Speakers & Juries

Petr Dvořák

Petr Dvořák is an experienced media executive with over two decades of leadership in the television and media industry. 

He currently works as an independent media consultant, serves as a chairman of the newly established Czech Audiovisual Fund and is also active as an executive director of the Vltava Philharmonic Hall Foundation.

From 2011 to 2023, he served as Director General of Czech Television, overseeing six nationwide channels and elevating the broadcaster to become the most watched and most trusted TV group in the country. Under his leadership, Czech TV reached a market share of over 30% and achieved record levels of public trust. He significantly expanded international cooperation, particularly in drama production, sports broadcasting, and news. 

Internationally, he contributed from 2013 to 2019 as a member of the Executive Board and from 2020 to 2023 as Vice-President of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), where he was responsible for strategic leadership and sports rights acquisitions across 56 member countries.

Prior to that, from 2002 to 2010, he was CEO of TV Nova, the leading commercial TV network in the Czech Republic, where he implemented a successful multi-channel digital strategy and maintained a market share of around 45%. From 2008 to 2010, he oversaw as Vice-President of CME, owner of TV Nova, all broadcasting activities in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Croatia.

Nicolás Celis

Mexican producer, a key figure of Latin America’s film industry. He was involved as a producer in the Oscar-winning Roma (Alfonso Cuarón) and he has produced works by renowned Mexican filmmakers Tatiana Huezo, Amat Escalante and Alfonso Cuarón. He has also worked on international co-productions for directors such as Jacques Audiard and Diego Lerman. He is a member of the Mexican and American Academies of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Producers Guild of America. 

Markéta Šantrochová

Marketa Santrochova studied Czech language and literature and French translation. After more than eight years working closely with the Program Department of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, in 2004 she joined the newly created Czech Film Center, where she was tasked with developing its agenda and staking out its position in both the Czech and international film environments. She has served as head of the CFC since 2013. In May 2019, she was named the president of the European Film Promotion, an international network of film promotion institutes from 37 countries from throughout Europe.

Janka Neustupová

Janka Neustupova is a multidisciplinary film and television professional with a background in Civil Protection and Crisis Management, alongside academic degrees in Film Studies and Directing from institutions in the UK. Over the years, she has worked across independent features and broadcast television, combining strong technical skills with managerial oversight. 
Her interest in cast and crew well-being grew out of a personal experience with work-related burnout and hospitalisation. This insight, deepened by the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, led her to focus on improving mental health support in production environments. She has since expanded her qualifications with specialised training as a Well-being Facilitator, certification with the leading Intimacy Professionals Association (IPA), and recognition as a CZ certified Coach under the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC).
Janka now works at the intersection of mental well-being and intimacy coordination, advocating for safer and more respectful creative environments across local and international productions. Through her collaboration with New Era Safety and ARAS she also contributes to research and advocacy centred on mental health, intimacy coordinating and sustainable working practices both on and off set.​

Virginija Vareikyte

Virginija is a certified Intimacy Coordinator for films and TV series, working in both local and international productions. She earned her certification through the exclusive IPA (Intimacy Professionals Association) and Nordic Intimacy Coordinators (NIC) programs. In addition to her role as an Intimacy Coordinator.
Virginija is an experienced educator and frequently participates in panels and conferences on the topic of intimacy coordination. She has spoken at prestigious industry events such as the Sarajevo Film Festival and Series Mania, sharing her knowledge and expertise with international audiences. She is a member of Baltic Intimacy Professionals and Intimacy Coordination Italia.​

Sten-Kristian Saluveer

Sten Saluveer is an expert at the intersection of technology, media, and policy. He directs the Tallinn Digital Summit and leads Cannes Next at the Marché du Film. A strategic advisor to the EU and various governments, he is a PhD candidate at the University of Tokyo and heads the AI MiniMBA at the Danish National Film School. He has led major international film and tech projects, including the award-winning 3D piece MURALS. Active as a producer, curator, educator, and speaker, he is also a film and music enthusiast—and a proud Scottish terrier lover.

Yago Mateo

A graduate in Media Studies from UPV/EHU, he has been closely connected to the audiovisual sector since completing his studies. Initially, he focused on the creative side, directing several short films and documentaries. Later, he transitioned to post-production, working as an editor for Little Giant Films and as Festivals Manager for Atera Films. For the past ten years, he has been part of the San Sebastián Film Festival, specifically within the Industry Department, where he focuses on the work-in-progress sections coordination. Over the last five years, he has combined this role with his work at the Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes, serving as Project Manager for Industry Programs. In 2023, he also joined the organization of the Latin American market Ventana Sur, overseeing the work-in-progress sections Primer Corte and Copia Final, as well as the project development section Proyecta, among others.

