Poland

Born in Uzbekistan, Askold Kurov has lived in Russia since 1991. He earned a degree in documentary filmmaking at Marina Razbezhkina and Mikhail Ugarov’s School of Documentary Film and Theater in Moscow. His films Winter, Go Away!, Leninland and Children 404 won critical acclaim and were screened at numerous festivals. His work focuses on human rights and social conflict in contemporary Russia.

Emi Buchwald was born in 1991, in Dąbrowice. She is a student of Film Directing at the Film School in Łódź, and previously completed a documentary course at the Wajda School, where she developed her first short documentary, Brothers (2010). Her subsequent feature and documentary works, including Sisters (2011), Droga mleczna (2014) and Chce mi się pić (2014), have been screened at festivals in Poland and abroad. She is also a photo blogger: zwyklaki.tumblr.com.

Born in 1981, Paweł Ziemilski graduated from the the Łódź National Film School and the Wajda School in Warsaw. His short documentary and fiction films have received widespread publicity at numerous film festivals around the globe and have earned many prestigious awards. His documentary, Rogalik received an IDFA nomination in 2012. It has also been shown and awarded at festivals such as Zagreb Dox, Alcine Festival (First Prize), festivals in Oberhausen, Beijing, Bucharest, Cracow and others. Apart from directing, Paweł Ziemilski is involved in social animation and organizing workshops for those deemed “troubled youth”.