Born in Brazil in 1965. After a Master in Philosophy at the Sorbonne University (Paris), he started to work in Lisbon. Eventually he became a producer and film director. His documentaries were internationally awarded and screened in more than 40 countries.

Kirsten Gainet is a director, screenwriter, and producer of the «Ak kosh» Documentary Film Studio. Member of the Film-makers' Union of the Russian Federation and the Guild of Non-fiction Film-makers. She was born on 12.09.1989 in Inzer village, Republic of Bashkortostan (Russia). In 2015 she graduated from St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television (faculty of photography arts) and St. Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts (faculty of cinema/photography arts). She is a photo editor, laureate and participant of Russian photo contests and exhibitions. More than that, Kirsten Gainet is the participant and award winner of prestigious international and Russian film festivals.

Sasha Kulak´s work in film spans a variety of visual projects ranging from documentary to fashion and music videos to photography and curation. Her films have taken her across the world with her first award winning documentary ‘Salamanca’ (2015, 40'), premiering at IDFA 2015 and screening at HotDocs, Camden and a number of other festivals. Another recent feature of Sasha’s - ‘Quicksilver Chronicles’ (2019, 74'), which was shot in the USA, premiered at the Visions du Reel in Nyon, Switzerland.

Alex Pritz is a director and cinematographer whose work focuses on humanity’s relationship with the natural world. His process relies on a participatory film-making model, in which everyone is encouraged to pick up a camera. The Territory is his first feature film.

José Vieira. Film director of Portuguese origin, lives and works between Portugal and France. He has directed around thirty documentaries since 1985, namely for France2, France3, La Cinquième and Arte. Born in Oliveira de Frades, he left for France in 1965, at the age of seven. His personal experience as a migrant and the many stories heard and related from other emigrants inspired his latter-day work as a director. Starting from individual stories, he traced the portrait of emigration in France, recovering an entire collective memory in the process.

Annabel Verbeke, born in Ypres, 1987, is a Belgian documentary filmmaker. In 2010, Annabel graduated Cum Laude at RITCS Film School in Brussels. Her graduation film "Les enfants de la mer/mère" - "Children of the sea" won 8 international awards and was selected by more than 20 international film festivals. Her next film We Will Remember Them was the closing film of Visions Du Réel 2018 and the most watched documentary film on Flanders national broadcasters in the same year.

Jennifer Rainsford, is a visual artist and director based in Stockholm. Her short films and installations have been shown at festivals such as Oberhausen, Berlinale, Rotterdam and CPH: DOX. Her last film Lake on Fire was selected for the main competition “Startsladden” at Gothenburg IFF 2020.

She was born in Lisbon in 1974. In 1998 she received a B.A. in Communication Sciences from Lisbon’s Nova University. Since then she started to make films that have been shown in the following festivals: Cannes (Directors’ Fortnight), Berlinale, Rotterdam, BFI London IFF, Angers, Viennale, Visions du Reel, Rio de Janeiro, among others. In 2006 she became a member of the production company Terratreme (formerly Raiva), where she has been working as an executive producer in several projects. During the present year she will be preparing the feature film Rabat City.

Born in Lisbon, 1990 and raised in Pontinha (suburbs). He graduated in Sound and Image from ESAD.CR and later from the National Film School and HEAD – Genève (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation fellow). Works as assistant director and editor since 2011. Lectured Cinema as visiting professor at FLUC in ’21 (University of Coimbra). In 2018 directs his first feature film Bostofrio, Où Le Ciel Rejoint La Terre.

Mastering in Visual Anthropology at FCSH, he has developed several works in the areas of ethnographic audiovisual production, production of cultural projects and academic production in cinema and social sciences. Among these stands out, in cultural production, the project Microcine Migrante (São Paulo) and Cinesur (Lisbon), and in audiovisual production, the project Visto Permanente (São Paulo).

After five years of scientific studies, Simon Gillard decided to buy his first camera and move to Brussels to study for a master's in Film-making. In 2013, his first documentary Anima was selected at many festivals including the FID Marseille, Bilbao IFD. In 2014, he made a second short documentary Yaar (2013). This film found its way to over 60 festivals worldwide and won nearly 20 awards and honourable mentions. His 2017 film Boli Bana, premiered at IFF Rotterdam. Aya (2021) has won several awards including the Audience Award at the Festival International du Film Insulaire and the Green Dog Award at Watch Docs International Film Festival.

