With just over a week left until this year’s festival begins, it’s time to introduce the individuals that will be selecting the winning films: the 2023 jury. The jury has been compiled from a range of academic & industry backgrounds, along with former recipients of the Paper Bird and final-year film & creative writing students from Liverpool John Moores University.
This year we’ve enlisted the expertise of 13 jurors, which is our biggest-ever jury. Across the categories of Fiction, Animation, Documentary, and Experimental, our jurors will be watching and discussing this year’s programme, before deciding which films are worthy of being awarded the Paper Bird.
The Fiction jury features Alice Miller, PhD student and festival programmer for Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, Oleksandra Konoplia, filmmaker and winner of the 2022 Paper Bird for Fiction with her film You Are a Fool, Lisa, and third-year LJMU students Oli Bridges & Molly McGill who both have a passion for writing.
The Documentary jury includes Raluca Iacob, a purchaser at documentary sales & distribution agency Lightdox, Rosa Fong, an award-winning filmmaker and academic, and finally third-year film student Marnie Thornton, who has an interest in practical filmmaking.
The Animation jury is made up of Roderick Charles Smits, a PostDoc Fellow whose research interests address online platforms and film circulation, Péter Bogyó, previous winner of the Paper Bird for best Animation for his film, The Pattern, and James Sharp, a final-year LJMU Film student with a keen interest in film criticism.
The Experimental jury features Lars Koens, sound designer, experimental filmmaker, and senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, Phoebe Harrison, a final-year LJMU Film Studies student with interests in cinematography and screenwriting, and Ethan Bloor, a final-year LJMU Film Studies student with a keen interest in directing and writing.
With 42 films across the four strands, our jury has a lot of work to do before deciding on this year’s winning films. Soon, you’ll also be able to decide which is your favourite, when we release this year’s programme of films on Friday 24th March.
LJMU MA Short Film Festival 