It's that time again: a wonderful festival doesn't work without an inspiring program. That's why FILMSCHOOLFEST MUNICH invites a new independent selection jury every year to view all the films submitted - hours of animated, documentary and feature films - and then discuss and decide together which ones will make up the program of the 43rd festival edition. They have just under a month to watch 368 films from 51 countries. An incredibly difficult task that takes up a lot of time. The entire festival team is very grateful to this year's selection jury for their commitment and is already looking forward to the results.

An absolute novelty at FILMSCHOOLFEST MUNICH this year is the DACH competition. In addition to the already established International Competition, films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland have an even better chance of winning a place in the program as well as selected festival prizes. And for such a new competition, you also need fresh eyes for the selection. For this reason, three young curators were sought for the first time to view the submissions. This will give young film enthusiasts the opportunity to get to know the work of film programming and cultural management, put together a short film program and moderate the screenings of the films during the festival week. The Filmschoolfest team is delighted to have found three dedicated members who will be viewing the almost 100 films submitted next month and putting together the first program for the DACH competition.

Here you can find out more about both juries and their members, who are currently in the middle of their main viewing phase. We would like to thank them both for their tireless efforts and the hours of work they put in.

selection jury

A French-Senegalese creative producer, Yanis Gaye founded the boutique production houses Goree Cinema (SN) and Strange Fruit Production House (FR), focusing primarily on project development and facilitating international co-productions of films from Africa and its diasporas.

His films garnered recognition at international festivals such as the Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, New York African Film Festival, and FESPACO. Yanis has participated in esteemed film industry programs (Ouaga Film Lab, Durban Film Mart, AtlasWorkshop, DOK Leipzig DOK Preview, Pitching du Réel...), he was selected for the EFM Toolbox and the EAVE Producers’ Workshop in 2023 and is a mentor for the Durban Talents program. In 2024, he is participating to the Torino Script Lab as a Story Editor Trainee.  In 2023, he co-founded YETU (Un)Limited – a multi-venture African film studio.

Eh-Jae Kim is a film scholar and film critic. She studied theater and film studies in Berlin and Dublin, works at the Zeughauskino of the German Historical Museum in Berlin and works at various film festivals.

Ornela Čop graduated in Art History, Museology and Heritage Management at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. After gaining professional experience working for various cultural events and film festivals, she joined Animafest Zagreb in 2015 as a Hospitality Office Assistant, before becoming the festival’s full-time team member as Festival Coordinator in 2017. Since 2020, she has also been assisting in coordinating the Animation Festival Network, connecting five leading animation festivals from Central and Eastern Europe, all dedicated exclusively to auteur animated films for both young and adult audiences. With Animafest Zagreb, the network also includes Anifilm (CZ), Fest Anča (SK), Animest (RO) and Animateka (SI).

young curators

Elena Yordanova is a 21-year-old student at LMU Munich. She was born in Bulgaria and lived there until she was sixteen. She attended the “National School of Music and Performing Arts Burgas” and played the viola, at the moment she still plays in an orchestra - the StOrch e. V. . Then she moved to Germany to pursue her goals in music and film. She fell in love with cinema at an early age and dreamed of one day being behind the camera and realizing her own projects. Elena also writes essays and film reviews, which she recently started publishing on her own blog.

Enie Goetze studies film and theater studies in Berlin. In addition to working in the theater, she curates for the DACH young talent initiative ENCOURAGE Film Talents and can always be found at various film festivals.

Leandra Steiper, who grew up in Munich, moved to Regensburg, her adopted home, to study media and cultural studies, where arthouse cinemas became her second living room. Her forays into the media scene took her from the radio to film sets and various film festivals such as FILMFEST MÜNCHEN and the Oberpfalz Youth Film Festival. She gained international perspectives on culture and film during a semester abroad in Hong Kong. She is currently writing her bachelor thesis on the film CALL ME BY YOUR NAME and works in the core team of the festival organization of the International Short Film Week Regensburg, where she is involved in the screening and program planning of the international competition, among other things.