IVAN DZEPAROSKI (1958, Skopje) is a philosopher, esthetician, theorist of culture, poet and translator. He graduated from the University "St. Cyril and Methodius" in Skopje, where he received his master and doctoral degrees. He is the author of over thirty philosophical, esseistic and poetry books and anthologies. He has received a number of significant awards and recognitions for his work. Prof. Dzeparoski works at the University "St. Cyril and Methodius" - Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje, as a full-time professor of the subjects: Aesthetics and Philosophy of Culture. He was the head of the Institute of Philosophy (2004-2009; 2013-2021) and secretary of the Macedonian PEN. Center (1999-2001; 2008-2014). He has also translated: Blake, Joyce, Brodsky, Hume. His poetry and some of his theoretical works have been translated in different books in over ten foreign languages, while his poetry is represented in the most significant anthologies of Macedonian poetry, in our century, published in Macedonia and abroad.

JONAS KÆRUP HJORT is a Danish film director based in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has a background in theatre both as an actor and director prior to attending The National Film School of Denmark. In 2017 he graduated with the critically acclaimed graduation film 'In a Month', an absurd and dark-humoristic visionary examination of the human existence. It earned him the FilmFunen Talent Award, several nominations at international short film festivals, as well as three awards at the Ekko Shortlist Awards. He has written, directed and edited his first feature film 'The Penultimate' which premieres in 2021.

PELIN ESMER is a Turkish writer and film director of fiction and documentary films who has studied sociology in Istanbul and then devoted herself entirely to cinema. Esmer founded the film company Sinefilm and since 2001 has been making independent films: THE COLLECTOR, THE PLAY, 10 TO 11, WATCHTOWER, SOMETHING USEFUL, and QUEEN LEAR, which are shown all around the world: San Sebastian, Tribeca, Toronto,Sarajevo, Rotterdam, Tallinn, etc. Her film SOMETHING USEFUL won the Best Screenplay Award at the Tallinn International Film Festival, the FIPRESCI Awards at the Istanbul Film Festival, and then the Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actress awards in Turkey. In 2020, MUBI Turkey and MUBI International presented all of Esmer's films in Turkey and abroad in a retrospective entitled "Journey to the Heart with Pelin Esmer". That same year, the Istanbul Contemporary Film Museum presented a retrospective of Esmer's films as part of their "Directors' Meetings" series.

Prof. Serdar Öztürk is an academic at the Department of Radio, Television and Cinema, Faculty of Communication, Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University (AHBV) in Ankara, Turkey. He is the publisher of The Journal of SineFilozofi, an academic peer-reviewed journal published since 2016. Prof. Öztürk is also the chairman of the Association of Cinema and Philosophy in Turkey. The focus of Öztürk’s research is mostly interdisciplinary. He has published extensively on cultural history of Turkey, and sociology and philosophy of cinema. His research papers have appeared both in national and international journals. At the moment Prof. Öztürk has seven published books in his name, covering the above mentioned themes. His major book publications include "Cinema, Reception and Politics during the Early Republican Period" (Ankara: Elips, 2004), "Dialectics of Communication in the Ottoman Period" (Ankara: Phoneix, 2010) and "The Sources of Sociology of Communication in Turkey" (Ankara, Siyasal: 2011). Another book, Space and Power: The Politics of Spaces of Communication with Movies (Ankara: Phoenix: 2012) mainly on cinema sociology. His other book publications, "Cinephilosophy: The Journey to Kurosawa's Dreams" (Ankara: Heretic 2016) and "Introduction to Cinema Philosophy" (Ankara: Ütopya, 2018), explore connections of films with philosophy. Öztürk’s also has recently edited a book titled "Archeology of Struggle in Ken Loach Films" (Ankara: Utopya, 2021). Öztürk’s interest in sociology of film was triggered by his doctoral dissertation titled "Cafes and Power in the Turkish Republic (1930-1945)". (İstanbul: Kırmızı, 2005).

