OFFICIAL JURY
JURY PRESIDENT – JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY
John Patrick Shanley is from The Bronx. His plays include The Portuguese Kid, Prodigal Son, Outside Mullingar (Tony nomination), Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Savage in Limbo, Italian-American Reconciliation, Welcome to the Moon, Four Dogs and a Bone, Dirty Story, Defiance, and Beggars in the House of Plenty. His theatrical work is performed extensively across the United States and around the world. For his play, Doubt, he received both the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. In the arena of screenwriting, he has nine films to his credit, most recently Doubt, with Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis; Doubt, directed by Mr. Shanley, was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay. Other films include Five Corners (Special Jury Prize, Barcelona Film Festival), Alive, Joe Versus the Volcano (which he also directed), and Live From Baghdad for HBO (Emmy nomination). For his script of Moonstruck he received both the Writers Guild of America Award and an Academy Award for best original screenplay. In 2009, The Writers Guild of America awarded Mr. Shanley the Lifetime Achievement In Writing.
AMY J. KAUFMAN
Amy J. Kaufman is an established film and television producer based in New York City. Most recently, she served as Executive Producer on INVASION for Apple TV – which completed shooting in New York City, London, Marrakesh & Tokyo in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic. Previous Executive Producer credits include Ava Duvernay’s EMMY nominated, limited series WHEN THEY SEE US for Netflix; Season 6 of HOUSE OF CARDS for Netflix; Development & Prep of THE ONE PERCENT, alongside Alejandro Inarittu and Emanuel Lubezki; Seasons 1&2 of BILLIONS for Showtime; and all six seasons of GOSSIP GIRL, the CW hit series. Feature film credits include Todd Haynes critically acclaimed Dylan bio pic, I’M NOT THERE; Focus Features DOOR IN THE FLOOR, based upon the John Irving novel and starring Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger; Miramax’s SERENDIPITY, starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale; and 32 SHORT FILMS ABOUT GLENN GOULD, winner of multiple GENIEs, including for best film. Kaufman studied Political Science and Philosophy at Barnard College, then began her film career with the acclaimed documentarians, The Maysle Brothers. She continued as a producer of prestigious creative arts documentaries, including works about Yo-Yo Ma, Mark Morris, Max Roach, David Hockney and Wayne Thiebaud. Kaufman received the Queens Council on the Arts Movers and Shakers Award for her work supporting the local artist community. She’s a native New Yorker, currently residing in Brooklyn with her husband, Robert.
MERYEM UZERLI
Meryem Uzerli was born in Kassel, Germany. She moved to Hamburg to complete her education and acting training in the acting Studio Frese, before she moved to Berlin to continue her theater career. She took a part in plays of well known authors such as SHAKESPEARE, BRECHT, GOLDONI and BÜCHNER.
She played in many successful projects in Turkey and Europe, especially gained international popularity with the TV show MAGNIFICENT CENTURY. Famous for the variety of looks and depth of her characters most notably in movies like THE OTHER SIDE, MY MOTHER’S WOUND and HIVE. More recently she has begun to build success in her additional role as an executive producer; lastly in HIVE. She has become the face of several commercial brands and has just opened up the first of hopefully many more shops about healthy snacking called NOSH NOSH in Berlin. Furthermore, she volunteers her time to support organizations in the battle against child abuse and those that fight for gender equality. Through all of her work she has been recognized with several distinctive awards.
SOFIA SONDERVAN
Sofia Sondervan is an Oscar nominated Film and Television producer. Sondervan was nominated for a 2021 Academy Award for producing THE LETTER ROOM, directed by Elvira Lind and starring Oscar Isaac. Currently in pre-production for BLACK FOREST, KING RICHARD based on the book THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LITTLE RICHARD and WALKING ON THORNS. She is currently the Executive Producer for Fox Network’s limited series DAYLIGHT currently in development, based on the best-selling Dutch novel. Previously, Sondervan produced THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY starring Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons, LONDON TOWN featuring music by The Clash and URGE starring Pierce Brosnan. STELLA, the film she wrote and directed, recently played at festivals like the NY International Shorts Film Festival. Other of her productions include BRINGING UP BOBBY starring Milla Jovovich, the History Channel series THE MEN WHO BUILT AMERICA, FEEL THE NOISE starring Jennifer Lopez and the DGA-winning GHOSTS OF THE CITE SOLEIL by Asger Leth. While Head of the Sony Music Film department she founded, Sondervan produced CADILLAC RECORDS, starring Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright and Beyoncé Knowles which was nominated for a Golden Globe, eight NAACP Image Awards, and won Best Picture at the Black Reel Awards. Sofia’s industry experience also includes producing THE KING, which starred Gael Garcia Bernal and William Hurt and premiered in the official selection (Un Certain Regard) of the Cannes Film Festival.
TOMER SHUSHAN
Writer and film director from Israel. Graduated from the Film Department of Minshar School of Art, Tel Aviv, with Excellence scholarship 2016. Directed INSIDE SHELLS screened in FIPA and San Paulo international short film festival among others. WHITE EYE, his second short, won Best Narrative Short Jury Award at SXSW 2020, screened in more than a 100 film festivals across the world and won 32 awards. WHITE EYE was nominated at the 2021 Academy Awards. In the summer of 2021, Tomer was invited to be an Academy Member. Currently developing his first feature film SOL and the TV series TORSO.