Diana Lodderhose

Diana has been working in global film journalism since 2005. Before returning to Deadline in 2021 to focus on features for international film and television, she was previously International Reporter for the site. She is based in London and has frequently covered all the major film festivals and markets including Cannes, Berlin, AFM, Toronto and Sundance. Prior to joining Deadline, Diana was the UK correspondent for Variety and also covered film news and box office at Screen International.

Cristina Groșan

Cristina Groșan is a Romanian-Hungarian filmmaker active in the Czech Republic. Her work includes the mini-series Daughter of the Nation (2024) and the features Ordinary Failures (Venice, 2022) and Things Worth Weeping For (Sarajevo, 2021). She is a member of ARAS and the Association of Hungarian Directors and teaches directing at FAMU International in Prague.

Yattna Montilla

Creative producer from La Romana, Dominican Republic, working at the intersection of independent cinema, international co-productions, and underrepresented voices from the peripheries of her country. She studied Film at Chavón, School of Design (affiliated with Parsons School of Design), and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law. In 2023, she received the Ibermedia Co-Development Fund for her debut feature nada., and the Dominican public fund FONPROCINE as executive producer of the animated short Cabezú, directed by Jeure Tavare. Participant of the program MIDPOINT Works in Development – Focus Queer 2025 with the project The House Of The Mother. She has also been selected in several international programs in EICTV, UNESCO, the European Union, DEENTAL in the Caribbean by CNC France, Talents Alumni Guadalajara and the Co-Production Inspirational Lab Trieste Film Festival. She is currently developing fiction and documentary features with strong international co-production potential, focusing on author-driven and underrepresented narratives.

Alessandro Rossi

Alessandro Rossi is a policy officer in the diplomatic service of the European Union, the European External Action Service (EEAS). In the team dealing with the regional affairs in the relations between the EU and the Latina America and Caribbean region, he is in charge among other files of the coordination of the EULAC Cinema campaign. This initiative is promoting audio-visual cooperation between these two regions of the world all along 2025, with special attention to youth, gender and diversity (https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/eulac-cinema_en ) in view of the upcoming bi-regional Summit of November in Colombia.

Previously, he has worked on different assignments in the EU institutions in Brussels and outside Europe on Middle East, Balkans, East Africa,  as well as in non-governmental organizations promoting conflict prevention and protection of civilians in South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Kenya, Southern Caucasus. He has a university degree in Political Sciences-International Relations and a post-diploma specialisation in communication and marketing for no-profit, and has also worked as trainer, project coordinator for international partnerships, social researcher. 

Jan Kallista

Jan Kallista (Czech Republic, 1979) studied production at FAMU (Prague Film Academy) and graduated in 2005. He is a cofounder of the FILM KOLEKTIV production house, established in 2013. Besides his past active roles in professional associations, such as Vice-Chairman of the Czech Association of Producers (APA) and Czech representative in the CFP-E/European Association of Commercial Producers, Jan focuses mainly on production of commercial spots and international projects. Feature sci-fi Restore Point (2023, dir. Robert Hloz) which Jan produced won 4 Czech Lions in 2024 and was sold worldwide by XYZ Films. 

Veronika Bednářová

Veronika Bednářová is a Czech journalist and cultural reporter, author of numerous interviews and reports from the USA and Great Britain. A lecturer at New York University in Prague and occasional English-language presenter, she was the head of the Festival Diary at the IFF KV between 2002-2019. She has published a book and an audiobook of reports My American Beauty. Her favorite cities besides Prague include, of course, New York.

Raffaello Vignoli

Raffaello Vignoli is an Italy- and New York-based producer and founder of Corego Film, with two decades of experience in physical production across the US and Italy, both studio and independent projects. A member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA), his main collaboration was with Paolo Sorrentino on “The Great Beauty”, “Youth”, and “The Young Pope”. He recently co-produced Robert Salerno’s feature “Here After” for Paramount. He also produced the short film “Matilda” with Christine Vachon and Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode). Raffaello has collaborated with Charlie Kaufman, Brady Corbet, Jonathan Demme, among others. 

