At the age of fourteen Lotte was one of the kids who interviewed filmmakers and actors for the Cinekid festival in Amsterdam. It completely fueled her love for film, which resulted in a study at the school of Journalism (Utrecht), Media and Culture at the University of Amsterdam and her studies at the Film Academy (production, 2013 class).
After graduating, Lotte was a committee member at the Netherlands Film Festival for the selection of documentaries and she started working for producer Lemming Film. At Lemming Film, she supported projects by means of feedback, research and writing and substantive supervision of applications for funding. She worked on the development of a wide range of projects – from youth series for the public broadcaster and films developed for arthouse cinema or mainstream public. Lotte continued to educate herself through various (international) courses in script development and writing.
In 2020 Lotte continued her work independently and worked as a script coach, project coordinator and program manager. Since the end of 2021 Lotte is working as film consultant at the Netherlands Film fund, with a specialism for youth and family films.
Alasdair Satchel is a film and theatre maker based on the Isle of Mull off the West Coast of Scotland. His films explore the nature of different communities and how they express themselves.
Alasdair works with the international Cinema Cent Ans de Jeunesse project from France which builds filmmaking language in its participants over the course of a school year by exploring specific concepts in cinema. He is a founding member of Screen Argyll which exhibits films and delivers film education all over Scotland. He works with film education in English, French and Gaelic.
He makes a podcast called What We Do in the Winter about the lives of the people of the islands around Mull and Iona.
Jaak Kilmi graduated from the Department of Culture of Tallinn University, majoring in film directing. He has (co-) directed and produced a string of successful short films; a number of documentary films and five feature films. His films have been awarded internationally and have enjoyed successful theater runs in Estonia. He has lectured film history and directing at the University of Tallinn and Estonian Academy of Arts. He has curated and created visuals for several international museum expositions. Among others, some of the films in Jaak’s filmography are the documentaries My Father The Spy (2019), Juminda: On theBurning Sea (2023) and feature films Christmas in the Jungle (2020) and Sleeping Beast (2022).
Margreet Cornelius is senior project leader at the Network Film Education, a network of teachers, filmmakers, film festivals and film theaters, coordinated by the Eye Film Museum.
She taught for ten years in Amsterdam as a teacher in primary and secondary education until she had the opportunity to combine her passion for film with education at Movies that Matter. A human rights film organisation with a worldwide international support program and educational program.
Margreet sees film as a great tool for all kinds of skills. By watching a film, complex social issues can be better understood (and remembered); discussing film with students also ensures that they can give words to feelings and taste in art, it can increase their vocabulary, it teaches them to look critically, and so on. But in the end, Margreet likes nothing more than making a film with students. In this way, students work on their technical and creative skills, but also on collaboration and planning. And don’t we need all these skills in “real” life as well ; )?
Nicola Jones gained her first professional experiences as a consultant and auditor for film- and media projects at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Munich/Leipzig. In 2004 she started working for the German Federal Film Board (FFA) as film funding consultant for feature films before becoming the personal advisor of the CEO, Peter Dinges. In that position she was responsible for the coordination of international affairs and matters of European film policy. Since 2016 Nicola Jones is the director of the German Children’s Media Festival Golden Sparrow. The festival takes place every year in Gera and Erfurt and highlights German Cinema and TV productions as well as digital media for children. As head of the German Children’s Media Foundation, she is also active at European level through the KIDS Regio initiative, which aims to improve the production, distribution, and promotion of children's films in Europe. She is the mother of two children, film lover and a strong believer in the power of curiosity. Motto: „Life happens but coffee helps”!
Leo is a media education professional who wants to make the world a better place to live. He believes that can only be achieved via education. Since our culture and the whole world is mediated, we also need media and information literacy. Leo tries to help people to understand the digitalised culture we live in and give people support in their work towards good life, peace and democracy. He has a teacher background and later a PhD with majors in education and history. Besides Finland, he has studied and worked in the USA, UK, Germany, South Africa, Tanzania, and Ethiopia.
