Introducing Movies that Matter’s 2026 Jury Members

Each year, Movies that Matter Festival has six exciting competitions which are judged by experienced filmmakers and trailblazers from all over the world. Get to know this year’s jury members below:

Grand Jury Documentary

The Grand Jury Documentary jury includes Debra Zimmerman (Executive Director of Women Make Movies), Joelle Alexis (film editor, founder of Rough Cut Service), and Tommy Gulliksen (Norwegian documentary film maker, director of Facing War).

Grand Jury Fiction

The Grand Jury Fiction jury includes Jolein Laarman (Dutch screenwriter and film producer), Khalid Shamis (documentary director, producer and editor, board member of South African Guild of Editors), and Mandy Chang (filmmaker, head of Undeniable Productions).

Activist Lens

The Activist Lens jury includes Alina Simone (award-winning filmmaker and journalist), Jenni Wolfson (human rights advocate, CEO of Chicken & Egg Films), and Wim Geerts (Human Rights Ambassador at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

Dutch Focus

The Dutch Focus jury includes Julie Trébault (Executive Director of Artists at Risk Connection), Ondřej Kamenický (Director of One World International Human Rights Film Festival), and Rohan Berry Crickmar (development producer and documentary producer).

Justice Frame

The Justice Frame jury includes Ilyas Yourish (founder of Kamay Film, head of CONGOO), Robert Tomić Zuber (Croatian journalist, documentary filmmaker, owner of TOROlab), Sabrina Brandt (Director of Human Rights Watch Netherlands).

Shorts

Jana Riemann (German-Ukrainian film programmer and curator, Berlinale Shorts selection committee), Jess Gormley (journalistic documentary producer at The Guardian), and Luuk Bouwman (filmmaker and musician, director of The Propagandist).

Curious about the films these juries will be judging?

View the competitions