Matthias Krepp is an Austrian director who studied Comparative Literature and History, and was later accepted into the directing-class of Michael Haneke at Vienna Film Academy. During his studies he directed several short films in collaboration with Angelika Spangel and Dominic Kubisch. His documentary debut Sand and Blood premiered at Locarno Film Festival 2017.

Marthe Peters is a Dutch filmmaker living in Gent, Belgium. In 2023 she graduated from KASK, Gent. Departing from intimacy she depicts her daily reality in an abstract and fragmented way. Her practice is marked by playing with intuitive material in order to question the stereotypical representation of the body. Her films centre around the banal as something important and worthy, in search of solace and care for one another

Marie-Magdalena Kochová is a Czech director based in Prague. She graduated from New Media in Pilsen and Documentary Film at FAMU in Prague. Her short film Apparatgeist (2019) garnered a Special Mention at the Ji.hlava IDFF. Her next short film Shells (2022) premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival while 3 MWh (2024) premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2024 in the Tiger Short Competition. Her work focuses on personal and social themes through documentary and fictional forms and she is currently working on her documentary feature film The Other One.

William Sehested Høeg started at the National Film School of Denmark in 2019. Prior to his time at the school, he had directed several award-winning short film. In recent years, he has explored the nuances of comedy through his film productions at the school, exploring how it can be driven by suspense and carry dramatic weight. Through his characters, he exposes himself and creates contemporary portraits of the toxic group dynamics that we can all relate to.

Hilke Rönnfeldt, born by the Baltic Sea coast in Northern Germany with Danish-Icelandic roots, graduated as a screenwriter at Swedish Alma Education and as a film director at the independent film school collective Super16 in Copenhagen. She is a Berlinale Talents, Oxbelly Episodic Lab and European Short Pitch alumna. Her projects revolve around life in rural communities, worlds of work, intimacy, and the sea. She has a strong faith in the poetic capabilities of the image. With A Study Of Empathy, she won the Golden Leopard for Best Short Film at the 2023 edition of Locarno.

Since 2003, Reykjavik-born Anna Maria Jóakimsdóttir-Hutri, has worked as as a film and theatre director and scriptwriter in film, TV and theatre in Finland. She’s directed commercials for Also Starring, movies for Helsinki-filmi Oy, a children’s drama for the Finnish National Broadcasting Company YLE and both classical and non-traditional plays for the stage. She has graduated both from Aalto University and Uniarts Helsinki.

Emanuela Muzzupappa was born in 1995 in Reggio Calabria. In 2019, she wrote and directed the short film Accamòra, which was selected at SIC as part of the 77th Venice Film Festival. In June 2023, she graduated in directing from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome. She garnered a special mention for The Love Servant at the 2024 Triest Film Festival.

Bogdan Alecsandru is a Bucharest based filmmaker. After graduating the BA in Film and Television Directing at UNATC "I. L. Caragiale", he continued his studies with a MA in Film Directing. His short films have been screened in festivals such as TIFF Romania, Filmschool Fest Munich and RiverRun IFF. He explores queer storylines and the thematic fusion between anxiety and intimacy in fiction film.

Katarina Gramatová began her film career working as film editor, a craft she studied at Tomas Bata University in Zlin and later at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava that she graduated from in 2023. The short film Cherries, her directorial debut, won a Special Jury Prize at the Zlin Film Festival. She is currently finishing her debut feature film Promise, I’ll Be Fine which is a Slovak-Czech co-production.

Lucia G. Romero was born in Barcelona, Spain in 1999. She secured a full scholarship at the city's ESCAC film school from which she graduated with a master's degree in film directing. Her graduation film Cura Sana tells an autobiographical story linked to her Cuban roots and is rich in political consciousness. For the film, Romero won the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film in the Generation 14plus at the 2024 edition of Berlinale.