Judges

Kriszta Székely is one of the leading theatre directors in Hungary and has served as the Director of Katona József Theatre since the beginning of this year. Her productions explore social and human relationships with great sensitivity, focusing on questions of identity, power, and freedom. She regularly works with theatres across Europe and has become recognized as one of the most distinctive contemporary voices of the Hungarian cultural scene.

Dénes Nagy (b. 1980) is a film director based in Budapest. His debut feature film, Natural Light, won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2021. His second feature, Kurtág Fragments, an unconventional documentary about the centenary of composer György Kurtág, was released in cinemas in the spring of 2026. He is currently working on his new feature film, The Vacation.

György Cserhalmi is one of the most celebrated figures of Hungarian theatre and cinema. A recipient of the Kossuth Prize and the Béla Balázs Award, he also holds the honorary title Actor of the Nation. He graduated from the Academy of Theatre and Film Arts in 1971 and went on to become a leading member of several renowned theatre companies, including the National Theatre and Katona József Theatre. Over the course of his career, he has appeared in more than 200 films, delivering memorable performances in numerous Hungarian and international productions.

Hermina Fátyol is an actor and casting director, and the founder of the Berlin-based Metanoia Casting, which specializes in casting European and international auteur film productions. Hungarian audiences most recently saw her on screen in László Nemes's Orphan. As a casting director, she has worked on films including Lesson Learned and Blue Heron, both well known to Hungarian audiences. This year, she served as casting director for My Notes from Mars, which has its Hungarian premiere at BIFF. She is a member of the European Film Academy and the International Casting Directors Alliance (ICDA).

Lenke Szilágyi (b. 1959, Debrecen) is a photographer whose work has documented the realities of Hungary before and after the political transition, as well as the country's alternative cultural scene, establishing a distinctive visual language in Hungarian photography. Since the second half of the 1980s, she has worked as a theatre and still photographer, most recently on the productions Silent Friend and Orphan. Her photographs are regularly exhibited in Hungary and internationally.

Balázs Pándi (b. 1983) is a drummer and journalist. Emerging from Budapest's punk and hardcore scene, he went on to become a leading figure in free jazz, noise, and improvised music. He has collaborated with internationally acclaimed artists including Jim Jarmusch, Merzbow, Thurston Moore, Mats Gustafsson, and Venetian Snares. He is the host of the Felvonó podcast at Telex and is also a passionate collector of records and art.

Bence Horváth is a journalist at 444, where he primarily covers culture, society, and foreign affairs. He previously studied philosophy and aesthetics, during which time he watched virtually every kind of film—from the classics and independent cinema to cult and exploitation films. Since becoming a father, however, he has had to manage his time much more carefully and is therefore far more selective about the films he chooses to watch.

Gábor Gelencsér (b. 1961) is an Associate Professor (Habil.) at the Department of Film Studies, Institute of Art Theory and Media Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), and an editor of Pannonhalmi Szemle. His primary research area is the history of Hungarian cinema after 1945. His most recent book is Camera Eye: The Cinema of Ferenc Grunwalsky. Budapest: Kijárat, 2026.

Hanna Solti is a journalist and video reporter currently working for Átlátszó. Her work focuses primarily on social, political, and human rights issues, with a particular interest in stories that rarely receive public attention. As a reporter, she believes that powerful storytelling can do more than inform—it can also bring people and experiences closer together.

Lilla Gyöngyösi studied Literature and Cultural Studies at ELTE and graduated from the Hungarian Journalists' Association (MÚOSZ) Academy of Journalism. She is a journalist, critic, and editor. Since 2011, she has written on film, literature, and culture for publications including Filmvilág, Filmtett, Prae, Kulter, Filmhu, and Filmtekercs. She also worked as an editor at Litera. From 2022 until August 2026, she served as Editor-in-Chief of Filmtekercs.