Koji Yamamura (Japan)
Koji Yamamura was born in 1964. Koji started working on animated films as an amateur, at the age of 13. During the 1990s, he explored various styles and techniques while working mainly on films for children. Nominated at the Oscars for Best Animated Short, “Mt. Head” marked a turning point, leading him to join the world’s most renowned animation filmmakers. His major works since include “The Old Crocodile” (2005), “Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor” (2007) and “Muybridge’s Strings” (2011). His films were awarded with more than 90 prizes, including Grand Prizes at the four most important international animation film festivals: Annecy, Zagreb, Ottawa and Hiroshima. He has been part of many international juries, and has held numerous retrospective screenings around the world. He has been selected as the 2 place at 25 top short animated films directors over the last 25 years in 2021 at Animac, the International Animation Showcase of Catalonia. He was rewarded with the National Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2019.
Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts.
Juan Pablo Zaramella (Argentina)
Juan Pablo Zaramella is a director, animator and illustrator with a strong interest in creativity and ideas.
With more than 10 shorts and 2 TV series, is one of the current references in the world of animation.
In 2010, Annecy International Animation Festival presented a special program with a selection of his works.
His film Luminaris has won 324 awards, becoming the Guinness World Record holder to the Most Awarded Short in history in 2018, including the Audience Award and Fipresci Award at Annecy 2011, and was also Oscars Shortlisted.
In 2016 he created and directed “The Tiniest Man in the World”, a 52 episode series made in co-production with France and Argentina.
Zaramella’s new projects are a new short film, called “Passenger” (in production) and a feature film in development called CODA, project winner of Ciclic Award at Annecy-Mifa 2020.
Roze Stiebra (Latvia)
Roze Stiebra was born on 17 March 1942 in Riga. She graduated from the Faculty of Puppetry at the Saint Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy in 1964, and went on to work as an animator for Latvian Television (studio Telefilm-Riga 1966–1987), Riga Film Studio (1987–1990) and the animation studio Dauka (since 1991)).
She has received the Lielais Kristaps award for “best animated film” six times, for her films Kā es braucu Ziemeļmeitas lūkoties (1980), Kabata (1983), Skatāmpanti (1988), Ness un Nesija (1993), Pasaciņas. Miega vilcieniņš (1998), and The Unusual Rigans (2001).
She is a member of the International Animated Film Association. In 1995, she was honored with the Spīdolas Award, the highest award of the Latvian Culture Foundation. In 2005, Stiebra received the Latvians’ Order of the Three Stars.
Kwok Fung Lam (UK)
Kwok is a director and animator specialising in playful 2D and 3D character and narrative driven animation. His leftfield approach and frankly weird and wonderful tastes give his work a unique twist.
He also makes hot dog based animations and illustrations, as well as creating characters based in his children’s imaginations.
His film “Eat Dog Cat Mouse” won Best Debut Film at the 2004 BIMINI Festival in Riga, Latvia.