MESTIA INTERNATIONAL SHORT AND MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL 29.07-02.08 2026
Program
Jury
Luc Hardy
Luc Hardy is a French-American explorer, film producer, technology entrepreneur and investor, environmental advocate, photographer and author. Luc is a published Art photographer and the author of several books. Through his media company Sagax Entertainment, Luc has produced or co-produced several documentaries and feature films. Arktika Incognita, The Pursuit of Endurance and At the Edge of Light, EAMI (Tiger Award, Rotterdam Film Festival), All That Divides Us (Catherine Deneuve and Diane Kruger), The Last Worlds (Nick Nolte, Charlotte Rampling and Alba Rohrwacher), The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir (Dir. Ken Scott, with Dhanush, Bérénice Bejo, Erin Moriarty, Gérard Jugnot). He was also the first co-producer of the Award-winning PBS American Masters animated documentary film Unladylike: The Changemakers.
Peter Rommel
After working with director Fridrik Thór Fridriksson on his Oscar-nominated feature “Children of Nature” Peter Rommel founded Rommel Film to coproduce international features like Movie Days, Sweety Barret and Devil’s Island.
Night Shapes by Andreas Dresen was his first inhouse production. Many further successful
collaborations followed, including Summer in Berlin, Cloud 9, and Stopped on Track.
In 2013 the adaption of Charlotte Roche’s controversial novel Wetlands, premiered at the
Locarno IFF and was invited to Sundance Film Festival. Also in 2013 Erwin Wagenhofer’s
Alphabet premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.
In 2016/18 Peter produced 3 documentaries by upcoming German talents.
2019 marked the release of But Beautiful, the second collaboration with Erwin Wagenhofer.
Currently, several feature film and documentary projects are in development.
In 2017 Peter received the Max Ophüls Festival-Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dan Burlac
After receiving the film director diploma from FEMIS in Paris, he returns to his homeland and becomes one of the most successful Romanian film producers. His career highlights include Cannes Film Festival awards such as:
2006 Golden Camera won by director Corneliu Porumboiu for “12:08 East of Bucharest” and Palme d’Or, received in 2007 for the film by Christian Mungeau “4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days.”
Daniel Burlak is at the same time a professional mountaineer and the founder and director of the mountain-topic film festival – APIN FILM FESTIVAL – in Brasov, Romania.
Tinatin Kajrishvili
Georgian film director and producer. After graduating from the Directing Faculty at Theater and Cinema State University, she took the European Audio-Visual Art Course in Film Production (EAVE 2009).
As a producer, she has created more than ten full-length feature films and documentaries. In 2014, her directorial debut “Brides” (2014) was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival. The premiere of the next film, “Horizon,” took place at the Berlin International Film Festival. Her latest work “Citizen Saint” (2023) is a participant in the main competition of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. She has won many international awards. In 2023, “Citizen Saint” was nominated for Oscar as a Georgian film.
Salome Demuria
European shooting stars 2024 Berlin- Berlinale.
Titano d’Oro – Best actress San Marino International Film Festival for “Chaika”.
Golden Arena for Best Acting Performance Pula International Film Festival for “House of Others”.
Best female character Shanghai International Film Festival “Inhale-Exhale“.
Best female character Almaty IFF for “Inhale-Exhale”.
Best female character Minsk IFF for “Inhale-Exhale”.
MIFF №6 