East of the West Jury of the 54th Karlovy Vary IFF

Denis Ivanov

Ukrainian producer, distributor, and festival organizer. He founded the Odessa IFF, the Children KinoFest, and the Kyiv Critics Week. He heads up the Arthouse Traffic film company. As producer he has made five features and over 40 shorts, including The Tribe by Myroslav Slaboshpitskiy (winner of Cannes’ Critics’ Week 2014) and Donbass by Sergei Loznitsa (Best Director from Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2018).

Juho Kuosmanen

Finnish film, theater, and opera director. His short movies have been shown at many festivals, including Cannes and Locarno. In 2016 his debut feature The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki premiered at Cannes, receiving the main prize in Un Certain Regard (that same year it screened in Czech theaters via KVIFF distribution). He is also a cofounder and artistic director of Kokkolan Kinojuhlat, which, according to his mother Tuula Kuosmanen, is the best film festival in the world.

Tomáš Pavlíček

Czech director and screenwriter. He graduated from Prague’s Film Academy (FAMU), where he currently teaches. He focuses on comedy that is often dialogue based. His debut feature Totally Talking premiered in the Forum of Independents at KVIFF 2014. Four years later Bear with Us also screened at KVIFF, in the East of the West Competition, and then went on to win the best screenplay award by the Czech Film Critics Association.

Ioanna Stais

Greek film sales company representative. After gaining two years’ staff experience at the Cannes IFF, she moved to Wide International Sales to work as coordinator for the Eye on Films label, dedicated to the promotion and distribution of debut features. Then in 2014 she joined forces with the Greek production company Heretic to launch Heretic Outreach, the first international sales agent based in southeastern Europe. As manager of that already well-established brand, she has internationally represented award-winning films such as Take Me Somewhere Nice, Holiday, and Meteors.

Dagnė Vildžiūnaite

Lithuanian producer working in TV and film for over 15 years. She is a member of the Lithuanian Film Academy and serves as national representative for EAVE and EURODOC. In 2017 she was nominated for Best Professional Work in Cinema at the National Film Awards. In 2007 she established the independent production company Just A Moment, which has produced 20 documentaries and dramas, both shorts and features.

More information here.