Festival programmer, film lecturer, and film director Rada Šešić was born in Yugoslavia and lives in The Netherlands. She is Head of the Documentary Competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival, Programmer of the Documentary Competition at the Trieste Film Festival, and on the selection of the Doha Film Fund. From 2000 to 2020, she programmed South Asian cinema at IFFR and curated several other programmes about Girish Kasaravalli, Kamal Haasan, and Indian experimental shorts. For 20 years, she was a selector of films/film projects at the IDFA Amsterdam. She taught at Srishti, Bangalore, from 2008 to 2010. She has directed short films that have screened at around 60 festivals in Europe, Asia, and America and served on over 50 film juries.

Clarence Tsui is a Hong Kong-based film critic who has published his works in the South China Morning Post, The Hollywood Reporter, Cineaste, Film Quarterly, and The Film Verdict. He was the director of the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival from 2019 to 2022. He has curated programmes dedicated to, among others, heritage Albanian films at the Centre Pompidou’s Cinéma du Réel festival, retrospectives of Chantal Akerman and Radu Jude’s work in Hong Kong, and showcases of contemporary lusophone cinema at Cinematheque Passion in Macau. He has been on juries at Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam, Tokyo, and Paris. He also teaches film theories and film festival studies at universities in Hong Kong.

Kate Laurie is an Australian producer whose first feature film, Strange Colours, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2017 and was nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Independent Feature. In 2019, she participated as a producer in the Berlinale Talents programme and began working with Arenamedia, producing a short documentary series, Third Culture Kids, for ABC. In 2022, her second feature collaboration with Alena Lodkina Petrol had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival. She was an associate producer of the documentary The Defenders (2023), directed by Matthew Bate. In 2024, she is producing the children’s animation film Magic Beach, directed by Robert Connolly, and executive producing Pasa Faho, the debut feature film of filmmaker Kalu Oji.

Artistic director of the Festival des 3 Continents since 2010, Jérôme Baron is also the president of the Cinématographe, known to occupy the first rank among movie theatres in France for the promotion of heritage cinema and for its educational and social actions. He has given numerous lectures on aesthetic and historical aspects of cinema worldwide and has edited books on cinema, including Jacques Demy (Editions 303) and D'autres Continents (Editions Warm). He is a member of the committees Aide aux Cinémas du monde (CNC – Institut français) and Caméra Libre (CNC – Cité internationale des arts) committees.

Marie Fuglestein Lægreid has a BBA and a professional degree in film production from Noroff Vocational College, Norway. She is the co-owner of DUOfilm where she works as a producer. She has co-produced features with countries such as France, Germany, Myanmar, Sudan, Egypt, and India. Several of her co-productions have been selected for the L'Atelier programme (Cannes Film Festival) and won awards such as the ARTE International Prize and the Sundance Global Filmmaking Award. Her co-production, You Will Die At 20 (2019), won the Lion of the Future at the Venice Film Festival, and the Special Jury Mention Prize in the International Competition at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival and made history as Sudan's first Oscar candidate. The TV series, Rumours (2022–), is one of her latest productions.

Dr Ida Yoshinaga, Assistant Professor at the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at the Georgia Institute of Technology, specialises in science fiction/fantasy film and television in their diverse and global cinematic forms. She has published in Marvels & Tales, Narrative Culture, Science Fiction Studies, Gramarye, The Routledge Companion to Gender and Science Fiction, and The Routledge Companion to Media and Fairy-Tale Cultures. Yoshinaga co-edited Uneven Futures: Strategies for Community Survival from Speculative Fiction and now co-edits the journal Science Fiction Film and Television. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, World Science Fiction Studies, and the International Journal of Disney Studies. With her scholarship situated at the intersection of screenwriting pedagogy within the creative industries, cultural adaptation of folklore into scripted audiovisual stories, and speculative/fantastic genre hybridisation, Yoshinaga focuses on challenges presented by diversity, equity, and inclusion issues within commercial storytelling. She represents NETPAC/USA in Honolulu, for which she serves as Secretary, having represented that branch on juries for the Toronto International Film Festival and Hawai'i International Film Festival in the past.

Dr Tsengel Davaasambuu (PhD) is a Mongolian film producer and distributor. She is also Professor at the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture. She has been a NETPAC member since 2015 and is the only member from Mongolia. She travels actively around film markets and festivals. She studied at CalState LA in the US, Cheongju University on a Korean Government Scholarship, and the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture. Joy has worked previously as a jury at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Cinemalaya, Hanoi International Film Festival, SCO Film Festival, Asiatica, Busan International Youth and Kids Film Festival, Religion Today, Busan International Film Festival, and Bastau International Student and Debut Film Festival. Nowadays, she tutors young filmmakers and collaborates with Mongolian filmmakers at international film markets and festivals. She is an academic scholar who dedicates her contributions to the development of the film industry and desires further assistance and support.

