THE OKO sees – the jury decides and selects the best!

The OKO International Ethnographic Film Festival announces the jury lineup for the 6th edition.

In 2025, the festival will unite three cities and two countries. It will open with a grand premiere in Kyiv (September 5–10), continue in its hometown of Bolhrad (September 12–14), and conclude with the Bulgarian edition in Sofia (October 3–11).

We would like to present people who will help OKO see deeper and choose the best of the best.

Feature documentary films of Ukrainian production — including co-productions or films connected to Ukraine thematically, geographically, or through the creative involvement of Ukrainian filmmakers — in the NASHE OKO section will be judged by:

Karina BEDKOWSKA is a director and documentary film researcher of Polish origin. She holds a distinction degree in Documentary Film from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a degree in Photography from the University of the Arts in Poznań. Karina’s photos have been exhibited in the UK, Denmark, and Poland. She is a participant in international film workshops, including Film Spring Open, INTERDOC, and DOC LAB Poland. Her debut film My Place Ozerna received awards at the Ukraina Film Festival, Middlebury (USA), and the OKO International Ethnographic Film Festival (Bulgaria, Ukraine), as well as jury recognitions at Beyond Borders (Greece), Ethnofilm Čadca (Slovakia), Krakow Film Festival (Poland), and Mujer Doc (Spain). She was a jury member at the Ukraina Film Festival (2023).

Volodymyr SHCHYBRIA is a Ukrainian ethnologist, Ph.D. in History. Volodymyr is a researcher of traditional clothing and folklore of Central Dnipro Region. He graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where he currently heads the Center for Folklore and Ethnography at the Institute of Philology. He defended his Ph.D. thesis at the M.T.Rylskyi Institute of Art History , Folklore and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. В –

He actively participates in scientific expeditions, conferences, and cultural-artistic projects. Volodymyr is engaged in archiving folklore materials collected during field research. As a scientific consultant, he contributed to the films Pamfir, Wedding Legacy, and The Weaving Way.

He is a co-author of the book Imperishable (Netlinni) (2023), dedicated to state symbols in embroidery and weaving, and a participant of the ethnographic residency Ladomyriia supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation (2019).

Olha PANTELEIMONOVA is a Ukrainian producer, CEO, and co-owner of the Ukrainian Producers Hub (UPHub) group of companies. She holds a degree in law and has over 15 years of experience in the media and film industry.

Under her leadership, dozens of projects have been produced, including the TV series Travelers (Podorozhnyky) (2019) and Double Stakes (2022); documentaries such as The Coffee of Your City (2022) and Security Service of Ukraine: Special Forces of Victory (2023); and feature fiction films like Sex and Nothing Personal (2018) and SHTTL (2023).

Olha also produced the drama series Here and Now (2023) and The Train (2023); documentaries Iron People (2022), The Free (2022), and What Shouldn’t Be (2022); TV films Heroes (2022), Dedication to Eva (2022); and the feature film Rocky Road to Berlin (2022).

She is an academician of the Ukrainian Television Academy, a member of the Supervisory Board of the Ukrainian Film Academy, and a board member of the Ukrainian Business Council Foundation.

The OKO SHORT section – the short film competition – will be judged by:

Volodymyr BAKUM is a Ukrainian director and screenwriter. He graduated from the I. K. Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television in 2019 (Yaroslav Lanchak’s workshop). A winner of Ukrainian student film festivals, he is the author of the trilogy Donbas, I Love You. His graduation film Fogs received support from the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation in 2019. His script My Family and Other Animals was awarded at the Kira Muratova Screenplay Competition (2021), and the project later won the pitch at the Shift Film Festival (2022, Netherlands) and received a post-production grant from House of Europe (2022).

His feature debut Bartka (2023) premiered at the Cottbus Film Festival and had its Ukrainian premiere in the national program of the OKO Film Festival. In documentary, he explores themes of emigration with works like Home on the Back (2023) and The Waves of Bakota (2025).

Aleksandar ALEKSIEV is a Bulgarian actor, producer, and managing partner at NO BLINK. His production debut A Dose of Happiness became the highest-grossing Bulgarian film of 2019. The feature film Diada (2023) won the Grand Prix at Just Film (Tallinn Black Nights), Best Youth Film at the Cottbus Film Festival, and several awards at the Golden Rose Festival in Varna. In 2025, he presented What Remains After, in collaboration with Oscar-nominated actress Mariia Bakalova. Aleksandar has appeared in over 30 films, including Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) and Rise (2017). For his role in the latter film, he was awarded Best Actor at the Golden Rose Film Festival.He actively supports social initiatives and serves as an ambassador and member of several charitable organizations.

Dzhordzhyia EFREMOVA is a Bulgarian-born anthropologist, cultural researcher, and innovator in systems change. With over a decade of experience in social innovation, European policy, and community engagement, she has studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago (Economics & International Relations), Central European University (Nationalism Studies), and University College London (Social Anthropology). From 2019 to 2021, she was a practice fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. Between 2015 and 2022, she led social impact initiatives within the European Commission, focusing on social economy, finance, philanthropy, and systemic transformation.

Rymma ZIUBINA is a Ukrainian film and theatre actress, TV presenter, and civic activist. She has performed in over 50 theatrical productions and acted in more than 90 films and television projects.