Marija Apcevska holds BA in Directing from FDA, Skopje and MA in Film and Media Production, NYFA, Los Angeles. Her shorts have travelled to festivals worldwide and won several awards, with Bardo premiering at Berlinale Generation. In addition, she is the creator of the children’s TV series Zoki Poki, the only TV series from North Macedonia broadcasted in Scandinavia. her latest film, North Pole, premiering at Festival de Cannes Official Short Film Selection, was one of the winning projects at European Short Pitch 2019. She is currently working on her first feature, Spring Cleaning, selected for development at LIM 2021 and presented at Cannes Focus CoPro’ 2021.

BRANISLAV NIKOLOV is a music performer, author, and singer in the group Foltin. As part of Foltin, he has nine studio releases behind him, he has composed music for over thirty theater plays and several films, including the Oscar-nominated ‘Honeymoon’, the internationally acclaimed ‘The Secret Ingredient’, ‘Avec l’amour’, ‘Cash & Marry’ and many others. He has given concerts and theatrical performances in Croatia, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Russia, Montenegro, England, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey and the Czech Republic. He has received many awards for his work so far. Outside of his work with Foltin, he has held a concert with the Macedonian Philharmonic and published two poetry collections (‘The Art of Staying in Bed’, 2018 and ‘Srchki’, 2020).

THOMAS E. WARTENBERG (USA) is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Mount Holyoke College in the United States. His main areas of interest are aesthetics, film philosophy and children's philosophy. His more notable publications include Big Ideas for Young Children: Teaching Philosophy through Children's Literature, A Sneetch is a Sneetch and Other Philosophical Discoveries: Finding Wisdom in Children's Literature, Screen Thinking: Film as Philosophy, and more recently , "Thinking through stories: children, philosophy and picture books". He is the recipient of the APA / PDC Award for Excellence and Innovation in Philosophy Programs for 2011 and the 2013 Merritt Prize for his contribution to the philosophy of education. He has created websites for teaching philosophy through picture books: teachingchildrenphilosophy.org, works of art: Philosophy @ The Virtual Art Museum and films: What’s the Big Idea ?

ERNESTO HEREDERO DEL CAMPO (Spain) is a philosopher and diplomat. Since 2011 he has been an active diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain. He has also worked as an advisor and consul, has been part of the Spanish mission at OSCE Vienna, he was working at the Spanish Embassy in Brazil, and today he is the Deputy Head of Mission in the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Skopje. He writes poetry and has published a poetry book called "Fatigue" (Fatiga, Editorial Evohé, Madrid, 2017), and is currently writing for Global Square Magazine while working on a doctoral thesis on Wittgenstein's philosophy of religion. In the period from 2015-2017 he has worked as a professor at the National Institute of Public Administration, the Diplomatic School of Spain and other academic institutions, and today he also collaborates as a professor with several academic institutions in Brazil.

STOJAN SINADINOV graduated from the Department of General and Comparative Literature at the Faculty of Philology "Blaze Koneski" at the University "St. Cyril and Methodius" in Skopje. His engagement in the areas of film criticism, and film theiry and history, dates back to the late 1980s. So far he has published more than 2000 articles in a dozen daily newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines, as well as specialized film magazines and editions in Macedonia and the region. He has been also reporting from film festivals in Montreal (Canada), Berlin (Germany), Thessaloniki (Greece), Belgrade (Serbia), etc. He is currently collaborating with the Cinematheque of N. Macedonia.

LUIS MARTIN ARIAS (Spain) is a professor at the University of Valladolid (UVa). From 1987 to 2017, he taught Film History at UVa Summer Courses, and is currently professor at the Masters studies in Film, Communication, and Audiovisual Industry in collaboration with the Valladolid International Film Week (Seminci). He is the founder of the Association "Trama y Fondo" and was its vice president from 1997 to 2018. He has published several books dedicated to cinema: "Film as an Aesthetic Experience" (1997), "Towards the Beginnings of Cinematography" (2009) and "The Film Work of Clint Eastwood. Textual Analysis" (2011). He is currently developing a YouTube movie analysis channel (Análisis del cine) where, with detailed analysis of films using philosophical methods, he prepares videos for teaching and research.

