Juries

Jury of international short films

In the space of thirty years, Joanna Quinn has won two Emmy Awards, four BAFTAs, three Oscar nominations and more than a hundred other awards worldwide. Her films, which focus on gender and oppression, are works of art in their own right. A real treat for the eyes, peppered with laughter and visual flights of fancy.

After working on Who Framed Roger Rabbit under the direction of Richard Williams, Andrew Ruhemann founded Passion Pictures in 1987. This independent British studio is now recognized worldwide for its innovative animations. Andrew is the studio’s artistic director. In 2011 he won an Oscar for his film The Lost Thing.

Born in Bruges, Anne Verbeure first studied art history, then screenwriting and directing at RITCS and KASK. Graduating in 2021, she won several awards for her film Red Giant, including the VAF Wildcard. Her short film The Golden Donkey won an award at Anima 2025. She is currently working on another short film, A Sleeping Fire.

Jury of national short films

Jean Tourette was born in Auvergne and studied philosophy and political science in Lyon. In 2004 he launched Kiblind, a project dedicated to contemporary illustration through a magazine (now in its 87th issue), a communications agency and a festival, the IF-Illustration Festival, the 3rd edition of which took place in Lyon at the end of September 2025.

Creative director Pieter Van Houte has created the visual effects for films such as The Triplets of Belleville, Hugo (Oscar for Visual Effects), The Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers: Infinity War and Okja. He has collaborated with Marvel, Sony, Disney, Netflix and film-makers such as Terry Gilliam and Bong Joon-ho.

Veronika Zacharová, an animator and illustrator in Prague, specializes in content for children. Trained in graphic design and animation at Tomas Bata University in Zlín, she worked at Krutart and co-directed the multi-award-winning film Hello Summer with Martin Smatana. She is currently working on a new film and collaborating with the Amanita Design studio.

Jury for feature films

Áine Mc Guinness is an Irish designer specializing in art direction for 2D animation. With more than 15 years’ experience, they were the art director on My Father’s Dragon, a Netflix original feature film, and the studio's latest short film, Éiru. Áine recently relocated and are now based in Brussels.

Arthuria is a freelance journalist with a passion for animation and Japanese pop culture. She also gives lectures on gender stereotypes and the representation of LGBTQIA+ characters in manga and anime. A young director trained at the Agnès Varda school in Brussels, she is preparing a documentary on anime dubbing in Japan.

Trained in screenplay analysis in the US, Valérie began her career at the non-profit organization Cartoon. A former production director of Nouky & Friends (sold in 160 countries), she became a screenwriter and wrote nearly 150 episodes of animated series (T’choupi, Calimero, Ernest & Célestine, etc.). She is a co-author of the feature film SamSam and screenwriter of The Great Dreamscape.

Young audience jury

Marcel Barelli is a director of animated films and author of illustrated books. Passionate about animals and nature, he develops all his projects around these themes. His short films have been selected for hundreds of international festivals and have won numerous awards around the world. He lives and works in Geneva.

A Brussels-based director and animator who trained at La Cambre, he has made short films (Yin, Hugs) and music videos (BRNS, Korn), and has worked as an animator on various films. A compulsive draughtsman, he has created a giant anamorphosis for the Palais de la Découverte in Paris, produces series for micro-publishers and, for pleasure, revisits Bruegel the Elder.

A director and artistic director, she began by working on the visual design for The Fifth Element and Renaissance. She went on to work at Gaumont, Xilam and later in video games. Together with Thomas Szabo, she created the Minuscule phenomenon, which has been adapted into a series and two feature films. She has since worked on The Legendaries and is developing a live-action film.

PERS JURY

Born in Antwerp in 2000, Esther De Loose writes film reviews for Enola Magazine. She holds a master’s in film studies and visual culture (University of Antwerp) and has been an intern at CINEMATEK and the Zomerfilmcollege. As a content creator at De Studio, she focuses on arthouse and feminist cinema; she was a member of the press jury at the 2024 Kortfilmfestival Leuven.

A freelance journalist working in the cultural field, mainly on cinema and music, Didier Stiers has worked with various media outlets, including Larsen magazine and, since 1998, the newspaper Le Soir, for which he covers animation, among others.

Co-producer of 60 films, including Duo de volailles, sauce chasseur, Nuit chérie and Purpleboy, which won awards at Anima, Thierry Zamparutti now devotes himself to writing, consulting and distribution. Passionate about short films, documentaries and board games, he is on the board of directors at Ambiances, Cinergie and the Belgian Film Press Union.