Jury

Nina Pániková

Nina Pániková is a Senior Capacity-Building Officer at Human Rights House Foundation, leading capacity-building efforts to support human rights defenders in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. She co-hosts the Talk Eastern Europe weekly podcast and previously worked at the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, and in Slovakia. Nina is an alumna of the European Master's in Human Rights and Democratisation and the Summer School in Cinema, Human Rights, and Advocacy. She annually attends the Venice International Film Festival.

 

Catherine Absalom

Catherine is the EU delegate for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in Brussels, where she advocates for human rights policies at the European level. With nearly two decades of experience in the field, she brings a multidisciplinary perspective, drawing from her background in both the Arts and Sociology. In addition to her advocacy work, Catherine serves as the head of the jury for the FIDH award at the annual Festival des Libertés in Brussels, highlighting the promotion of human rights through cultural and artistic expression.

Wouter Hessels

Wouter Hessels teaches film history, film analysis, media & society and Belgian cinema at RITCS (Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema & Sound) and at INSAS (Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle) in Brussels. He is also a visiting professor at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and works as an independent film programmer and film curator (Cinémathèque Française, Cinematek, Gaasbeek Castle, Cineteca di Milano, House of European History). He writes on film, arts, politics, psychoanalysis and education. Wouter performs poetry and political cabaret in Dutch, French, English and Italian. In april 2026 he organises the first edition of the Restored Film Festival Brussels. His latest publication is an essay book on the cinema of Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne.