SEPTEMBER 8-12, 2025
Jury
The team of judges behind NIFF has been carefully selected based on their passion, experience, and dedication to film.
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Alberto Cañada
Programming Director of the Filmoteca de Navarra. He holds a PhD in Communication from the University of Navarra. He is the author of the books Arrival and Implementation of the Cinematography in Navarre (1896-1930), Simón Blasco Salas: A Doctor from Estella in the World of Cinema (1885-1968), and Cinema in Pamplona During the Second Republic and the Civil War (1931-1939). A member of the translation team for the Larousse Dictionnaire du Cinéma, he has worked as a film critic for various media outlets and has served on a jury at several film festivals and competitions. He also worked in the Communications and Programming Department of the film exhibition company SAIDE from 1991 to 2011.
Álvaro González
He holds a Diploma in Film Directing from ECAM (the School of Cinematography and Audiovisuals of the Community of Madrid), where he was tutored by Ana Díez, Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, and Gracia Querejeta, and directed actors by Mariano Barroso and Jaime Chávarri. He has been working as a director in advertising and on TV series and programs for twenty years. He is a professor at the Faculty of Communication of the University of Navarra in the Bachelor's Degree in Audiovisual Communication, where he teaches Directing, Screenwriting, Film and TV Production, and Directing Actors and Acting. He is also a tutor for Final Degree Projects in Fiction, Animation, and TV Programs. He has directed three short films: El Cinéfilo, Casa Fouce, and Titan.
Andrés Carpio Cortés
Originally from Torrecampo, a small town in the north of the province of Córdoba, he has had a keen interest in the world of cinema since childhood. This obsession led him to move to Madrid to study audiovisual communication. Since then, he has participated in numerous fiction, advertising, documentary, and sports projects, which have taken him to film in places like Germany and Bali. Until now, the production field has been his main source of experience, but he also writes fiction and works for online media, in addition to holding positions such as directing and camera work. During the last edition of NIFF, he participated with Saboteadora, a short film he produced.
Anna Podhorska
Since 2021, Anna Podhorska has been a bilingual communications student at the University of Navarra. She has participated in various short films with her university classmates, playing a variety of roles: director of photography for the pilot of an entertainment program titled "Generaciones Unidas" (United Generations), sound engineer for the documentary short "A una raya" (A Line), and producer and co-director of the short film "Paralelas" (Parallels), a candidate in the cancer category at the Notodo Filmfest. She also participated as a Young Programmer at the 2023 Punto de Vista festival. She has always been a contemplative soul. That's why she enjoys writing reviews of audiovisual pieces for Letterbox. She also likes to take her own initiatives, which is why she is developing her own YouTube channel.
Belén Galindo
A journalist for three decades, she is the Communications Manager for the La Información Group, where she also works as a reporter, host, and event organizer. She also provides the voice and soul of the Diario de Navarra podcast "Con voz propia" (With Her Own Voice) and was the driving force behind the newspaper's Reading Club, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. She worked as an editor at the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Tennessee. Her writing career has led her to publish "People of Chattanooga," "Gente Op," and "Un blog para cruza el Océano." She participates in numerous cultural, social, and journalistic events, such as the NIFF, where she has collaborated since its first edition.
Eurgenia Ciapparelli
Eugenia Ciapparelli, 23, is a passionate film student from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She began her career in Audiovisual Arts at the National University of the Arts (UNA) and is currently specializing in Film Production at the National School of Film Experimentation and Realization (ENERC). Additionally, Eugenia has worked on a variety of audiovisual productions, from distribution to producing her own projects. She recently served on a youth jury at the international "Construir Cine" festival, broadening her international vision.
Florencia Peralta
Her participation in volunteer work and film festivals, combined with her keen interest in audiovisual art and curating, led her to conduct research on audiovisual material in museums and cultural spaces. She has participated in artistic and film projects in the production and art direction areas, where she currently works. She is currently pursuing a Diploma in Audiovisual Heritage Management and Preservation at the National University of the Arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Helena Bengoetxea
Filmmaker and journalist, she holds a Master's degree in Audiovisual Communication from the UPV-EITB and a Master's degree in Gender Studies from the UB-DUODA. She studied Creative Documentary Film at the EICTV (Cuba). She founded her own production company, Haruru Filmak, with Rubén Marcilla, where she produced her debut feature, Matrioskas, las niñas de la guerra (Matrioskas, the girls of war), and is currently completing her new feature film, Petrus, as part of the multidisciplinary project of the same name. She is the creative producer of the documentary feature films Nortarzunak (Identities), a co-production with France in production, and Siete Entierros (Seven Burials), in development. She is a member of CIMA, DOCMA, and NAPAR (Navarra Audiovisual Production Association).