Currently he is the Deputy Director of the National Audiovisual Institute of Finland and the Head of its Media Education and Audiovisual Media Department, a government authority under the Ministry of Education and Culture. His main tasks are the promotion and coordination of media education at a national level. He is also the government authority on supervision of the provision of audiovisual programmes from the perspective of protection of children, and classification of audiovisual programmes (age ratings).
Liisa-Lotta is a 19 years old first year student in Tallinn University of Technology. She has been interested in film art ever since she first learned how to turn on a camera. She has made several short films, filmed sketches and events and received awards from different film competitions. Liisa-Lotta is mainly interested in editing and directing. When it comes to films, she mainly appreciates the story and diversity. Films that have a great story but also give the audience a chance to think along and leave room for interpretation, are her favorites. Films like this can often be found in the Cannes Film Festival (e.g. Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Titan). Liisa-Lotta has also played volleyball for almost 10 years.
Maibritt is a 16 years old student who studies in Tallinn Art Gymnasium, media field, and in the future plans to work in the film industry. In her free time she likes to play flute, piano, ukulele and computer games. One of her passions is photography. This summer she took part of PÖFF’s Film School’s course „Script writing masterclass“.
Emili is 18 years old and goes to Old Town Educational College’s cinema class and because of that, film has become one of the main interests in her everyday life. Her love for the movies started when she received an old Olympus photo camera as a gift. The camera has traveled to tens of countries with her and taught her some main elements about photography. Unfortunately, the old camera is no more but the love for film has remained.
Adrian is 17 years old and studies in Tallinn French Lyceum’s 11th grade. In his free time he likes to go to the theatre, museums and cinema. His love towards films made him fall in love with PÖFF. Adrian has been visiting PÖFF for years, but last year he found interest in the main and youth programmes.
Armand is 12 years old and his favorite thing in the whole worls is watching films, he does it every chance he gets. In the future, he plans to become an actor, a serious one like Samuel L. Jackson or Tom Cruise.
Tõru is 13 years old and plays football and goes to drama class. He really likes to act and for the 2nd season he plays in Enda theatre’s Young Ice, as well as in the yet-to-be-screened TV series The Secret of Children's Camp. In his free time, he likes to watch movies and TV series and hang out with friends. Tõru is always looking for new challenges.
Luukas is 11 years old and studies in the 5th P grade of Tallinn English College. He is Estonian-French-Lebanese and speaks Estonian, French and English (not yet Arabic). Luukas has many hobbies, he paints (he had his own solo exhibition in Saaremaa at the age of 9), plays the bass guitar, goes to the theater circuit, and already at the age of 2, Luukas' father made him act in films with scenarios he invented, where the boy played all the roles. Luukas has watched a lot of movies since he was little. Dad also introduced him to classic older movies, and of course he loves the movies that all kids know like Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars. Luukas has a very colorful fantasy world and he hopes that one day he will become a film director and actor. He is very social and extroverted and likes to express his opinion. Luukas also likes to joke a lot, the acting teacher thinks that the boy should be a stand-up comedian.
Eleanor Susanna is 9 years old and studies at Jüri Gymnasium. Her hobbies are playing the violin, singing in a choir and folk dancing. The girl is a big fan of books and reads at least 70 books a year, mostly the most imaginative ones, for example Harry Potter, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, Grandma Estra's Magic Book. She has been watching films with her family for as long as she can remember. Other family members say that when the girl was still very small and did not even know how to speak, she already demanded to watch films, especially often Frodo and Hinkus, aka The Lord of the Rings and Hotel of the Lost Mountaineer. She has been going to PÖFF since she was little, and if she used to choose a single film to watch she now chooses more. In general, Eleanor Susanna watches all kinds of movies, but her favorites are fantasy films.
Lisete is 8 years old and attends the 2nd grade. Her hobbies are swimming, dancing, cooking and acting. Lisete has appeared in several films, commercials and music videos. He has three older brothers, with whom he has watched a lot of movies with a lot of action, suspense and mystery. Classic girls' movies are a bit too spoiled and boring for her. Lisete says that she would be a very good member of Just Film's children's jury precisely because she pays attention to things and doesn't fall asleep during the film.