Anna has worked with documentaries since 2013, following a career in banking as a project leader. In 2018, she founded Lightdox, a Swiss-based sales and distribution agency supporting impactful documentaries. Previously, she was a Sales and Acquisition Executive specializing in film marketing, branding, and impact distribution. Lightdox’s portfolio includes Paris Calligrammes (Berlinale Camera Award 2020), The Witches of the Orient (IFFR 2021), Intercepted (Berlinale 2024), and Bye, Bye Tiberius (Venice 2023).

Anna is an independent documentary consultant with nearly a decade of experience. She recently managed CPH:FORUM at CPH:DOX, a top co-financing event for documentaries. Previously, she was a programmer and project manager at CPH:DOX, and has worked with Nordisk Panorama Forum and the European Documentary Network. She holds a Master’s in Creative Business Management from Copenhagen Business School.

Boris Mitić is a documentary filmmaker, producer, and writer whose four films – including In Praise of Nothing and Pretty Dyana – have screened at over 200 festivals, won 25 awards, and aired on 20 international TV stations. Boris teaches ‘real-politics’ of documentary film in Europe, America, Asia and online, and writes satirical columns for magazines Playboy and DOX. He holds lectures and presents case studies about how to produce documentaries and how the documentary industry works. 

Dietmar Schwärzler is the Managing Director for Festivals and Programs at sixpackfilm, a non-profit organization founded in 1990. sixpackfilm is dedicated to the distribution and promotion of film and media art, with a strong focus on experimental and independent work. The organization actively engages in cultural politics and collaborates within social networks to explore new trends in film circulation and presentation, solidarity within the international film and art community.

Dimitra Kouzi is an award-winning filmmaker, creative producer, journalist, and audience developer. Since 2013, she has led audience campaigns for European documentaries (La Chana, Nowhere to Hide, Siberian Love, Communion, Reconciliation, Radiograph of a Family, The Balcony Movie). She is an audience producer and tutor at BDC Discoveries, Doku Rough Cut Boutique, and Sarajevo’s Docu Rough Cut Boutique pitching workshop, working to support filmmakers in developing their projects and reaching audiences effectively.

Inka Achté is a documentary filmmaker and former sales agent with over 15 years of experience in the film and TV industries. She brings a broad perspective to her work, having served as a director, festival programmer, consultant, and tutor in creative documentary. Inka holds an MA in Documentary Directing from the UK’s National Film and Television School.

She is currently directing two feature documentaries while serving as Head of Programming at DocPoint Helsinki and Head of Acquisitions at Raina Film Festival Distribution.

Ieva Ūbele, a documentary producer, founded Baltic Balkan Productions in 2019, focusing on personal stories and social issues. Her notable films include homo@lv (2010), the first Latvian documentary at Berlinale, and Inga Can Hear (2018), premiered at Hot Docs 2019. Former Head of Industry at Beldocs IDFF (2020–2023), she holds an MA in Social Anthropology and an Executive MBA. An alumna of EAVE, EURODOC, and Emerging Producers, she is a member of the Documentary Association of Europe and EWA.

Marcella Jelic founded Split Screen in 2022 for festival distribution and film sales. She also collaborates with Restart, a theatrical distributor in Croatia. Previously, she worked at Taskovski Films as a sales and acquisitions executive. Marcella was the festivals and promotion coordinator at the Croatian Audiovisual Centre. She also served as programming director for Klasik TV and DOX TV. With a background in journalism and film criticism, she focuses on documentaries—both shorts and features—with strong storytelling, unique characters, and thought-provoking themes.

Patrizia is the Head of Industry at Sheffield DocFest, overseeing strategy, the Marketplace, and the festival’s year-round industry programme. She holds a Master’s in History and Critic of Cinema from the University of Rome and has a background in theatre and dubbing. After moving to France in 2010 to work in short film distribution, she joined Sunny Side of the Doc in La Rochelle (2017–2021). In 2022, she returned to distribution as a consultant with Deckert Distribution GmbH and now works as a freelance consultant and jury member for major documentary markets.

Rada Šešić is a festival programmer, film director, critic, and lecturer originally from the former Yugoslavia, now based in Utrecht, Netherlands. She has collaborated with IDFA Amsterdam for over 15 years and has led the Documentary Competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival for 13 years. She co-heads the Docu Rough Cut Boutique and works with the Doha Film Fund and the Trieste Film Festival’s Last Stop Trieste platform. Rada also teaches at the Netherlands Film Academy and mentors at numerous international workshops across Europe and Asia.

Simone Baumann has worked in film production for over 25 years, producing numerous documentaries and feature films. From 1997 to 2010, she was the managing director of LE VISION. Until 2019, she headed the documentary department at Saxonia Entertainment. An expert on Russia and Eastern Europe’s audiovisual markets, she has also been the Eastern Europe representative for German Films since 2005. In April 2019, she became the Managing Director of German Films, overseeing the promotion of German cinema worldwide.

Born in a small town in Western Germany near the Dutch border, Susanne developed an early passion for different cultures. She studied languages and literature in Cologne and Clermont-Ferrand while working for various news magazines. After internships at cultural institutions, she joined ZDF in Mainz in 1995. In 1997, Susanne became a commissioning editor and executive producer for ZDF/ARTE Aktuelles. She now oversees the daily reportage slot “Re:,” which explores Europe’s diverse viewpoints, and commissions investigative, geopolitical, and historical documentaries. Recent projects she’s commissioned include Praying for Armageddon, Total Trust, Theatre of Violence, and Politics for Sale?.