SMART 7

Elit Iscan was born 1994 in Istanbul, Turkey. She began her acting career when she was cast out of her local school for Reha Erdem’s film Times and Winds in 2006. Shortly thereafter, Elit starred in her second film, also by Erdem, My Only Sunshine. This took Iscan’s acting career to international recognition after premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2008. Elit’s breakthrough performance in the Oscar nominated foreign film Mustang by Deniz Gamze Ergüven in 2015 made her an international sensation. Elit continues to work on outstanding independent films, most recently Sibel by Çagla Zencirci & Guillaume Giovanetti and Pillar of Salt by Burak Çevik, Baumbacher Syndrome by Gregory Kirchhoff, Hamlet by Kaan Müjdeci, Afloat by Aslıhan Ünaldı, I’m Here I’m Fine by Emine Emel Balcı. Elit Iscan has won 8 Awards, including the Most Promising New Actress Award at the Lumier Awards in France and Best Actress at the Sarajevo Film Festival for her performance in Mustang. For her performance in Afloat, Elit İşcan was awarded Best Supporting Actress at the Adana Golden Boll Film Festival in Turkey. Elit lives in Hamburg and is studying for her master's degree at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg.

Jenni Zylka lives in Berlin and works as a freelance writer, focusing on film, media, and music. She contributes to newspapers such as Der Spiegel and Rolling Stone, as well as radio and television stations including Deutschlandradio and WDR. Since 2022, she has been the head of the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section at the Berlinale, where she is responsible for German talent films. Zylka also hosts press conferences and film discussion panels for the Berlinale and many other film festivals. Additionally, she is a member of the feature film pre-selection committee for the Panorama section. Apart from writing, Zylka also works on novels, short stories, and screenplays. She is a member of the Film Critics Associations VdFK and FIPRESCI, regularly serves on (independent) film festival juries, teaches journalism, and curates and hosts workshops and panel talks about culture. Since 1999, she has been a member of the juries for the Grimme Award and prepares youth protection reports for FSF, the voluntary self-regulation organization of television in Germany.

Klementina Remeikaite (b. 1988, Lithuania) is a film producer. In 2014, she graduated from film production studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. After completing her studies, she and director Laurynas Bareisa established a film production company called "Afterschool". Since then, the company has created and produced over 10 short films and 2 feature films. In 2015, she attended the MAIA workshop for emerging producers, followed by the APost Lab workshop in 2019 and the Torino Feature Lab in the same year. At Torino Feature Lab, she and director Laurynas Bareisa developed their first feature film, "Pilgrims", which won the Best Film award in the Orizzonti competition at the 2021 Venice Film Festival. In 2023, the company released the feature film "Parade" directed by Titas Laucius, which won the Best Director award at the GoEast Film Festival. Currently, she is working on 4 new feature films.

Marta Bałaga is a film journalist who contributes to Variety and Cineuropa. She has collaborated with various festivals, including the Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy and its industry sidebar, the Finnish Film Affair, as well as Polish Days and the Red Sea Film Festival. Bałaga is a member of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) and the European Film Academy. She has served on numerous juries, including the Venice International Film Critics’ Week at the Venice Film Festival.

​​Paweł Łoziński (b. 1965, Poland) is a director, cameraman, and producer, known for his work on more than 20 award-winning documentaries. He graduated from the Film School in Łódź and began his career as an assistant to Krzysztof Kieślowski. Łoziński is renowned for exploring uncharted spaces within the documentary film genre, creating distinct and emotionally charged films that offer intimate portraits. Some of his notable works include his debut film, Birthplace (1992), Sisters (1999), Chemo (2009), Father and Son (2013), and You Have No Idea How Much I Love You (2016, screened at “Kino Pavasaris”).