Idoia Saralegui
Idoia Saralegui San Sebastián. Born in Pamplona. Graduate in Social Work, Bachelor in Social Psychology and research proficiency in Sociology. Councilor and spokesperson for the Pamplona City Council 1999-2007. High Exclusion Technician at the Pamplona City Council 2007-2018. Director of the Social Services Area of the Pamplona City Council 2018-2019. Head of the Inclusion Section of the Department of Education 2019-2021. Director of Intercultural Coexistence and Fight against Racism of the Government of Navarra 2021-present. Writer. Member of the Navarra Writers Association ANE/NIE. She has published 5 novels ("Carola's Proposal", "Absurd Fantasies", "Dragonfly Effect", "A Vampire with Braces" and "Celia's Journey". She has participated in different anthologies ("24. Navarrese Stories", "The Soul of Wine"...). Award from the Association of Romantic Writers for Absurd Fantasies. Finalist in the love story competition of Pandora Magazine. Short story award "Wanted: Writer" (Mujer de Hoy magazine and the Mexico Tourism Consortium).
Javier Gruñeiro
Javier Gruñeiro is a filmmaker and one of the founders of the collective "Dispongo de Barcos." In his pieces, he explores the impact of the individual on the collective, and how the collective's reality is the result of its confrontation with the past. Javier has served as a jury member for DOCUMENTAMADRID 2018 (Best Photography Award - National Feature Film), among others. He is currently working on a collective feature film with Javier Rebollo and Noemi García Díaz, in which the introduction or application of obstructions conceptualizes a different view of The Night.
Javier Tolentino
A graduate in Information Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid, he studied Law at the University of Salamanca. He has directed some of the most charismatic news programs on radio (Siete días, Informe Abierto, La Jornada, El Ciempiés). He is the creator, founder, and director of El Otro Cine Posible (Radio 5), El Árbol de las Palabras (Radio Exterior de España), and El Séptimo Vicio (Radio 3); the latter, with seventeen years of presence on the cultural network of public radio, has earned him awards such as the Critics' Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Sebastian Film Festival, among others.
Joaquín Calderón
Co-producer of "The Longest Night Dawns," he received a nomination for Best Animated Short Film at the 2023 Goya Awards, the Silver Biznaga in Malaga, and more than 100 other selections and awards. He is currently the director of La Residencia Navarra (LRN) and co-director of the Navarra International Film Festival (NIFF). He is the director and producer of the feature-length documentary "Sahara Is Not for Sale," which won him the Audience Award at Documenta Madrid 08; "Sarasate, The King of the Violin," "Basque Selfie," which premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival; and "Flamenco On Fire," which premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival and the Latino Seattle Film Festival. He studied at the ECAM (National Institute of Film and Television), the Navarra School of Theatre, and the Arts Educational School, London. It is formed with Abbas Kiarostami, Asghar Farhadi, Oliver Laxe, Isabel Coixet, Montxo Armendáriz, Mariano Barroso and Benito Zambrano.
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José Félix Collazos
Silver Horse at the Larissa New Directors Festival (Greece). He has collaborated with the San Sebastián International Film Festival as a radio scriptwriter and is a film critic for various media outlets and specialized magazines.
Kike Sanz
He holds a Higher Technician in Audiovisual Project and Show Production (CPA Salduie, Zaragoza) and a Master's Degree in Cultural Project Management from La Fábrica (La Fábrica, Madrid). He has worked on several projects, including the location management department for the fiction series Vampire Academy T1 (Universal, Peacock), coordination at the 2022 edition of the Cultural Observatory of the Fundación Contemporánea, and is currently a Technician in Cultural Management and Programming at CIVICAN, the Center for Thought and Shared Culture of the Caja Navarra Foundation (2024). He has served three times as a youth jury member at the San Sebastián Film Festival (SIFF, 1968, 1969, and 1970) and once as a youth jury member at the Punto de Vista Documentary Film Festival, 2023.
