I’m really excited to begin introducing our jury members this year. It’s such a joy to be able to connect with other film professionals to share and reward the great work of our filmmakers. I’m proud to introduce you to the fine group of people who will be judging our narrative short films this year:
Andrea Voges
Andrea Voges is the Festival Manager and Head of Programming for the Durban International Film Festival, the largest and oldest film festival in Southern Africa. Over the past eighteen years, she has worked for various international projects including the South African-United Kingdom Seasons – an intergovernmental initiative to promote arts and culture between these two nations. In 2020, she was a Project Manager for the Presidential Employment Stimulus Package that sought to support artists during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, Andrea joined the Realness Institute and Urucu Media as Programmes Manager and Sales and Distribution Manager respectively. In 2022, Andrea joined the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra’s project management team and coordinated festival distribution for documentary production company, STEPS. Andrea holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and is a Southern Africa-Locarno Industry Academy alumnus. For the second time in 5 years, Screen International listed the 25 Future Leaders: Programmers and Curators to Watch – “profiling the people who are already influential in their fields and destined to rule the business in years to come” – Andrea was one of the 25 named.
Danny Lennon
For more than two decades, Danny Lennon has tirelessly contributed to the promotion, distribution, broadcast and production of the best of Quebec short films, across Canada and around the world. Through the organization he founded and established, PRENDS ÇA COURT!, Danny has helped countless film talents and their films to emerge and shine, while allowing creators to forge links closely with the world of film festivals. Danny has a wicked slapshot and two amazing kids and, in his free time, opened an arthouse cinema in an old opera house dating back to 1904 directly built on the Vermont, USA and Quebec, Canada border dedicated to presenting shorts and features from around the world to the local communities.
Alemberg Ang
After being a school teacher for ten years, Alemberg Ang stumbled into film producing. Having travelled extensively to festivals in Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, and Busan, his films seek to give cultural minorities a voice in world cinema. His filmography includes: Bold Eagle about an online sex worker’s existential angst (2023, NYFF and Best International Short at Fantasia, 2024 Sundance), Chie Hayakawa’s Plan 75 about Japan’s social systems and elderly care (2022, Camera D’or Special Mention at Cannes), and Joseph Mangat’s Divine Factory about a Catholic factory and its LGBTQ+ employees (2022, Dok Leipzig). He has participated at the Rotterdam Lab, Berlinale Talents, Locarno’s Open Doors, Tribeca Film Institute Network, and EAVE Producers Workshop.