ECFA jury at 59th Zlín Film Festival

Founded in 1988 European Children´s Fillm Association is the organisation for all who are interested in high quality films for children and young people: film-makers, producers, promoters, distributors, exhibitors, TV-programmers, festival organisers and film educators etc. ECFA has more than 125 members comprised of companies and organisations from 36 different countries.

Zlín Film Festival has been hosting the ECFA Award for several years. The last two it is an ECFA Doc Award. It gives special attention to European quality documentaries produced for a young audience, promoting this specific genre towards audiences and festivals.

The winner of this award in 2018 was a Czech representative Wilder than Wilderness by Marián Polák. Who is going to another winner will decide three members of the jury – Rowena Martinez Ulayan-Tuzcuoğlu from Turkey, Kristine Simsone from Latvia and Volodymyr Diagilev from the Ukraine.

We thank all of them for accepting our invitation. Rowena, Kristine and Volodymyr, we wish you a happy stay in Zlín.

Let us introduce them in details.

Rowena Martinez Ulayan-Tuzcuoğlu

Turkey

Rowena Martinez Ulayan-Tuzcuoglu is the founding chairperson of the Children’s Film and Art Association, the organization, behind the Universal Kids Film Festival.  This festival is based in Istanbul and runs every year with Rowena as its Creative Director.  The festival has become the favourite hub for many national and international film buffs for kids in the region. Rowena finished her Bachelors Degree in child pedagogy at the University of the Philippines and her Masters Degree in Educational Technology from the same University specializing in Media Education. She was granted a post graduate fellowship by the former Soviet Union Government to take up Children’s Cinema and Film Directing in VGIK.

“For me, Zlin is a like an oasis in a huge desert. It is a place where lovers of children’s cinema can come and quench their thirst for beautiful movies, gain lasting relationships and renew the spirit.”

Kristine Simsone

Latvia

After having studied cinema in France and worked as a film journalist for various Latvian magazines, Kristine joins Riga International Film Festival at its establishment in 2014 as children´s and youth programme coordinator.  Currently she curates RIGA IFF children´s fil programme KIDS WEEKEND and manages festival´s intermedia section RIGA IFF GOES VR – dedicated to educational virtual reality content creation for young audiences. She is also leading festival´s educational initiatives for children and youth.

“I absolutely think working with children's film and - most importantly - seeing how they touch and change the lives of their audience, is the most rewarding job in the world.”

Volodymyr Diagilev

Ukraine

The executive director of the DYTIATKO International Children's Media Festival. A member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, a member of Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio.

The Head of the Kharkiv Association of Children's Screen Arts «Dytiatko». The founder of the single in Ukraine scenario pitching for children's studios.  The main aims are, the first, development of children by means of screen creativity and, the second, development of children's cinema and TV.

“We have to support young people in their activities. The simplest thing we can do is offering them a platform for communication.”