Upali Gamlath is a film director, writer, editor, cameraman, sound engineer, digital colourist, and producer in the Sri Lankan cinema industry. He has, so far, produced over a hundred short films and documentaries and won numerous national and international awards for his documentaries Trickling Down, Refugees of War, and Back to Home and the short film Awaiting a Train. His first feature film, Let Me Fly, has been screened in many international festivals, including the Moscow International Film Festival in 2023. Gamlath has contributed to the editing and directing of several films. He holds a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, and a degree in mass media from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. He has successfully followed many local and foreign training courses in filmmaking. He has been the director of the Youth Film Festival organised by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Youth Affairs since 2008 and was the director of the ICA International Film Festival held in Sri Lanka in 2021. He has been a lecturer at the NYSCO Video Television Academy of the National Youth Services Council since 1998. He is also a nationally acclaimed playwright, book author, and newspaper feature writer.

Amit Masurkar is the director of the feature films Sherni (2021), Newton (2017), and Sulemani Keeda (2014). Newton won the CICAE Award at the Berlinale Film Festival, travelled to over 70 international festivals, received the National Award, and was India's Official Selection for the Oscars. His most recent film, Sherni, which focuses on human-animal conflict and conservation, premiered on Amazon Prime Video in 2021.

Chaitanya Tamhane is an independent filmmaker based in Mumbai. Chaitanya’s debut feature film, Court (2014), premiered at the Venice Film Festival, winning the Best Film—Orizzonti and the Lion of the Future. Court won the National Award for Best Feature Film and was India’s official entry for the Oscars.

His second film, The Disciple (2020), premiered at the Venice Film Festival in competition, where it won the Golden Osella for Best Screenplay and Best Film—FIPRESCI. The Disciple was released worldwide as a Netflix Original. It was globally rated as one of the best films of the year by publications like the New York Times, Time magazine, and Rolling Stones.

Paromita Vohra is a filmmaker, writer, and committed antakshari player. She has won several awards for her work, including her truth-telling, kinetic and intensely sensuous films, online videos, art installations, and television programming that explore feminism, gender, desire, urban life, and popular culture. Her works have been exhibited at the Tate Modern, the Wellcome Trust, and the NGMA and used as classroom material worldwide. She is known for her playful feminist essay form, particularly through her documentaries Unlimited Girls, Q2P, Where’s Sandra?, Morality TV and the Loving Jehad, and Partners in Crime. She is the founder of Agents of Ishq, a digital platform on sex, love, and desire. She is the author of the film Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters), the comic Priya’s Mirror, the play Ishqiya Dharavi Ishtyle, and the widely loved weekly column Paro-normal Activity.

Aditi Rao Hydari is an actor who works across the Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam film industries. She learnt Bharatanatyam from acclaimed guru Leela Samson from a very nascent stage, which led to her cinematic debut in the National Award-winning film Sringaram (2007). Her filmography includes films directed by stalwarts of the Indian film industry such as Mani Ratnam, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Sudhir Mishra, Mysskin, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Imtiaz Ali, Neeraj Ghaywan, and Vikramaditya Motwane. Her performance in the 2024 Netflix release, Heeramandi, created and directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, has received global appreciation.

Hansal Mehta is an Indian filmmaker known for directing films such as Shahid (2012), CityLights (2014), Aligarh (2015), Omerta (2017), and Faraaz (2023), which have premiered in Toronto, Busan, and London. Aligarh was the opening film at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in 2015, while Omerta was the closing film at the same festival in 2017. His recent film, The Buckingham Murders, starring acclaimed Indian actress Kareena Kapoor Khan, premiered at the BFI London Film Festival and was the opening film at Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023. He followed up his 2020 long-form storytelling success, Scam 1992, with Scoop (2023), a Netflix series. More recently, Mehta is a part of creating and directing a biopic on Gandhi.

Rajshri Deshpande is an award-winning Indian actor and social activist who has starred in films and shows like Angry Indian Goddesses (2015), Sexy Durga (2017), McMafia (2018), and Sacred Games (2018). In 2018, Manto, where she played the Urdu novelist Ismat Chughtai, premiered at Cannes. In recent years, she has starred in shows and films like The Fame Game (2021), Trial By Fire (2023, Best Actress Award, Asian Academy Creative Awards, Singapore), and Satyashodhak (2024). In 2023, she directed her first short film, Distorted Mirror, under the mentorship of A.R. Rahman and Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and will soon be directing her first feature film under their guidance.

Monika Rawal is a seasoned entertainment editor and film critic with over 17 years of experience in digital and print media. She has worked for media houses like the Hindustan Times, Times of India, Dainik Bhaskar, and Mid-Day. She has written extensively on Hindi cinema, besides leading several marquee events involving celebrities from the world of entertainment. Her 'No Rating Movie Review' property for HT City, launched in 2019, has been one of the highly regarded columns in the film business.

Rohit Khilnani is an entertainment journalist with more than two decades of experience. He currently does film interviews for Bollywood Hungama and reviews movies in a personal capacity. Previously, he has served as the entertainment editor for the NDTV Group, India Today Group, Times Internet, and CNN-IBN.

Sanyukta Thakare, Associate Editor at Mashable India, has over seven years of experience as a film journalist and critic. Passionate about gender sensitivity on screen and advocating for equality, Thakare champions real representations in cinema. Beyond the newsroom, she has successfully built a vibrant community of cinephiles on social media, bringing a well-rounded perspective to her work.