and cinematic execution.
Alan Rexroth
Alan lives and works as a Producer, Director and Photographer in New York City and Berlin. Numerous travels to the most remote places and his involvement in various socially engaged projects shaped his view of the world and are strongly reflected in his work. He is currently working on the feature documentary #WHEREAREYOU about the limits of digital communication.
Melanie Belmonte
Melanie Belmonte is an internationally award-winning filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist—writer, painter, and digital artist—with a portfolio of over 24 films produced, directed, or written. Her work was featured in the prestigious cinema book Short Films: A Non-Exhaustive List of Highly Creative Short Films (Orlando, Florida, USA, 2023). Co-founder of the CineArt Filmmakers and Artists Association and General Delegate for the International Femme Filmmakers Festival in London, she brings extensive experience serving on organizing committees and as a regular jury member for international film festivals (USA, UK, Australia, Spain, among others).
Janja Rakus
Janja Rakuš is an internationally acclaimed writer, visual artist and filmmaker. She is the author of six books and has created an extensive body of digital paintings and numerous short films. Her works have been awarded, translated, screened, and exhibited across the globe—from Latin America, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, India, and Africa to Rome, Tallinn, Porto, Hollywood’s Pinewood Studios, New York, Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Belgrade, Zagreb, and Cannes. In Cannes, she received the prestigious AVIFF Cannes Award and the award for Best Experimental Film for her short experimental work *Alchemy On The Amstel (I–III)* in 2019 and 2023. Her novel Voodoo Waltz For Epileptics was staged in Schauspielhaus Bochum in Germany and received prestigious theater award FAUST.
Ven Jemeršić
Ven Jemeršić is an award-winning Slovenian film director, cinematographer, producer, and writer with over three decades of experience. His work spans feature films, documentaries, television, commercials, and music videos, earning international recognition at film festivals worldwide. He is the founder of Supermarket Production. Director’s Statement: “A person without stories is an empty shell.”