A two-time winner of the Kyiv Pectoral Theatre Award (1993, 2007) and recipient of the Ukrainian Film Academy's Best Actress award, she won the Golden Dzyga for her role as Daryna in The Nest of the Turtledove (Hnizdo horlytsi) (2017). For this role, she also received the Special Jury Prize at the 65th International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg (2016, Germany), Best Actress at the 25th Varna International Film Festival (2017, Bulgaria), and the Jury Prize in Mumbai (India).

Since 2016, Rymma has been the founder and president of FilmFestBook, a children’s film festival held at the Artek-Bukovel Center.

The jury of the OKO GLOBAL FICTION section — the international competition of feature narrative films — includes the following experts:

Olena RUBASHEVSKA is a film critic, writer, and program director. She graduated from the I. K. Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television, specializing in Directing (O. Odynets’ workshop) and Playwriting (B. Zholdak’s workshop), and later studied at the Wajda School (2016, Poland).

She is Vice President of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), a member of the Golden Globes committee, the Critics Awards for Arab Films, and Ukraine’s Kinokolo Awards. Olena is a mentor of the Her Story, Her Future program for women directors.

She has collaborated with the OKO International Ethnographic Film Festival (Ukraine, Bulgaria), EnergaCAMERIMAGE International Film Festival (Poland), and Göteborg Film Festival (Sweden). From 2019 to 2021, she served as an advisor to the Ukrainian Book Institute. She is the author of a book on Ukrainian poetic cinema and a researcher of Czechoslovak cinema.

Denys TARASOV is a Ukrainian director known for projects that combine social relevance with artistic depth. He graduated from the I. K. Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television with a degree in Film and TV Directing.

He began his career directing TV shows for leading Ukrainian channels (Pidyom, Revizor), later transitioning to scripted and television films. He has worked with studios including 1+1 production and PLAN B. He directed the TV series I'll Prove It to You (2020), Doctor's Oath (2020–2021), and The Weakest Link (2020).

His feature film debut, MadGods (BozheVilni, 2023) — a drama exploring Soviet punitive psychiatry — won the Jury Grand Prize in the OKO GLOBAL section and received international acclaim.

Denys is also a member of the Ukrainian Film Academy and serves on the expert commission of the Ukrainian Council for Cinematography Support.

Albena STAMENOVA is a Bulgarian linguist, translator, and researcher of the Ukrainian language. She was born in Sofia and earned a degree in Czech Philology from St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia. In 2003, she defended her dissertation on Old Bulgarian elements in the Ukrainian language. Since 2011, she has been an Associate Professor at the Department of Ukrainian Language within the Faculty of Slavic Studies at Sofia University. Her academic interests include the history of the Ukrainian language, Old Bulgarian studies, historical lexicology, and Ukrainian-Bulgarian linguistic relations. She translates Ukrainian fiction and journalism and provides professional written and oral translations for government institutions, judicial bodies, and international organizations.

The international competition of feature non-fiction and documentary films OKO GLOBAL NON-FICTION will be judged by:

Gennady KOFMAN is a Ukrainian film director, producer, and journalist. He graduated from the Kharkiv State Institute of Culture. Founder of the film company “MaGiKa-Film” (Kharkiv) — one of the first independent production companies in Ukraine. Co-founder and board member of the Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, as well as the Traveling Docudays UA Festival, held in various regions of Ukraine.Member of the European Film Academy, the Ukrainian Film Academy, the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, and the European Documentary Network (EDN).He teaches film studies at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.Producer of over 50 documentary and animated films. Participates as a jury member in Ukrainian and international film festivals.

Oksana VOLOSHENIUK is a Ukrainian film scholar, lecturer, and media expert. Senior lecturer at the Department of Film Studies at the I.K. Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television, where she teaches courses on the history of Ukrainian and non-fiction cinema, television, media, and multimedia journalism.She graduated from the same university in 1988 with a degree in Film Studies. She has worked at Kyivnaukfilm Studio, the Ukrainian Center for Cultural Studies, the International Renaissance Foundation, and the Academy of Ukrainian Press. For 15 years, she has been a researcher at the M. T. Rylsky Institute of Art History, Folklore and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.Member of FIPRESCI and the board of the National Film Critics Award “Kinokolo,” and head of the Ukrainian Film Critics Union.A nominee for the Women in Arts 2021 award in the category “Women in Cultural Journalism.”

Olesia NAUMOVSKA is a Doctor of Philology, professor, and head of the Department of Folklore Studies at the Educational and Scientific Institute of Philology of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.She specializes in folklore, mythology, poetics of folklore genres, and oral folk prose. Author of over 130 academic and educational publications.Member of the Expert Council on Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine and an expert of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.Chair of the literature section jury of the Junior Academy of Sciences (MAN).An active promoter of Ukrainian culture, participant in numerous folklore events, radio and TV broadcasts. An active volunteer.Recognized with governmental and university awards for her academic, teaching, and civic activities.

Kalin YANAKIEV is a Bulgarian philosopher, theologian, and cultural historian. Professor at St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, where he teaches medieval culture and Christian philosophy. He also has lectures at Plovdiv University and the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA).

Doctor of Philosophy, researcher of early Christianity, and author of numerous monographs. He completed a research fellowship in Berlin focusing on the political philosophy of medieval Europe.

Member of the International Society for the Study of Medieval Philosophy (SIEPM). Editor-in-chief of the cultural and religious journal Christianity and Culture, published by the Communitas Foundation.