Expert Jury
Miko Jaakkola
He has directed over 50 productions for various Finnish theatres – among others, Oulu City Theatre, Finnish National Theatre, Mikkeli Theatre and Kotka City Theatre. From 2009 to 2015, he was director of Kaajani City Theatre and prior to that, from 2004 to 2008, he was director of Takomo Theatre. He was one of the founders of Kallio Theatre and of its successor, the Theatre Research Centre. He was the recipient of the 2002 State Award for creation in the field of theatre as well as for work within the theatre research centre. In 2011 he received the Finnish Association of Theatre Directors Award for the best director of the year. Since 2015, he has been collaborating with the Tampere Theatre Festival as one of its three artistic directors.
Milan Mađarev
A dramaturg, theatre researcher and director, Mađarev received his MA from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade in 1998 and, several years later, his PhD from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. He was artistic director of the Theatre Zoran Radmilović in Zaječar in the season 1995/96. He has written about theatre for the Second Programme of Radio Belgrade, RTS TV Belgrade, Danas, Glas javnosti, Ludus, Orchestra, Pozorište and Scena, Maska, Večer, etc. He is one of the authors of the Chronicles of BITEF in the Cultural Programme of RTS and of the artistic evenings dedicated to N. Kolyada and J.Nadj. He is the author of a number of dramatisations and adaptations that have been produced by the Radio Belgrade Drama Programme.
Simona Semenič
A graduate of dramaturgy from the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, University of Ljubljana (UL AGRFT), Semenič is the recipient of three Grum Awards for the plays 24hours (2006), 5boys.si (2008) and seven cooks, four soldiers and three sophias (2014). Her plays have been translated into twelve languages and staged in many European countries, in the USA and in the Middle East as well as published in some of those countries. The productions of her plays have received numerous awards both at home and abroad. She writes, directs and performs in autobiographical performances, such as 9 Easy Pieces (with the artistic group PreGlej), I, Victim, Gimme Some More, 43 Happy Endings (with the artistic group PreGlej), Kapelj and Semenič in the Making, Semenič and Bulc On Sale and The Second Time. She has led various initiatives and organisations, including PregGlej (from 2005 to 2013), Glej Theatre (from 2007 to 2010) and the Integrali Cultural Association (since 2006).
Maja Šorli
Graduated in psychology from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Ljubljana; next followed the studies of dramaturgy at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, University of Ljubljana (UL AGRFT), where she concluded her studies in 2011 with her PhD thesis. From 2007 to 2011, she was employed as junior researcher at UL AGRFT and was co-editor of two collections of essays Hybrid Spaces of Art (UL AGRFT and Maska, 2012) and The Dynamics of Changes in the 20th-Century Slovenian Theatre (UL AGRFT and Maska, 2010). In 2014, her book Slovenian Postdramatic Spring was published by the MGL Library series and in the same year she became the editor-in-chief of the journal of performing arts theory Amfiteater. In 2014, she conducted audience research in Great Britain, within the frame of a project led by the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama at the University of London. She is a member of the international theatre research group STEP.
Uroš Trefalt
Studied directing and dramaturgy at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU), and also earned his Master’s degree there. In 1993, he received a Fulbright Scholarship for his PhD studies at New York University (NYU) and the City University of New York (CUNY). Active as a director of puppet and drama productions, operas and short films, in 1993, he wrote the book Osnove lutkovne režije [The Basics of Direction in Puppet Theatre], which was later translated into Spanish. He has also served as the editor-in-chief of the journal Lutka. In the 1990s he lectured at Columbia University in New York and was one of the founders of the Theatre and Puppetry School (GILŠ) in Ljubljana. Since 1997 he has been lecturing at the Film and Television School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU) and is active as a director and creative director in the field of motion design, for which he has also received the highest international recognition.