J. Raquel Melgar
Producer and director participating in Hack Mafiz Málaga (2021), recipient of a scholarship from the Ibero-American Meeting of Emerging Filmmakers and the Cinematographic Creation Laboratory (Guatemala, 2020-2021), Young Jury member at the 20th Vancouver Latin American Film Festival (2022), Bammers at the Bogotá Audiovisual Market (Colombia, 2023), International Representative of the Ancash Film Festival, Peru, and a student about to graduate from the Production specialty at EICTV, Cuba.
Lola Mayo
Screenwriter, producer, and film professor. She has directed documentaries for the Spanish National Television (TVE) program Documentos TV and has won the Queen Sofía Journalism Award. She teaches narrative at film schools and universities in Spain and Latin America, including the Carlos III University of Madrid, the ECAM (National Institute of Film Studies), the Madrid Film Institute, the Lusofona University of Lisbon, and Hamilton College in the United States. She directs the Feminist Documentary Creation Lab at the Francesca Bonnemaison Center in Barcelona. She is a programmer for the DocumentaMadrid and Alcine festivals. For three years, she coordinated the Documentary Film Chair at the San Antonio de los Baños Film School in Cuba and founded the Master's Program in Documentary Project Creation there. She is a producer and co-writer of many of director Javier Rebollo's works.
Lorenzo Pedrazzi
Lorenzo Pedrazzi is a journalist and film critic. He was born in Milan, where he still lives. He graduated in Performing Arts with a thesis on aesthetics, focusing on the sense of limit and disgust in cinema. He began contributing to film magazines in 2005, during his second year of university. He currently works for Screenweek, one of Italy's leading film portals, and contributes to the newspaper La Repubblica, writing reviews, features, news, and conducting interviews. He is also the author of essays, editorials, and features for cultural magazines covering a wide variety of topics, and of various podcasts for Gli Ascoltabili and Amazon Audible. He has also published short stories in literary anthologies and magazines.
Louis Tan
Filipino photographer, musician, and Audiovisual Communication student at the University of Navarra, aiming to become a screenwriter/director/sound engineer. He loves everything related to film and music. His dream is to enrich and contribute to Philippine film culture, providing an opportunity to showcase the country's talent and potential in film and art.
María Manero Muro
María Manero Muro combines her career as an animator with animation production and is the author of her own projects. Her most recent feature-length work includes on-camera cut-out animation for Isabel Herguera's El sueño de la Sultana, animation production for one of the teams behind Alberto Vázquez's Unicorn Wars, and European animation production for Disney Studios' Disenchanted. Her latest short film, Patchwork (2018), was selected more than 200 times at national and international festivals, garnering around thirty awards and nominations. She has been co-coordinator and co-founder of the "Grafitarras" Rural and Collaborative Art Project in Azagra, Navarra, since 2019. This event aims to provide opportunities for meeting, reflection, and dynamization for individuals and organizations interested in nurturing collective processes of creative experimentation in rural areas.
Manuel Palenzuela
Manuel Palenzuela, born in Caracas, Venezuela, 29-09-1999. He holds a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the Carlos III University of Madrid and a joint diploma course at the ECAM. He is the director of short films such as "No estás solo" (You Are Not Alone), winner of the Villanueva Showing Festival and Suroscopia Festival, "Madrid Para dos" (Madrid for Two), winner of the Eurostars hotel chain competition, and music videos such as "Por Hoy" (For Today) by Anakena, among others. In 2022, he was selected as a representative of Spain for the 27 Times Cinema program and a jury member for the Giornate degli autori section at the Venice Film Festival. That same year, he worked as a youth ambassador for the European Parliament's LUX Prize, and the following year he joined the selection and programming team for Giornate degli autori at the Venice Film Festival. He is currently the coordinator of the New Generation section at the Navarra International Film Festival (NIFF).
Maite Pérez-Nievas
Born in Navarre, adopted by Madrid, and an expatriate in New York for 12 years, I am a production designer/art director. What I love most is telling stories, and that's what I've been doing, through my sets, for the past 15 years. I've designed for directors such as Julia Solomonoff, Jim McKay, Félix Viscarret, and Nicol Paone, for companies such as Amazon and Samsung, and I've worked in the art department for TV series such as The Knick, The Deuce, and Jack Ryan. I hold a Master's in Set Design for Film and Theater from New York University, studied Art Direction at ECAM (Madrid Film School), and participated in the 2010 Berlinale Talent Campus. My passion for film and fascination with detail and context keep me always open to new collaborations and adventures. I've also recently taken up writing.
