Juries

Appolain Siewe

Appolain Siewe was born in Cameroon. In 1997, he moved to Berlin to study at the local film school for screenwriting. Participating in various theater groups shaped his university years and led him to the Deutsches Theater, where he was able to refine his dramatic skills under Oliver Reese and Jürgen Kruse. Before founding Einheit-Filmproduktion in 2014, focusing on documentary films, he already worked as a print journalist and assistant director on various TV and film productions. Since 2025, he has been a jury member for the cultural film funding of the Federal Government (FFA). His documentary film CODE DER ANGST (D/NO 2024) addresses the persecution of LGBTQ+ people in Cameroon.

Amélie Janda

Since 2022, Amélie Janda has been curating the nationwide film education program “17 Ziele – Kino für eine bessere Welt” (17 Goals – Cinema for a Better World) as part of the SchulKinoWochen (School Cinema Weeks) of the “Vision Kino” network for film and media literacy. After completing her Master’s in Global Studies in Cape Town, South Africa, and New Delhi, India, she studied documentary film directing at the filmArche film school in Berlin. Since 2021, she has worked as a freelance director and journalist. For many years, she has also volunteered for migrants in the SWANA region. Through her artistic and political work, she addresses issues of social justice and global inequality from a feminist and decolonial perspective.

Camilo Porras

Camilo Porras Sandoval is a research assistant and doctoral candidate at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. His dissertation focuses on film producers and media funding, as well as their film funding strategies in Costa Rica. He was also an associated doctoral member of the Graduate College “Configurations of Film” (2020–2022). Sandoval previously studied communication sciences and audiovisual production at the Universidad de Costa Rica in San José, Costa Rica, and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität in Erlangen, and completed his M.A. in Media Dramaturgie at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. As a dramaturg, he worked on documentary film projects in Costa Rica.

Liam Belgorodski

My name is Liam, I’m from Frankfurt am Main. I’m 17 years old and attend the philosophy film club at my school. In 2025, I was already a jury member at the LUCAS Film Festival Frankfurt. My passion for film began about three years ago when I received a book about films and started watching works that have shaped film history.
What fascinates me about films is that they can showcase themes we might otherwise never encounter. Films about the Global South do this in a way that Hollywood usually doesn’t: they depict real-life situations such as flight, poverty, and the consequences of colonialism.
I like films that take a clear stance without making you feel like you’re being lectured. At LUCAS, I learned not just to ask, “Did I like the film?” but “What does it want to achieve, and does it succeed?” That’s the question I want to bring here as well – especially when it comes to which films can truly evoke something in people.

Ariane Köller

My name is Ari, I’m 20 years old, and I’ve been active in the BJF Youth Film Jury for eight years. I really enjoy watching documentary films because I love how they convey knowledge in an artistic and understandable way. From the Global Perspectives Film Conference, I hope to gain interesting insights into various topics through good films.

Vincent Eckert

I’m Vincent from Frankfurt am Main, I’m 18 years old, and I’m currently in my second semester studying history and political science at the University of Marburg. I’m especially passionate about films that don’t play in major cinemas and are therefore otherwise hard to see. In my free time, I’m part of the LUCAS Film Club at the DFF. I’m particularly interested in how films can depict different cultures of life from their own perspectives and how this can help us learn.

Finja Dorner

I’m Finja, 18 years old, and from Frankfurt am Main. I’ve already been part of various film and screenwriting juries and have been active in the BJF Youth Film Jury for six years. Currently, I’m involved in a local cinema. I’m a big fan of documentary films that manage to open up new perspectives on different life realities, and that’s exactly what I hope to experience with films from the Global South.

Joel Perez Rentsch

My name is Joel, and I’m 18 years old. I found out about the Global Perspectives Film Conference through a recommendation from my year-long internship at the Medienbildungszentrum Süd. I’ve always found documentary films interesting, and I’m also looking forward to learning more about the Global South at the film conference.