Three women and two men, all dedicated to the art of cinema, will evaluate the contenders for the Grand Prize Sofia – City of Film, provided by the Sofia Municipality in the International Competition for First and Second Films at the 29th Sofia International Film Festival.
Patricia Mazuy – Jury President (France)
The president of the International Jury is French screenwriter and director Patricia Mazuy. After fulfilling her father's wish and enrolling at the Higher School of Commerce in Paris, she decided to leave and move to Los Angeles. There, she managed to shoot a short film and meet Agnès Varda and her editor Sabine Mamou, who hired her as an intern for A Room in the City by Jacques Demy. After co-editing Vagabond with Varda, Mazuy directed her debut film Peaux de vaches (1989), which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and won her a César for Best Debut. Her second feature, Saint-Cyr (2000), also premiered in Un Certain Regard, starring the great Isabelle Huppert. She worked with Huppert again on Visiting Hours, which will also be screened at the 29th Sofia IFF. The film premiered at Cannes in the Directors’ Fortnight section and tells the story of an unexpected friendship between two women whose husbands are serving long sentences for serious crimes.
Pia Marais (South Africa/Germany)
Born in South Africa, Pia Marais initially studied fine arts and sculpture in London, Amsterdam, and Düsseldorf before shifting to filmmaking. She graduated from the German Film and Television Academy (DFFB) in Berlin and is known for her minimalist style and ability to explore complex social and psychological issues. Her debut feature The Unpolished (2007) received international acclaim. In 2012, her second film Layla Fourie won the Special Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival. In 2018, she made her first documentary Dear Comrades. Since 2017, she has been teaching film at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. Her latest film, Transamazonia, nominated for the Golden Leopard in Locarno and the Golden Hugo in Chicago, will be presented at the 29th Sofia IFF. The film delves into the conflict between a young healer, Rebecca, and her father, Christian missionaries deep in the Amazon jungle. This ambitious and impactful drama also highlights the crisis of deforestation in the Amazon.
Jaana Saarinen (Finland)
Renowned Finnish actress Jaana Saarinen is loved for her work in theater, film, and television. She appeared in her first film at the age of five in Molskis Sanoi Eemeli, Molskis. Among her notable performances is her role in the TV series Hopeanuolet (2007), which won her the Venla Finnish Television Award, as well as the lead role in A Mother (2019), earning her a Jussi Award nomination. In 2022, Saarinen received the Juha Muje Award for her lifelong screen career, and in 2024, she was nominated for a Jussi Award for Best Ensemble, alongside Heikki Kinnunen, for Mika Kaurismäki's film Long Good Thursday (2024), which she will personally present to the Bulgarian audience. Kaurismäki’s films offer an authentic, humorous, and heartfelt portrayal of Finland and its unforgettable characters. Long Good Thursday won the Audience Award in Chicago and was screened at the Tallinn Black Nights and Lübeck Nordic Film Days festivals before coming to Sofia.
Veit Helmer (Germany)
Screenwriter, director, and producer Veit Helmer has been a longtime friend of the Sofia IFF since his feature debut Tuvalu (1999), which screened at 62 festivals, including San Sebastián and Berlinale. A graduate of the Munich Film School, he gained recognition for his avant-garde shorts Surprise and Tour Eiffel, showcased at Cannes and Venice. His cult film Absurdistan premiered in competition at Sundance 2008 before screening at Sofia IFF. Helmer has collaborated with talents such as Udo Kier (Gate to Heaven, 2003), Goran Bregović (Baikonur, 2010), Paz Vega, Miki Manojlović, and Irmena Chichikova in The Bra (2018), which was part of the 23rd Sofia IFF. In 2025, he will personally present his latest film Akiko, the Flying Monkey in Sofia. Described by Helmer as “an exciting adventure for the whole family,” the film presents a fantastical parallel world inhabited by animals using everyday objects in inventive ways, offering a fresh perspective on our surroundings.
Andrey M. Paounov (Bulgaria)
Bulgarian director and screenwriter Andrey M. Paounov is renowned for his mastery of documentary filmmaking. His debut Georgi and the Butterflies (2004) won the IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary in Amsterdam. His first feature-length documentary The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories (2007) was selected for the Critics’ Week in Cannes. His second feature documentary, The Boy Who Was a King (2011), won the Jury Award for Best Documentary at RiverRun in 2012. In 2018, Walking on Water, a film about artist Christo's project on Lake Iseo, premiered in Locarno and opened the 23rd Sofia IFF in 2019. In 2021, Paounov made his narrative feature debut with January, which won Best Director at the 26th Sofia IFF and the Special Jury Prize at the Golden Rose Festival.
***
SEE YOU AT THE #CINEMA!
#29SofiaIFF