Maite Tabar Liberal
Maite Tabar Liberal is a director, screenwriter, and creator of audiovisual formats. She has also been an associate professor of entertainment programming at the Faculty of Communication at the University of Navarra. She is currently part of the creative R&D team at the agency and production company Thinketers.
María Calle Guerrero
I have worked as an editor, screenwriter, and consultant in audiovisual media, on documentary, fiction, video art, and advertising projects for the past 15 years. Since 2019, I have collaborated as an editor at the production company Haruru Filmak, which focuses on working with women filmmakers. I collaborated with the magazine Arte al día México, researching and writing specialized articles on art and video. In Mexico, from 2007 to 2011, I curated the Di@metro project, a video art gallery, in the Mexico City subway. From 2006 to 2008, I studied Literature and Film. I have participated in the following workshops: Screenwriting at ECAM (Educational and Cultural Center of Mexico), Documentary Seminar with Patricio Guzmán, Film Writing Workshop at the El País School of Journalism, and the workshop "How to Appreciate Cinematographic Work: Analysis and Writing." Taller Multinacional Virtual Classroom.
María Resano Zuazu
María Resano Zuazu, a Navarrese actress, began her artistic career at the legendary Navarro Villoslada theater workshop in Pamplona. She later moved to Madrid, where she studied acting at the school of maestro Jorge Eines, as well as at Mar Navarro and Odin Teatret, among others. She considers herself a creative actress in a continuous process of learning and discovery. She is the co-founder of her own theater company, "La Polaca," with which she brought "La Prudencia" to off-screen theaters in Madrid, receiving rave reviews from critics and audiences. In the audiovisual world, she co-starred in "Dialogues," a finalist for Generaciones 2024 at La Casa Encendida in Madrid, in addition to participating in other short films and television series.
Mercedes Aranguren
Actress, director, and audiovisual producer. In 2021, she directed and produced "El Camino de Nerea," nominated for the 2022 Granada International Film Festival. In 2023, she received several awards for Best Documentary, in New York, Berlin, Madrid, and Barcelona. She was recognized in Rochester for her merit and cinematic excellence. She is currently promoting a social improvement and integration project within the framework of one of the associations with which she collaborates.Su proximo documental, refleja precisamente esta realidad.
Mintxo Díaz
He began working as a producer in 2009 and has since produced various short and feature films, both fiction, documentary, and animation, with a clear international target audience. He has been selected for prestigious workshops such as Berlinale Talents 2017, IDFA Academy 2018, Torino Feature Lab 2019, EAVE Marketing Workshop 2020 or Cannes Focus Copro 2021. Some of the titles he has produced are the short film "Safari", premiered at the Semaine de la Critique in Cannes and nominated for the Goyas, the short film "Picnic" which was selected at the Tribeca IFF and won the Biznaga for best short film at the Malaga Festival, the feature film "Maus", premiered at the Fantastic Fest in Austin and the Sitges Festival or the feature film "Letters to Paul Morrissey", which premiered at the Seville Festival and the PÖFF-Tallinn Black Nights, among others. In addition to producing film projects, he is participating in several R&D projects that use Audiovisual Intelligence techniques for creative processes focused on animation, such as "Emotional Films," a new audiovisual format that varies based on the viewer's emotions.
Noemi Petrasso
Born in Turin, Noemi graduated in Art Management from Ca' Foscari University (Venice), where she is specializing in film, attending an International Master's program between Italy, Scotland, and Spain. Her research focuses on popular Spanish cinema during the Late Franco era, its critical and public reception, and its social relevance. She produced and directed the short documentary Elementi Minimi and has been writing articles and commentaries for Screenworld magazine for several years. She has also participated in numerous festivals: she worked as a jury member at the InLaguna Film Festival in Venice, an assistant for the Milano Film Network during the Venice International Film Festival, and a critic for the Lago Film Fest and the Ca' Foscari Short Film Festival. She also conducted interviews with major film festival directors in Italy for the Carta Bianca podcast project.
