INTERNATIONAL JURY OF IFF “LOVE IS FOLLY”
YANA TITOVA
President of the Jury
Bulgaria
Yana Titova is a Bulgarian actress, director and screenwriter. She graduated in BA Acting for Drama Theatre from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia. Having enjoyed a highly successful film and theatre acting career and numerous awards, such as the Golden Rose, the Bulgarian Film Academy Award and the ASKEER Award for Rising Star, Yana decided to pursue a career in film directing. She completed a master’s degree in Film and Television at the New Bulgarian University.
Her debut feature film Dose of Happiness was the most watched Bulgarian film in 2019 and became the first Bulgarian film distributed by HBO Europe. Dose of Happiness brought many awards to the young director, such as the Golden Rose for directorial debut, the Sofia Municipality Award for Contribution to Culture, and several international awards.
Her second feature film Diada is about to be released in cinemas November this year.
Yana has also directed some of the most successful Bulgarian TV shows: Stolen Life, Dads, The Lies in Us, along with commercials and music videos.
CORNEL GHEORGHITA
Romania
Cornel was born in Romania. He graduated in Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest in 1983. He worked as an engineer for several years for the Cinema Centre in Bucharest. He has lived in France since 1990. He has been teaching at university since 1991. In 2013 Cornel was granted a PhD at Jean-Jaurès University of Toulouse.
FILMOGRAPHY:
2023 – My First Script, documentary
2022 – The Deadman’s Bride, feature film
2020 – The Wreck, feature film
2017 – Sun Dance, documentary
2014 – The Crypt, feature film
2011 – Europolis, feature film
2007 – The Brassy Bands, documentary
2002 – Masquerade, documentary
MIHAILS STARODUBOVS
Latvia
Mihails has been working at the Media, Entertainment and Sport sector for over 15 years. His professional career took him to such companies as Discovery Channel and UEFA Champions League. Currently he is bringing European movies to the Baltic states and tries to expend the outreach of modern Balkan cinema to the world.
Mihails has a Bachelor degree in Economics, Politics and Philosophy from Oxford University and a Masters in Business Administration from London Business School.
JAIME NOGUERA
Spain
Jaime Noguera. Born in Gothenburg (Sweden) in 1977, studied tourism, audiovisual comunication, cultural projects management, and film criticism in Málaga and author documentary in Barcelona.
He has been the director of the International Film Festival of Benalmádena (Spain) since 1998. His articles about culture and history have been translated into twelve languages. He is the author of five film essays: Vampires: Blood is Life, (2002), Dictators in Cinema (2007), Mark of the Vampire, Mark of the Mummy (2007) and Hitler in Cinema (2014).
He also has performed as an actor in Spanish movies and he is the director of several awarded short films and documentaries. He has been jury member of festivals such as Alexandria (Egypt) Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), San Juan de Pasto (Colombia), Gibara (Cuba), Sofia (Bulgaria), Martil (Morocco), Yalta (Russia) and Madagascar.
He is a member of ASECAN (Association of Andalusian Film Critics) and of the Andalusian Film Academy.
KYRIACOS TOFARIDES
Kyriacos Tofarides (1968) studied Theatre Direction and Acting, receiving a Post Graduate Degree in Film and Television Directing at the National Academy of Theatre and Film Art in Sofia, with Academic Ludmil Staikov. In Cyprus he worked as an actor, producer and director for film and television.
His films have been screened and awarded in film festivals around the world. He is the producer of the award-winning film The Last Homecoming. In 2013 Kyriacos produced and directed his first feature film BLOCK 12 – Special Jury Award in Cyprus Film days IFF, European Film Awards Selection 2013, Best Concept – Best Screenplay in London Greek Film Festival, Special Jury Award in 5th International Comedy Film Festival – Gabrovo.
IMAN, his most recent feature film has won Best Feature Film award in San Antonio Independent Film Festival (2023) Ecuador, Best Narrative Feature in Inca Imperial IFF (2023) Peru, Special Jury Award for Best Feature Film in Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (2023), Best Feature Film and Best Director in London Greek Film Festival (2023). He is a member of the European Film Academy.