Graduated from Printing, Graphic Arts department of Moscow State University and later from Moscow school-studio SHAR in animation films directing. Since 2007 Leonid is a member of the Commonwealth of illustrators Magic Saw. He participates in exhibitions, makes pictures for children magazines and has already created illustrations for more than 10 books. Leonid Shmelkov directed several short animated films that were selected to many international festivals and awarded with prizes, including a special prize at Berlinale film festival in 2014.

Within the Short Film School, Leonid will hold a master class on animation for kids and illustrating children's books and magazines.

Freelance film critic and hardcore cinephile from Greece. Since 2010 Vassilis has been writing for his personal bilingual website 24 fois la vérité par seconde. His main expertise is in the field of art-house independent French, Italian and especially Eastern European cinema. Vassilis Economou was a member of Sarajevo Talents within the framework of Sarajevo Film Festival. He is currently a Cineuropa correspondent and project coordinator for Nisi Masa's workshop for film critics Nisimazine. 

Coffee with Vassilis and Lukian is an open discussion regarding film criticism, festivals and generally writing about cinema. Independent film critics will share some of their personal experience and will talk about criticism nowadays.

Writer, screenwriter, director and translator from Tel Aviv, Israel. For the last five years, he has been the Head of the Screenwriting Department at the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television at Tel Aviv University. Asaf Zippor significantly contributed to creation of many popular Israeli series. As screenplay editor, Asaf worked on Ajami, which was nominated for an Oscar, and Aya, which was nominated for an Oscar for short film. He directed the play The Mermaids at the Curtains Up Festival, as well as his own play Gamers at the 2008 Short Theater Festival. Asaf Zippor has written two books: The Gifted and Ma’atefet Halev, and is currently finishing his third novel.

Master class of Asaf Zippor is intended for scriptwriters, suggesting a different way to look at scriptwriting, beginning not in the synopsis but in writing the dramatic scenes. The master class will introduce some simple tools for writers when coming to write the dramatic scenes.

Jukka-Pekka Laakso

Carla Maria Losch

Krzysztof Sienkiewicz

Marie-Elaine Riou

This panel will be interesting for those encountering festivals. We will talk about tendencies of the festival world and selection principles, give answers to questions of filmmakers and discuss the most vital issues of the festival world: distribution, screening fee, "fake" festivals and how to make your film become a hit! Representatives of leading festivals that have various history and focus, such as Tampere Film Festival, VIS Vienna Shorts Festival, ZUBROFFKA Festival in Polish Bialystok and REGARD Quebec International Film Festival – they all will gladly share their thoughts with everyone, who wants "to walk a red carpet".   

Moderated by Natalia Ilchuck, Program director of KISFF

Giovanni Robbiano

Natalia Fabics

Natalia Fabics, a lecturer at the Animation Department of Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest (MOME), and Giovanni Robbiano, who is the head of international department at FAMU in Prague, will represent their educational institutions and elaborate on areas of their work and studying opportunities for foreign students.

Natalia Fabics

Asaf Zippor

Giovanni Robbiano

Dmytro Tiazhlov

Young independent film schools haven't gained popularity and authority and, meanwhile, state-owned universities do nor provide relevant knowledge and experience for students and their educational programs are overflowed with questionable subjects. That sounds so familiar, ha? At this round table we will talk about problems of film education encountered by young filmmakers in Ukraine and compare them to situation in other countries and universities. Asaf Zippor (Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, Tel Aviv), Natalia Fabics (Animation Department of MOME, Budapest) and Giovanni Robiano (FAMU Film School, Prague) will tell about background of Israel, Hungary and Czech Republic in this field, which problems they faced and how they overcame them. They will tell what students are taught in state universities and film schools and how their programs differ from programs of private schools - whether private film education is popular in their countries. As well, we will talk about tendencies and priorities of film education in Israel, Hungary and Czech Republic and which professions are the most popular and required there nowadays. We recommend attending beforehand the MOME and FAMU presentation that will take place prior to the round table.

Moderated by Dmytro Tiazhlov, cinematographer, lecturer of Kyiv National Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University.

Anna Katalin Lovrity

Natalia Fabics

Luca Toth

Within last years, the modern Hungarian animation has won the hearts of European cinephiles, as well as of acclaimed critics and industry’s opinion makers. It captivates imagination with vivid and queer images, while artists surprise with ideas going far beyond the realm of ordinary perception. Is there any magic equation? We will talk with Natalia Fabics, Luca Toth and Anna Katalin Lovrity – a professor and graduates of Animation Department of Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest (MOME), where the modern Hungarian animation finds its roots. We recommend watching the "Glory of Hungarian Animation" that will be screened right after the discussion.

Writer and filmmaker of five awarded short films and a first feature in competition in Sundance, Locarno and TIFF Toronto festivals. Premiered at Locarno Film Festival, her fourth short La Ronde (2011) won six prizes along with the Best Short Fiction Award of Rendez-vous du Cinéma Québécois in Montreal. Her fifth short Le Futur Proche (2012) won six prizes in festivals and was in international competition at the 2013 Sundance Festival. Mes Nuits Feront Écho (2016) is her first fiction feature, winner of the Bright Future Award at Rotterdam Festival 2017 for its international premiere in competition.

Sophie Goyette will show her most recent short works La Ronde and Le Futur Proche, as well as earlier films ring th retrospective at KISFF Short Film School. After the screening, the filmmaker will tell about her long path to develop the cinema language "from short to feature". Sophie Goyette will also talk about complex approach to the creation of film sharing her experience as writer, director and editor in the one skin.

What is the film market, and what is the European or pan-European film market? Where, when and how it happens? Who is or can be a part of it? The future of filmmaking for European authors is in international coproduction, and slowly Europe is moving towards this. Coproduction works at lower level helping to set up films with poor chances to attain major industrial financing. Giovanni Robbiano can offer an insight into procedures, funds, possibilities and strategies to develop projects by finding financial and professional partners in the European Union and elsewhere. He will help to find answer to the basic question each filmmaker repeats endlessly to himself: how do I produce a film to make it visible?