Competition and Awards

Anna Kopecka

Film festivals curator and producer, recently appointed as the new Festival Director of Marienbad Film Festival, former Director of Programming at Cork International Film Festival, Ireland and Artistic Director of Prague International Film Festival, Febiofest, Czech Republic.

Sharon Luzon

A filmmaker and a sound woman, graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School. The creator of the film Inbal Perlmutter -If You Let Me Go (together with Avigail Sperber), winner of the Docaviv Best Film Award 2023 and the Ofir Award for a full-length documentary in 2023.

Dudi Rokach

Founder and Director of the Antenna Documentary Film Festival, he has been the driving force behind this annual Sydney event since its inception in 2011. Dedicated to showcasing and celebrating creative non-fiction cinema, Antenna has thrived under his leadership, establishing itself as one of Australia’s most respected film festivals. Dudi is widely recognised for his uncompromising curatorial vision, a key factor in the festival’s enduring success and growth. Dudi holds a BA in Philosophy from Tel Aviv University and is a graduate of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS), where he completed a Master of Screen Art and Business.

Lukasz Konopa

Lukasz Konopa’s full-length documentary debut, Theatre of Violence, premiered at CPH DOX in 2023 and won, among others, the VIKTOR Award for Best Documentary (DOK.fest Munich) and Grand Prix (Movies That Matter). He holds a Master’s Degree in Documentary Directing from the UK’s National Film and Television School (NFTS).

Avner Shahaf

Creator and cinematographer, specializes in documentary film and visual arts. Avner has rich experience in leading film projects. Among his documentary works are the films: The Gatekeepers by Dror Moreh and Censored Voices by Mor Loushy.

May Abadi Grebler

Graduated with honors from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in 2017. She has been working in the film industry as a cinematographer of documentaries and feature films around the world, her debut film Mamushka won the Bernstein award at the Jerusalem Film Festival, supported by Yes Docu. Currently, she is working on full-length feature films and documentaries for cinema and television.

Neil Grant

With over 35 years television experience Neil has been a documentary director, Executive Producer, Managing Director and Creative Director across the factual slate. This includes feature length documentary, specialist factual, current affairs and investigations, factual entertainment and daytime. His programmes have won numerous awards including a best factual series BAFTA and three other BAFTA nominations, as well as Grierson; Broadcast; Broadcast Digital; Real Screen; British Journalism; Foreign Press Association, RTS and Rose D’Or awards. With over 100 TV credits, his documentaries have received considerable popular and critical acclaim, delivering to both UK network and worldwide digital broadcasters. Neil has also served as an elected member of the BAFTA TV Committee, jury member and chair for the BAFTA awards as well as serving on RTS, Grierson, One World Media, and Broadcast award juries. His credits include: 9/11 Inside the Presidents War Room BBC1/Apple: Is Labour Anti-Semitic? Panorama BBC1; The Murder Detectives C4; The Paras ITV; Auschwitz in Colour C4; The Boys Who Killed Stephen Lawrence, BBC1; Charlie Hebdo, More4; The Oklahoma Bomber, BBC1 and Fighting the War BBC2. He is currently finishing a documentary about the former British Prime Minister, Theresa May.

Bat-dor Ojalvo

Bat Dor is a documentary filmmaker who leads major projects for all Israeli broadcasters. She specializes in accessing sensitive documentation areas, leading social movements, and accompanying characters through dramatic times of crisis in their lives. Her latest documentary series, In the Name of the Father, was produced in collaboration with the BBC and France TV.

Silvina Landsmann

A Tel Aviv-based documentary filmmaker.
​Born in Buenos Aires (1965), immigrated to Israel as a child.
Studied Cinema studies at the Tel Aviv University (B.A.); lived in Paris for 10 years. Back in Israel, she founded “Comino films” to produce her films:
The Good Soldier (2021) Docaviv; Dokleipzig; YESdocu
Hotline (2015) Berlinale; Best Documentary JFF
Soldier/Citizen (Berlinale 2012 – Special Mention)
Unto thy Land (2007) Grand Prix des Ateliers d’Art de France
Post Partum (2005) Cinema du Reel, Channel 8
Collège (1998) Grand Prix Les Ecrans Documentaires

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Gideon Latzman

Gideon Latzman, an alumnus of Tel Aviv University’s School of Film and Television, is a filmmaker and film editor. He has edited numerous films, including Hope I’m in the Frame (Ophir Award winner and winner of the Jury’s Special Mention at Docaviv), A Reel War. Shalal, and Marry Me However.

Dr. Ori Levin

Dr. Ori Levin is a film scholar and a video artist. She is an assistant professor at the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, Tel Aviv University. Her work focuses on early film and its relation to digital media, slapstick and video art. Her articles have been published in journals such as: Journal of Cinema and Media, Early Popular Visual Culture, and Studies in Documentary Film. Her Book, “Celluloid Babel: Cinema’s Vanished Horizon” is forthcoming in SUNY University Press.

Elham Rokni

Born in Iran in 1980, Elham Rokni immigrated to Israel at the age of nine. She is a graduate of Bezalel Academy’s BFA and MFA programs, and has been a professor at the Bezalel Academy art department since 2013.

Robby Elmaliah

Robby Elmaliah is a filmmaker, graduate of Sapir College’s Film and Television School. Hula and Natan, his graduate film, was screened in documentary festivals around the world and won prestigious awards. Robby directed the Israeli side of the ARTE new media project Gaza-Sderot, which was nominated for an international Emmy Award. His feature documentary The Unwelcoming won Best Director Award for Documentary Film at the Jerusalem Film Festival. His recent documentary series, The Last League, closely follows four Jewish and Arabs teams competing for the last league of Israeli soccer. Robby teaches at the Sapir College Film School and is currently working on a number of new projects.

Tal Kantor

Award-winning director and animation filmmaker. Lecturer at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. Director and writer of the 2024 Oscar® nominated short Letter to a Pig and the acclaimed In Other Words. Animation Director of Advocate, Inbal Perlmutter- If You Let Me Go, On This Happy Note, and more.

Nevet Yitzhak

Nevet Yitzhak is an Israeli video and installation artist who creates immersive installations and visual concerts using archival materials and examining the elements of identity in cultural categories. Winner of the Beatrice Kolliner Award from the Israel Museum, the Minister of Culture Award, the Shmuel Givon Award from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and the Landau Fund Prize for Arts and Sciences. Yitzhak’s work has been exhibited in museums and galleries in Israel and abroad.

Audrius Stonys

Film director and producer, recipient of Lithuanian National Culture and Art Award. His films received numerous international film awards.
In 1992 Audrius Stonys documentary film Earth of the Blind was recognised by the European Film Academy as the Best European Documentary Film of the Year.

Dana Morag

Artistic Director of the Tel Aviv Cinematheque 2021-2024. Prior to her role at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, she served as VP of Film Acquisitions at yesTV, and as lector of original features and documentaries. Graduated with distinction from the Film &TV school at Tel-Aviv University (BA) and of Warwick University UK (MA).

Tal Barda

Tal graduated from the Department of Cinema and Television at Tel Aviv University, and has been making international documentaries ever since. Among her doc projects: Criminal File 512, The Wonderful Kingdom of Papa Alaev, A Heartbeat away, Family in Transition, Women of Valor and more. Her latest film I SHALL NOT HATE is currently being screened in festivals around the world.