48th Seattle International Film Festival Announces Jury, Mentors, and New Works-in-Progress Forum for Return to In-Person Festival

Seattle, WA – SIFF has announced the Jury, Industry Mentors and New Works-in-Progress Forum films for their first in-person edition of the Seattle International Film Festival since 2019. The new, streamlined Festival will run 11 days, April 14-24, 2022, and include an online portal in addition to in-cinema screenings. 

“We are so happy to have the Festival back in person with our SIFF audiences, and very grateful to the industry who are joining us,” said SIFF Artistic Director Beth Barrett. “For all of our films and signature events, such as the New Works-in-Progress Forum, it is the relationship between filmmakers, our legendary audience and our industry’s top international professionals that makes the Festival such a stand-out event. It is nice to have them all sharing the screen together in-person again.”

A wide cross section of international industry guests will participate at the festival as Jury Members including Marie Therese Guirgis, an executive producer on the Oscar® award-winning “Summer of Soul”; Festival Director, and Sundance programmer Ania Trzebiatowska; ground-breaking producer and CEO of Gamechanger Films, Effie Brown; Senior Director Acquisitions, Roadside Attractions Angel An; former NFB Animation Studio head Michael Fukishima; Director of Development for Adult Swim, Missy Laney, Dublin Film Festival Director Grainne Humphreys, Producer Kimberely Browning, Programmer David Ansen, and Vimeo Senior Curator, Meghan Oretsky, among others (*please see full list below).

In addition, the following Jury Members are also serving as New Works-in-Progress Industry Mentors: Effie Brown, Kimberely Browning, Michael Fukushima, Marie Therese Guirgis, Grainne Humphreys, and Ania Trzebiatowska. The mission of New Works-in-Progress Forum, created by Curator Kathleen McInnis, is to bring together the three vital parts of the cinema experience --filmmaker, industry and audience--at a critical junction just before the film is locked in a safe space for filmmakers to discover how well their films translate on the global stage.

New Works-in-Progress: Session One 
Motherland (Sweden/Ukraine/Belarus), Sisyfos Films 

The past is prologue in Hanna Badziaka and Alexander Mihalkovich’s feature documentary film, Motherland. Exposing violent bullying and abuse in the Belarus army, the Ukrainian/Belarusian filmmakers also unexpectedly chronicle the systematic destruction of free-will societies and democratic ideals. 

Directors Hanna Badziaka and Alexander Mihalkovichare scheduled to attend. 

New Works-in-Progress: Session Two 
Broadcast (Sweden) Plattform Produktion 

Award-winning filmmakers Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck (Ten Meter Tower) turn their lens on us once more—chronicling the impact of Camera Obscura, the advent of the personal phone camera, and the explosion of social media communication upon society’s concepts of self and images.

Director/producers Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertyck are scheduled to attend.

“I’m thrilled to be back in-person for New Works-in-Progress Forum,” said McInnis. “One of the most serendipitous gifts the forum has given us is the annual creation of family with our filmmakers, audience and industry mentors. It is wonderful to have the family back together and continue to grow the event again this year.”

“The remarkable success of our New Works-in-Progress Forumfilms over the past six years now has really showcased how important understanding the audience voice is to filmmakers,” added Barrett, “This year, in the festival program we will be screening Vera Dreams of the Sea, a 2019 WiP participant that was nominated for the Venice Horizons Award at its World Premiere at Venice Film Festival, and which won the Ingmar Bergman Award at Göteborg Film Festival. We are so proud of the role our Festival audiences had in helping Director Kaltrina Krasniqi shape her final edit."

FULL FESTIVAL JURY LIST:

Documentary Jury
Kimberley Browning* – Producer, Hollywood Shorts Film Festival Director
Marie-Therese Guirgis* – Executive Producer, “Summer of Soul” (Oscar winner) 
Ania Trzebiatowska* – SundanceProgrammer; Sands International Film Festival Director

Ibero-American Jury 
Carlos Aguilar – Journalist, Film Critic 
Alvaro Delgado Aparicio – Writer/Director “Retablo”(BAFTA and Film Independent Spirit Award nominated, 2019; WiP alum)
Jasmine Jaisinghani – Co-Founder of Global CINEMATHEQUE, Program Head, Ojalá Ignition Lab

New American Cinema Jury
Thelma Adams – Author, Film Critic
Andrew Carlin – Oscilloscope Laboratories
Bill Guentzler – Gravitas Ventures Acquisitions 

New Directors Jury
Effie Brown* – Producer, Gamechanger Films (CEO) 
Drea Clark – Producer; Curator, Bentonville Film Festival; Programming team, Sundance Film Festival 
Grainne Humphreys* – Artistic Director, Dublin International Film Festival

Official Competition Jury 
Angel An – Senior Director Acquisitions, Roadside Attractions
David Ansen – Lead Programmer Palm Springs International Film Festival, Journalist 
Matt Campbell – Artistic Director, Denver International Film Festival 

Shorts Jury
Narrative Shorts
Celine Roustan – Festival Programmer, Festival Coordinator/Short of the Week 
Michael Fukushima* – Executive Producer (retd.) National Film Board of Canada—English Animation Studio 
Inga Diev – General Manager, Ouat Media

Documentary Shorts 
Missy Laney – Director of Development, Adult Swim 
Meghan Oretsky – Senior Curator, Vimeo 
Farihah Zaman – Producer, Critic, Programmer, Production Manager/Field of Vision

*WiP Industry Mentors 

About SIFF: We are dedicated to fostering an informed, aware, and vibrant community of film lovers. SIFF believes in film’s unique power to share original stories, diverse perspectives, and rich emotional journeys. Beginning in 1976 with the annual Seattle International Film Festival, then expanding into year-round programming, and our five-screen SIFF Cinema, we have offered experiences that bring people together to discover extraordinary films from around the world for nearly five decades. Our audiences allow us to take risks, host complex conversations, and truly appreciate film.

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