Sabrina D. Marques, born in Paris (1988), is a visual artist and researcher living and working in Lisbon. With a degree in Media (FCSH), Film (ESTC) and PHD candidate in History of Art (FCSH). Is a member of the Photography and Film Studies Cluster (IHA). Publishes in several magazines and national and international publishers. Programming and writing for Film Festivals, Showcases, Museums, Galleries and Film Clubs. As a film-maker she has directed several shorts and film essays. The Photo-Cines (2021) is her documentary feature directorial debut.

Derya Deniz was born in Turkey’s southern province of Mersin in 1985. Her family was from the Siverek district of the southeastern Urfa province. After graduating from the Ivanova University in Russia, she is working on documentary projects and TV programs. She also worked as a TV programmer in the Kurdistan Federal Region, and produced documentaries in Shengal and The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

Susana de Sousa Dias was born in Lisbon, in 1962. She has a Doctorate in Fine Arts (Audiovisual), a master’s degree in Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art, a degree in Painting and a bachelors degree in Cinema. She studied music at the National Conservatory. Among her works are “Natureza Morta – Visages d’une dictature” (2005, Atalanta Prize, TaiwanIDF), “48” (2009, Grand Prix Cinéma du Réel, FIPRESCI prize, among others), Still Life | Stilleben (installation, 2010), “Obscure Light” (2017) and Fordlandia Malaise (2019).

Ansgar Schaefer is co-founder of Kintop, general-manager (since 2012), producer, and project developer at Kintop. He holds a PhD in Contemporary Portuguese History with a thesis on the subject of Visual History (focus: Portuguese colonial wars). He produced several feature documentaries, such as Fordlandia Malaise (Berlinale 2019), Anything and All ( Locarno Film Festival 2018), Luz Obscura (premiere Cinéma du Réel, Paris 2017), 48 (Grand Prix Cinéma du Réel Paris, OPUS BONUM, Jilhava 2010, FIPRESCI Award, 2010) and several multimedia instalations. He co-directed and produced the documentaries Journey to the Sun (2021) and The Other War (2010).

Born in Zinder (Niger) in 1982, Aicha Macky is a film-maker and social change activist. Having trained as a sociologist, she then turned to documentaries. She completed a Documentary Cinema Master degree in Saint-Louis University (Senegal). In 2016 she completed the worldwide multi-awards-winning film “L’Arbre sans fruit” (The Fruitless Tree – copro Les films du balibari/Maggia Images) which addresses the delicate question of infertility. In 2017, she founded her own production company, Tabous production, based in Niamey.

Jafar Najafi; Born 1986. He is a Student of Cinema at Art University of Tehran. A photographer, researcher and documentary film-maker.

Nikola Ilić (1977, Belgrad) is a director and cinematographer living between Serbia and Switzerland. In 2010 he majors in Video at the Lucerne School of Art and Design.

Corina Schwingruber Ilić (1981) studied at the University of Arts in Basel, in Belgrade, and at the Lucerne School of Art and Design. She has shot a number of award-winning short docs together with Nikola Ilic.

Saeed Taji Farouky is a Palestinian-British film-maker and radical film educator whose work deals with themes of conflict, human rights, and colonialism. His 2015 documentary, Tell Spring Not to Come This Year, premiered at Berlinale 2015 where it won 2 awards.

Inês T. Alves (Portugal, 1987) studied Cultural Narratives at the Nova University of Lisbon (FCSH), Santiago de Compostela University (Spain) and Bergamo University (Italy). She also studied Documentary Film at the University of the Arts London, with a Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’ Scholarship. Apart from her film-maker career, she develops film workshops with different communities and all ages, having collaborated with several associations. She is one of the founders of MOVIMENTO, a collaborative film workshop that happens every year in Portugal since 2015.

Born in Belarus, he began his career as a cinematographer. Graduated from the Academy of Arts and moved to Moscow, where he graduated from the Moscow School of New Cinema in 2015. Since then, he started to experiment as a documentary film-maker. His first movie Salamanca, was premiered at the IDFA (Mid-Length competition) in 2015.

Eryk Rocha, film-maker born in Brazil in 1978, graduated in 2002 at the film school of Los Baños, Cuba, where he directed his first feature: Rocha Que Voa. The film was selected in Venice, Rotterdam and other renowned festivals, winning the award for Best Film in Brazil, Argentina and Cuba. The following works also collected prestigious presence in national and international festivals

Awarded by the Portuguese Film Academy Sophia Award 2019 for best short documentary amongst others before and after, I’m a storyteller at heart with a sharp eye for rhythm and emotions. I live to inspire others and take pride in realising that, from film to film, I become better at what I do.