guests of honor 2025
Sébastien hussenot
Sébastien Hussenot is a French producer with over 30 years of experience in the film industry. After starting as a location manager, he founded La Luna Productions in 1994, through which he has produced over 100 films—shorts, features, and documentaries—screened worldwide and awarded at major festivals, including an Oscar and César nomination. Recent highlights include Sanki Yoxsan (Cannes 2024), Tsutsue (Cannes 2022), America (César nominee), and Les enfants rouges (Red Path), winner of multiple international awards including the Bayard d'Or and the Yusr Golden Award. Sébastien is known for his focus on international co-productions and his strong support for emerging filmmakers. He received the PROCIREP Producer's Award in 2018.
Lara Izagirre
Lara Izagirre (Amorebieta, Bizkaia, 1985) is a Basque screenwriter, director, and producer. After studying Audiovisual Communication at the University of the Basque Country, she expanded her training at the New York Film Academy, worked at Forensic Films (NYC), and earned a screenwriting master’s degree from ESCAC in Barcelona. Her debut feature, An Autumn Without Berlin (2015), earned critical acclaim and a Goya Award for Best New Actress. She later directedNora (2020), shot in Basque and featured in international festivals, reinforcing her intimate and socially engaged storytelling style. In 2010, she founded Gariza Films, a production company recognized for championing female authorship and innovative narratives. As a producer, she has supported films like Errementari, Window to the Sea, and 20,000 Species of Bees (2023), the latter having won the Silver Bear in Berlin and received multiple Goya nominations. Izagirre is also a founding member and current president of (H)emen, the Basque Women in Film Association, established in 2015–2016 to address gender imbalance and boost visibility for women in Basque audiovisual and performing arts . Under her leadership, (H)emen launchedAukera, a mentorship programme for young Basque women filmmakers (ages 18–35), offering script, directing, and production support to produce their first short films . The association also collaborates with festivals like San Sebastián and Zinebi to run professional events—networking sessions, panels, screenings—to foster professional connections and gender parity.
Rachida Saadi
Rachida Saadi Moroccan producer and director. She made her first short film “La mer-e” in 2005; In 2007, she created her production company “Janaprod” through which she produced the feature film 'The 5th Cord' by Selma Bargach, and several short films by young directors and co-produced four feature films. She is responsible for the executive production of around twenty Moroccan feature films In 2022.
Anne Gaschütz
Anne Gaschütz director of FILMFEST DRESDEN - International Short Film Festival Pardi di domani selection committee at Locarno Film Festival Anne Gaschütz, festival director and programmer, grew up in Dresden, Germany before she moved to England in 2002 and later studied Film in Wales. Upon returning to her home town, she experienced all of the stages in film production at the Dresden-based production company filoufilm. Since then, she has worked as a production assistant and production manager on numerous short film projects. She joint FILMFEST DRESDEN - International Short Film Festival in 2013 as part of the International Selection Committee, became the festival's co-director in July 2020 and its director in June 2024. In 2021 she became a member of the Pardi di domani Selection Committee at Locarno Film Festival. She is also one of the initiators of Talking Shorts, an online platform that focuses on short film criticism, and a member of the European Film Academy.
Mohamed Saadoun
Mohamed Saadoun An Egyptian director who has made many short films, some of which have won awards at Arab and international festivals. He founded Saadoun film company, which specializes in distributing short films and providing services to them ، He is also one of the founders of the Alexandria Short Film Festival and has been the director of the festival since its inception.
Nour Eddine Lakhmari
Nour Eddine Lakhmari award-winning director/screenwriter feature films and television series. His first short film in Oslo was ad- mitted to the Oslo Film Academy. His first feature film «Le regard» was released in 2005 with wide critical ac- claim in Morocco and Scandinavia. In 2008, Lakhmari marked Moroccan cinema with his second film «Casa Negra». The film won 21 internatio- nal awards and screened 25 times at major film festivals and selec- ted to represent Morocco in 2010 at the Oscars.
waldemar dabrowski
Waldemar Dąbrowski A man of culture and former Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage (2002–2005), Waldemar Dąbrowski was the driving force behind major reforms that significantly shaped cinema and cultural institutions in Poland. He was instrumental in the creation of the Polish Film Institute, the Book Institute, the Theatre Institute, the Audiovisual Institute, and the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. Founder of the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra and director of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in Warsaw, he has collaborated with some of the world’s most prestigious stages and launched landmark initiatives such as the Chopin Bicentenary in 2010. Recipient of numerous international honors, he embodies a lifelong commitment to promoting Polish culture on the global stage.
romain ruef
Romain Ruef 11 years of experience. Technical and artistic expertise in audiovisual production and new technologies, combined with commercial, operational, and managerial skills at the international level. Previous positions: Director of Photography in France, Head of Live Production in Vietnam, SaaS Start-up Manager between Paris and Athens, Technical Director & Head of AI Developments at Hiventy North Africa in Morocco.