Juries
International Competition Jury
Victoria Chernukha
Creative producer, dramaturg and editor working across film and cultural programming, rooted in close continuous collaboration with authors. Her recent projects premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and San Sebastián. Formerly, a long-standing contributor to IDFA as program adviser and talks curator.
Lidija Zelovic
Lidija Zelovic is a documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. She began as an independent filmmaker in the aftermath of the civil war in her home country, Yugoslavia, before working for media companies (BBC, Channel 4). Her latest film, Home Game, explores the duality migrants experience in defining “home” while examining Europe’s growing political polarization.
Jadel Andreetto
Jadel Andreetto is a writer and activist who has published several novels, essays, and short stories, and served as a writer-in-residence at M.I.T. He is among the founders of Resistenze in Cirenaica, a cultural workshop dedicated to historytelling. He has created various podcasts and co-authored Südtirock, a punk film blending history, music, and cultural climate.
Biografilm Italia Jury
Martina Droandi
Martina Droandi is the founder of ODD Slice Films (2025) and a documentary sales agent. She worked at Autlook after gaining experience in short film distribution and completing a seven-month stint at mk2. She is an alumna of SOAS, DOCNOMADS, Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris, the Locarno Film Industry Academy, and the International Screen Institute.
Simone Manetti
Simone Manetti is an Italian film director and documentary filmmaker. His work combines documentary rigor with a strong narrative drive. He made his debut with Goodbye Darling, I’m Off to Fight and has directed documentaries and series including Sono innamorato di Pippa Bacca, Il Giovane Berlusconi, and Giulio Regeni – All the Evil in the World.
Marta Donzelli
Marta Donzelli, who graduated in Philosophy, founded Vivo film together with Gregorio Paonessa in 2004, producing more than 50 feature films presented at major international festivals. Among the company’s latest productions is Le Città di Pianura, which won 8 David di Donatello awards this year, including Best Producer.
TOP DOC | The Beauty of Documentary Jury
The TOP DOC jury awards a 12 months digital distribution award on TOP DOC Prime Video Channel to the best film of the Biografilm Italia Competition.
Cinzia Galgano
Cristina Resa
Francesco Facchinetti
Biografilm Manifesto Jury
ASSOCIAZIONE OLTRE...
Lydia Buchner
Dal 1998 L’Associazione Culturale Oltre… è impegnata nell’ideazione e organizzazione di laboratori, festival, residenze artistiche, scambi internazionali, progetti educativi e di animazione urbana.
GRUPPO TRANS
Dani Bettini
Gruppo Trans è un’associazione di persone trans con sede a Bologna, promuove iniziative di carattere culturale e formativo, progettualità e servizi per l’empowerment della comunità trans.
ASSOCIAZIONE OLTRE...
Lydia Buchner
Dal 1998 L’Associazione Culturale Oltre… è impegnata nell’ideazione e organizzazione di laboratori, festival, residenze artistiche, scambi internazionali, progetti educativi e di animazione urbana.
GRUPPO TRANS
Dani Bettini
Gruppo Trans è un’associazione di persone trans con sede a Bologna, promuove iniziative di carattere culturale e formativo, progettualità e servizi per l’empowerment della comunità trans.
ASSOCIAZIONE OLTRE...
Lydia Buchner
Dal 1998 L’Associazione Culturale Oltre… è impegnata nell’ideazione e organizzazione di laboratori, festival, residenze artistiche, scambi internazionali, progetti educativi e di animazione urbana.
Arci Ucca Special Jury
The jury is composed of members of Arci Ucca and will assign a distribution award “L’Italia che non si vede. Rassegna Itinerante di Cinema del Reale” and 1000 € to the best film in the Biografilm Italia Competition.
Young Jury | Young Critics
The jury is composed of students from the CITEM and DAMS degree programmes of the University of Bologna. They will award the Young Critics Award to the best film in the International Competition.
Teachers' Jury
The Teachers’ Jury is composed of seven high school teachers from Bologna and the surrounding province. It represents Biografilm’s commitment to promoting cinema as a tool for educational support and active citizenship for younger generations. The Jury will present the Biografilm For Education Award | Biografilm 2026 to the best documentary among six films in the program selected as suitable for a “teen” audience. The winning film will be screened this fall at a Pop Up Cinema in Bologna.
The films nominated for the Biografilm For Education Award | Biografilm 2026 are:
La vita segreta dei giocattoli
Riusciranno i nostri eroi? Age & Scarpelli: la coppia che ha cambiato il modo di fare commedia
The Winning Generation
Little Sinner
Meant To Be
Matteo Bandini
Tiziana Labriola
Diana Ligue Denis
Anna Bennato
Paola Parente
Lorenzo Papette
Biagio Pastorino
FIADDA "Accessible Gazes" Jury
The jury is composed of young deaf individuals from the FIADDA Emilia Romagna Association: Elia Bacconi, a theater student; Francesco Bernardoni, an agronomist and cinema enthusiast; and Martina Tantimonaco, a film director.
Elia Bacconi
Theater student
Francesco Bernardoni
Agronomist and cinema enthusiast
Martina Tantimonaco
Film director