Radu Stancu

Radu Stancu graduated in film production, editing and sound design from UNATC ‘I.L. Caragiale’ in Bucharest, after which he founded deFilm in 2009—a production company dedicated to independent and auteur cinema. He’s a member of the ACE Producers Network and the Romanian national coordinator for EAVE, and was selected as a Producer on the Move at Cannes 2023.

He has been involved in an array of cinematic productions—short and feature-length, fiction, animation and documentary—that were presented and awarded at major international festivals and markets, while connecting collaborators and partners across Europe, Latin America and Asia. 

He participated in various policy-making groups affiliated with the Romanian Ministry of Culture, representing the audiovisual sector, and played a key role in initiating and leading a group of film professionals dedicated to revising the National Cinematography Law.

His latest production, Pedro Pinho’s I Only Rest in the Storm, a Portuguese–Romanian–Brazilian–French co-production, premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2025 and won the Best Actress Award.

Jakub Čech

Jakub Čech graduated from the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague (2012) and the University of California, Berkeley (2016). He is an attorney at law and has extensive experience in the field of intellectual property rights and audiovisual protection. He has long worked with the Motion Picture Association and its members in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Since this year, he has held a position on the Board of Directors of the newly established Czech Audiovisual Fund as a person nominated by the association of on-demand audiovisual media service providers not established in the Czech Republic.

Zac Ntim

Zac is the International Film Reporter at Deadline where he writes about movies and film festivals.

Olmo Omerzu

Olmo Omerzu studied at the FAMU film school in Prague, where he developed a passion for making films that explore human nature, family relationships, and people's expectations of themselves. His first two films premiered at the Berlinale and San Sebastian film festivals, while his third feature, Winter Flies, earned him the Best Director award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2018, along with six wins at the Czech Lions film awards and a selection at the Toronto IFF 2018. Bird Atlas followed in 2021, also premiering at Karlovy Vary. His new film, Ungrateful Beings, featuring an international cast, is currently in post-production.

Emilija Sluškonytė

Emilija Sluškonytė is a Lithuanian film producer and founder of AUSTRÈ STUDIO, specializing in genre films and post-national storytelling. She produced Pensive, Lithuania’s first horror film, which premiered at major festivals and achieved global distribution, including theatrical releases in Latin America. Her upcoming slate includes the mafia drama Barracuda and Tierra Mala, a cross-continental fiction feature set in the Amazon.

Jan Vejnar

Jan Vejnar is a Prague-based screenwriter and director. He studied at the Miroslav Ondříček Film Academy in Písek. He considers his professional film debut to be the short film Figurant (2019) starring Denis Lavant, which was screened at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. He made his feature debut with She Came at Night (2023), which he wrote and directed in collaboration with Tomáš Pavlíček. The film received nine nominations for the Czech Lion Awards (where it won two for Best Actress and Best Director) and five nominations for the Czech Film Critics' Awards (where it won three for Best Actress, Direction, and Film). In addition to preparing other feature projects, he also works on television series. For Czech Television, he wrote and directed the miniseries Nothing Really Happened (2024), and for the streaming service Voyo, he is currently completing the miniseries The Markovič Method: Magpie, again in collaboration with Tomáš Pavlíček.

Dariusz Jablonski

Dariusz Jablonski is producer, director, and founder & CEO of Apple Film, one of the first and leading independent production companies in Central & Eastern Europe.

He has produced over 40 feature films, an equal number of full-length documentaries and successful drama series, working in co-production with almost every European country, as well as the US and Canada. His productions have received over 300 international and national awards.

In 2004, he produced The Cop, the first high-end drama series for TVP, which went on to become a legendary show in Poland. In the early 2010s, together with UK partners, he spearheaded the first international drama series co-productions in the CEE region: Spies of Warsaw (starring David Tennant) and The Passing Bells, in collaboration with BBC, TVP, BBC America, ARTE, and others.

In 2019, he produced and directed The Pleasure Principle, the first-ever high-end drama series conceived and filmed entirely in Central & Eastern Europe. A 10-hour co-production between Poland, Czechia, and Ukraine, broadcast by Canal+ (Poland), ČT(Czechia), 1+1 (Ukraine), ARTE,  RAI, Channel 4, and others.

Beyond his work as a filmmaker, he is the creator of ScripTeast, a prestigious master scriptwriting program designed for the best screenwriters from Central & Eastern Europe, helping develop scripts that have gone on to gain international recognition.

He is also deeply engaged in the European film industry, serving as the President of the European Producers Club and President of the Polish Film Academy. Member of the European Film Academy and the Asia Pacific Screen Academy.