Patxi Uriz
Navarrese photographer and documentary filmmaker. His work focuses on travel, gastronomy, and the rural world. His notable work as a documentary filmmaker includes the documentary "Children of the Earth," which won the 2016 Goya Award for Best Documentary Short Film. Driven to spread the value of popular wisdom, he directed the documentary "The Last of the Mejana," in which he addresses the loss of the legacy of market gardeners with the seed of hope that comes from incorporating new generations into caring for the land. The second part of this documentary is "Of Quixotes and Seeds," in which chef Santi Cordón travels by verducleta (a bicycle with a mobile vegetable garden) from his native Tudela to the Málaga Film Festival to present the documentary "The Last of the Mejana." This road movie won the Jury Prize and Audience Award for Best Documentary in the Cinema Cocina section of the Málaga Film Festival (2021).
Pilar Rodríguez
Pilar Rodríguez began her career in audiovisual production in the Fiction Production Department at Globomedia, on series such as "Los hombres de Paco" and "El Internado." Later, working with Sandra Hermida, she ventured into the world of production; she coordinated the set, post-production, and marketing for Paco León's "Arde Madrid," the post-production for the series "Caminantes," directed by Koldo Serra, and field production for Jaume Balagueró's film "Way Down." In 2022, she worked on both the development and post-production of "Rainbow," the Netflix production directed by Paco León; and "Fácil," the series created by Anna Costa for Movistar+. Both were presented at the San Sebastián Film Festival. As production manager, Pilar has directed the short films "Tres Veces" and "Desviación típica" directed by Paco Ruiz; "Hipocampo" by Fernando Pérez; and "En la noche caminamos solos" by Rafael Alberola. He currently has three feature films in development and is in the process of opening his own production company. With the feature film "Los animalitos" by Paco Ruiz, he participated in the first edition of La Residencia de Navarra.
Sara Sevilla
She holds a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the University of Navarra and a Master of Business Administration from the Chamber of Commerce of Navarra. She has worked at the INAAC Foundation (Institute of Audiovisual Arts and Cinematography) since 2011. Since 2014, she has been the Director of the Navarra Film Commission, an office for the development of the audiovisual sector in the region and attracting filming to the territory belonging to NICDO (Navarra Infrastructure for Culture, Sport and Leisure of the Government of Navarra). She has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Spain Film Commission since 2018 and has participated as a jury in several film festivals and competitions. Since 2017, she has been a jury member for the Generazinema Grants (Department of Culture of the Government of Navarra).
Sergio Eslava
Sergio Eslava Arraiza (Pamplona, 1995) is a musician, teacher, historian, saxophonist, singer, pianist, and researcher. He recently received the 2023 Young Person of Navarre Award and the 2023 Pamplona Resident of the Year Award. A graduate of the Conservatory of Music of Navarre, he obtained a position at the PSEMD (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) in Bordeaux in 2016. He also holds a Master's Degree in Teacher Training for Secondary and Baccalaureate Education, a Master's Degree in Musical Research, and a Master's Degree in Leadership and Management of Educational Centers. He has won more than 10 awards in national and international music competitions, the most recent being the Re_Cre@ International Chamber Music Competition in Castellón. He currently works in the Autonomous Community of Navarre as a teacher and musician. He is the coordinator of the NAK Contemporary Music Festival and president of the Kuarist saxophone association, as well as a regular collaborator with the Pamplona band and the Pamplona Academic Sinfonietta.
Sofia Rodríguez Sutil
Audiovisual Communication student at the University of Navarra. She has worked as part of the NIFF team as an assistant director and as a production coordinator. She has also been part of the La Residencia de Navarra team as a technical and production team, performing tasks such as general coordination, content creation, and creative proposals. In April 2024, she premiered her first documentary, "Un pueblo es," as a producer. Since 2021, she has dedicated herself to photography and mixed-media art.
Sofia Albelda
Sofía Albelda is a student of Audiovisual Event and Show Production at Donapea and a graduate of the Performing Arts Baccalaureate at IES Plaza de la Cruz. In 2022, she won the first edition of CIMA10 with her script titled Minifalda, which she later directed.
Teresa Morales
In 2010, she joined Telecinco Cinema as Marketing Director, until she returned to her homeland in 2018 to take over as Executive Director of the Punto de Vista Festival and join the Navarra Film Commission team.