GRANDTOON / STUDENTOON / SUPERTUNE
VARYA YAKOVLEVA is a Russian-born animator, illustrator, and director currently living in exile in France. Her award-winning films have screened at over 200 festivals, including Oscar-qualifying selections, and her artwork has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions across Europe and beyond.
MICHAELA MüLLER is an award-winning animation artist known for her signature paint-on-glass technique and acclaimed short films Miramare and Airport. Her work blends expressive, hand-painted imagery with powerful storytelling, often exploring themes of movement and human connection. In addition to filmmaking, she creates immersive multimedia performances combining live animation and dance.
THOMAS JOHNSON VOLDA is a multidisciplinary artist from Bath, England, working at the intersection of animation and performance art. Together with his partner Ivana Bošnjak Volda, he has directed three acclaimed stop-motion films that have screened at major international festivals and won numerous awards. His work has been featured across Europe, from galleries to puppet theatre stages.
COMIC BOOK / MAGAZINE / FANZIN
IRENA JUKIĆ PRANJIĆ (1973, Bjelovar) is a author of the comic book album Dnevnik snivanja i filozofiranja (2021), Emisija Ćomocija (Emotion Show) (2015) and Strip-mobil, an innovation that combines comics, animation and film. She worked within the comic book groups Divlje oko and Emisija Ćomocija. She edited the anthology Ženski strip na Balkanu (2010). Editor and director of the documentary television series Strip u Hrvatskoj (HRT3 2014/17 – 50 episodes). She is the author of numerous essays on comics, which she teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. In addition to comics, she is professionally involved in original animated films, illustration and pedagogical work.
PIERRE BOUVIER, a comics graduate from the Angoulême School of Art, spent about 30 years in animation. With Laure Calé, he co-founded Atelier TURUT, a French small press publishing experimental zines and art books since 2009. Their magazine freakshov Comics was nominated for the Alternative Comic Award at the Angoulême Festival.
MARKO STOJANOVIĆ (1978) is a comic book writer, editor, and scholar based in Leskovac, Serbia. He has scripted numerous works for international publishers, including La Croix Sanglante (Delcourt, France), Cross to Bear (Aftershock, USA), and a Liu Cixin adaptation for FT Culture (China). As the founder of the regional project Vekovnici and editor of Strip Pressing, he’s a key figure in Balkan comics, with work published in over 15 languages worldwide.
MENTOR FOR CHILDREN’S JURY
ANA MARIJA MARINOV is a documentary and experimental filmmaker and producer, with degrees in journalism, political science, and experimental film from MET Film School Berlin. She has taken part in numerous workshops across Europe and is deeply engaged in working with children through film initiatives like KinoKino. What inspires her most is collaborating with passionate and creative people of all ages.