The juries of the 31st festival edition
Feature Film Competition
Every year and in memory of cinema legend Klein, who died in 1999 at the age of 79, his daughters Madeleine Budde and Jacqueline Hopp endow the prizes in the two JFBB competitions.
Gershon-Klein-Spielfilmpreis
Gershon Klein Documentary Film Award
The prize is awarded to a director and is endowed with a prize money of 3,000 EUR
Heleen Gerritsen
Festivalleiterin & Produzentin/ NL
The Slavic studies and Eastern Europe expert worked as a producer and curator in Germany. From 2017 to 2025, she was the director of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film.
Jeanine Meerapfel
Regisseurin & Drehbuchautorin/ DE, AR
The German-Argentinian filmmaker (Malou, La Amiga) studied journalism in Argentina and film in Ulm. She was a professor of film and president of the Academy of Arts.
Ariel Schweitzer
Filmhistoriker & Kritiker/ IL, FR
The Cahiers du Cinéma critic and Tel Aviv University professor authored “Le nouveau cinéma israélien” and curated retrospectives on Bresson, Godard, and Gitai.
Documentary Film Competition
Gershon Klein Documentary Film Award
The prize is awarded to a director and is endowed with a prize money of 3,000 EUR.
Journalist & Documentary Filmmaker, IL
The Berlin-based Israeli journalist and documentary filmmaker (“Golda”, 2019) has been working at Deutsche Welle for over a decade, specializing in international affairs and serving as DW’s Middle East expert.
Eric Friedler
Director & Producer, DE
The award-winning documentary filmmaker (“Wim Wenders, Desperado”, 2020) and former SWR Head of Documentaries is renowned for his innovative work. He has received awards, including multiple times the Grimme Award and the German Television Award.
Michal Oppenheim
Film Editor/ IL, DE
The Berlin-based film editor has worked on award-winning fiction and documentary films, including “The Cakemaker” (2017) and “America” (2022), which were showcased and widely distributed at international film festivals.