INTERNATIONAL JURY

Špela ČADEŽ Slovenia

Špela Čadež is animation director and co-founder of Finta Studio in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Her films have received 100+ awards at festivals worldwide and were screened in competition selections such as the Sundance Film Festival, Clermont Ferrand and Annecy. A passionate advocate for the analogue, Čadež has impressed with films in puppet and cut-out animation techniques.

Caibei CAI China

Caibei Cai (b.1992 Shenzhen, China) received her MA from Jiangnan University in 2017 and Royal College of Art in 2018. She often places her work in a tactile dimension. She is good at capturing the illusion of the screen and the hidden body by drawing frame by frame. Her films always invite the audience to experience the conflicts within the body and the anxious environment outside the body. Her works have been awarded and selected by many international film festivals or animation festivals , such as Image Forum, Slamdance, DOK Leipzig, Animafest Zagreb, Ottawa Animation Festival, Anifilm, Feinaki Beijing Animation Week, etc. She has also worked as a unit curator for Feinaki Beijing Animation Week and Dongbuzhou International Animation Week.

NISHINO Shinjiro Japan

Representative Director, GAS AS INTERFACE CO., LTD. In 1996, Shinjiro Nishino launched "GASBOOK," a platform to gather and showcase new ideas in art and design from around the world. In 2004, he established GAS AS I/F, a company that serves as a platform connecting creators with society and businesses both domestically and internationally. Since 2006, he has been running "CALM & PUNK GALLERY" in Nishi-Azabu, Tokyo, acting as a bridge between art and business. In August 2022, Nishino also initiated "GASBON METABOLISM," a multi-disciplinary art facility in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, aiming to contribute to the promotion of art and culture.

Gints ZILBALODIS Latvia

Gints Zilbalodis(1994) is a Latvian filmmaker best known for directing ‘Flow’ (2024) which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and was also nominated for Best International Feature Film becoming the first independent feature film to win this award and the first Latvian film to be nominated. Zilbalodis debut feature film ‘Away’, which he made entirely by himself, won the Best Feature Film Contrechamp Award in Annecy. Prior to ‘Away’ he made 7 short films in various mediums including hand-drawn animation, 3D animation and live-action and often mixing their characteristic aesthetics. In 2019 he founded Dream Well Studio.

HAN Jiwon South Korea

HAN Jiwon is an animated film director, illustrator, and comic book writer based in Seoul, Korea. Her work often explores the dreams and emotional experiences of youth, focusing on the subjective moments of characters living in Korea’s pressure-filled society. HAN Jiwon began her film career with the short animation Kopi Luwak while studying at the Korean National University of Arts, which earned her the Grand Prize at the Seoul Indie Ani-fest in 2010. She later released a feature-length compilation of her short animations, Clearer Than You Think. Her projects include the web animation series Recipe to My Daughter, contributions to the Kakao TV web drama Amanza, and the short-form animated series That Summer, based on the original novel by Choi Eun-young. This original animated film ’Lost in Starlight’ is the first animation produced and released by Netflix in Korea, in collaboration with Climax Studio.

YAMAMOTO Ken Japan

YAMAMOTO Ken is an animation director and animator. He worked at Production I.G and is now active as a freelancer. His directorial works include the music video Eve “Yakusoku” (2020), the web series Yuki Hodokishi Ni Ai (2022), and the feature film Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Beginning of a New Era (2024). He is currently directing the TV series Shunkashuto Daikosha: Haru no Mai, based on the novel of the same name by Kana Akatsuki.

SAITO Keiichiro Japan

Director and animator. SAITO began his career as an animator in 2016. In 2019, he made his directorial debut as co-director of the OVA “ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept. Regards”. In 2022, he directed his first TV series, “Bocchi the Rock!”. In 2023, he directed the TV series “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End”. In 2024, he directed the theatrical compilation “Bocchi the Rock! Re:/Re:Re:”. In January 2026, the second season of “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End” is scheduled to air, with SAITO credited as supporting director.

LUO Sijia China

LUO Sijia was born in China and currently resides in Tokyo. She received her master’s degree from the Department of Animation at Tokyo University of the Arts. Her practice centers on animated short films, video, and installation works, and also extends to sound-related formats such as music videos, sound design, and VJ performance. By getting inspiration from other art forms, she develops her films through experiments and seeks liberation from visual language. Her animation works have been selected and awarded by film festivals around the world. She was a jury member for the Music Video Competition at the 18th Animest International Animation Film Festival, and a member of the Preliminary Selection Committee for the 7th Feinaki Beijing Animation Week.