Belarusian
Competition Jury

This year's Belarusian competition includes 14 films: full-length and short; feature, documentary, and animation films; socially acute, provocative, and comedic ones.

The films in the Belarusian competition will traditionally be viewed by the International Jury, which will choose The Best Film among the entries. Also, the Jury may additionally mark the films in the competition with a Special Mention.

This year's Belarusian competition includes 14 films: full-length and short; feature, documentary, and animation films; socially acute, provocative, and comedic ones.

The films in the Belarusian competition will traditionally be viewed by the International Jury, which will choose The Best Film among the entries. Also, the Jury may additionally mark the films in the competition with a Special Mention.

Heleen Gerritsen was born in the Netherlands in 1978. She studied Slavonic languages and economics in Amsterdam and St. Petersburg. Heleen moved to Germany in 2003, where she completed a course in film production and started freelancing as a producer for various companies and TV broadcasters like ARTE, ZDF, VPRO, and SWR, mostly with a regional focus on Eastern Europe and the “post-Soviet” countries. Gerritsen curated film programs (e.g. for the international literature festival berlin (ibl)) and produced award-winning experimental short films. In 2009, Heleen produced her first feature-length documentary and set up her own production company. From 2014 to 2016, she worked as a festival director of the European Documentary Film Festival dokumentART in Neubrandenburg. Since October 2017, Heleen has been at the helm of goEast, the Festival of Central and Eastern European Film, which is organized by the German Film Institute (DFF). She is a founding member of the Documentary Association of Europe and a member of the European Film Academy.

HELEEN GERRITSEN

Director of goEast — the Festival of Central and Eastern European Film; film producer and director

The Netherlands / Germany

Hanna Badziaka is a filmmaker with a background in journalism. In 2010, she graduated with a master's degree in Philology from the Belarusian State University. Hanna worked as a video journalist for independent online media and, later, for the only independent TV channel in Belarus. Her focus as a journalist was on social problems and daily life issues. After acquiring vast experience in creating in-depth video reports, she got interested in documentary filmmaking. Badziaka participated in creating several documentaries and worked as a director and scriptwriter for a TV project focused on short documentaries. The movie "Motherland", which she co-directed, is her feature documentary debut. As a filmmaker, Hanna works with sensitive topics, exploring troubled regions and mixed identities.

HANNA BADZIAKA

Filmmaker, journalist

Belarus / Ukraine

Marianne Ostrat is an Estonian film producer and founder of Alexandra Film and Fork Film Animation Studio. Shot in the genres of documentary, fiction, and animation, her earlier films have screened at festivals such as Venice, San Sebastian, Karlovy Vary, and SXSW. Marianne’s third feature-length film, the documentary "Smoke Sauna Sisterhood", enjoyed unprecedented international success in the history of Estonian cinema: the Sundance Directing Award, the European Film Award, the Icelandic Film Award for the Best Documentary, 4 EFTA awards at home, the IDA Award, and the Cinema Eye Honours for Best Cinematography. Ostrat was nominated for the Producer’s Guild of America PGA Award in 2024. Since then, she has premiered a stop-motion short "On Weary Wings Go By" by Anu-Laura Tuttelberg (Locarno IFF Pardi di Domani) and a short drama "Jungle Law" by Madli Lääne (Odense IFF Artistic Award). Based in Tallinn, Marianne teaches film producing at KinoEyes Movie Masters MA program in Baltic Film and Media School. She is a member of the European Film Academy and the Producers Guild of America.

MARIANNE OSTRAT

Film producer

Estonia

Marianne Ostrat is an Estonian film producer and founder of Alexandra Film and Fork Film Animation Studio. Shot in the genres of documentary, fiction, and animation, her earlier films have screened at festivals such as Venice, San Sebastian, Karlovy Vary, and SXSW. Marianne’s third feature-length film, the documentary "Smoke Sauna Sisterhood", enjoyed unprecedented international success in the history of Estonian cinema: the Sundance Directing Award, the European Film Award, the Icelandic Film Award for the Best Documentary, 4 EFTA awards at home, the IDA Award, and the Cinema Eye Honours for Best Cinematography. Ostrat was nominated for the Producer’s Guild of America PGA Award in 2024. Since then, she has premiered a stop-motion short "On Weary Wings Go By" by Anu-Laura Tuttelberg (Locarno IFF Pardi di Domani) and a short drama "Jungle Law" by Madli Lääne (Odense IFF Artistic Award). Based in Tallinn, Marianne teaches film producing at KinoEyes Movie Masters MA program in Baltic Film and Media School. She is a member of the European Film Academy and the Producers Guild of America.

Heleen Gerritsen was born in the Netherlands in 1978. She studied Slavonic languages and economics in Amsterdam and St. Petersburg. Heleen moved to Germany in 2003, where she completed a course in film production and started freelancing as a producer for various companies and TV broadcasters like ARTE, ZDF, VPRO, and SWR, mostly with a regional focus on Eastern Europe and the “post-Soviet” countries. Gerritsen curated film programs (e.g. for the international literature festival berlin (ibl)) and produced award-winning experimental short films. In 2009, Heleen produced her first feature-length documentary and set up her own production company. From 2014 to 2016, she worked as a festival director of the European Documentary Film Festival dokumentART in Neubrandenburg. Since October 2017, Heleen has been at the helm of goEast, the Festival of Central and Eastern European Film, which is organized by the German Film Institute (DFF). She is a founding member of the Documentary Association of Europe and a member of the European Film Academy.

HELEEN GERRITSEN

Director of goEast — the Festival of Central and Eastern European Film; film producer and director

The Netherlands / Germany

Hanna Badziaka is a filmmaker with a background in journalism. In 2010, she graduated with a master's degree in Philology from the Belarusian State University. Hanna worked as a video journalist for independent online media and, later, for the only independent TV channel in Belarus. Her focus as a journalist was on social problems and daily life issues. After acquiring vast experience in creating in-depth video reports, she got interested in documentary filmmaking. Badziaka participated in creating several documentaries and worked as a director and scriptwriter for a TV project focused on short documentaries. The movie "Motherland", which she co-directed, is her feature documentary debut. As a filmmaker, Hanna works with sensitive topics, exploring troubled regions and mixed identities.

HANNA BADZIAKA

Filmmaker, journalist

Belarus / Ukraine

MARIANNE OSTRAT

Film producer

Estonia

BelarusianCompetition Jury

Belarusian
Competition Jury