ZLATKO ZELESKI is a writer, film, music, and literary critic. He graduated from the Department of General and Comparative Literature at the Faculty "Blaze Koneski" in Skopje and since 2008 has been actively involved in film criticism. He publishes his digital film reviews on the website "Movis.mk", and the printed ones in: "Koshmar", "Gragjanski", "Kinopis", "Film Plus", "Filmski pecar". He is the host of the film radio shows "Danse Macabre" and "TV 103" on the radio station "Kanal 103". He won the award for best film criticism at the Cinedays Film Festival in 2013. He is the director of the short films FROM THE OTHER SIDE and MEMORIES and the organizer of the horror film week "Dark Fest". He was a member of the juries of several film festivals: "Cinedays", "Filmaj", "Mobile Festival" and the "Philosophical Film Festival". He is the host of the YouTube shows: "Videology" and "Revision". In 2021, he published his first collection of film essays and reviews, "Videology (2019-2020)".

DARIJAN PEJOVSKI graduated in film and TV directing at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts at the University "St. Cyril and Methodius" in Skopje. He is the author of 7 short films and one medium-length television film. He has been working on five series, including "The Markovski Family," "Insider," and "Zoki Poki." With his debut feature, THREE DAYS IN SEPTEMBER, he has been a guest at numerous international festivals, including Montreal, Chicago, Cottbus, and Bratislava. The premiere of his sophomore feature, MIMI, is expected this year.

MARIGLEN DEMIRI graduated and holds a master's degree from the Institute of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy at the University "St. Cyril and Methodius" in Skopje. He works as a philosophy teacher at the State High School of Fine Arts and Design "Lazar Lichenoski" in Skopje and as a researcher at "Eurothink - Center for European Strategies". He has been part of many political and activist initiatives.

JASNA KOTESKA is a Macedonian writer, philosopher, and professor of humanities at the University "St. Cyril and Methodius" in Skopje. She is the author of 12 books on Sigmund Freud, Soren Kierkegaard, Communism, Sanitation, published in Washington, Toronto, Ljubljana, Belgrade, Sofia, and Skopje. Some of her books are "Kierkegaard on Consumerism" (2016, Toronto and Ljubljana), "Freudian textbook, early psychoanalysis 1893-1899" (2013, Skopje), "Communist Intimacy" (2008, 2022, Skopje; 2014, Washington), winner of the Finnegan list of 30 most important books for 2015 from the European Writers' Association, and "Sanitary Enigma" (2006, 2021, Skopje; 2012, Sofia). She is the editor-in-chief of the Collection Aut edition of Trinity College Toronto and the Central European Research Center for Soren Kierkegaard (CERI-SK) in Ljubljana. Koteska is a member of the Philosophical Society of Macedonia, the Independent Writers of Macedonia, as well as numerous international organizations and boards.

ALICIA VILLAR ESCUDERO (Spain) is Professor of Philosophy at the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid. She is a recognized specialist in various fields of philosophy, especially Pascal and the Enlightenment—a topic on which she has published a wonderful commentary on the works of Voltaire and Rousseau—"On Evil and Misfortune" (Around Evil and Misfortune, 1995). She is, above all, an Unamuno specialist, to whom she has devoted numerous articles and chapters from books on various topics and whose unpublished text, "My Confession", she edited in 2011 and 2015. Her most famous works are "Irrationalism" (2000) and "Pascal: Science and Belief" (1987).

Sergio Fernando Fernández de Villarán Lanza is a Spanish philosopher and professor of philosophy. His philosophical and research interests focus on Kant's transcendental analytics, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Husserl, and he has published several articles on these topics. As a philosopher, he participates in many relevant conferences and symposia, including the teacher training programs "The Use of Literature in the Study of Philosophy: theoretical and practical aspects" and "Film as an educational tool".

VASIL MIHAJLOV, after graduating in 2001, began his career as an actor. He soon began directing and later writing theatre plays and screenplays. In parallel with his artistic career, he is intensively involved in cultural management, production, and informal theater and film education. In 2020, he received his MA degree in Film and Television Directing. He is the author of several published critical reviews. As a theater and film artist, he has been presented on all continents, and some of his directed plays and screenplays have won international awards and recognition. For the past four years he has been living in London, and now he is living between Skopje and his workplace in the theater “Anton Panov” in Strumica, N. Macedonia.

SNEZANA MLADENOVSKA ANGELKOV Angjelkov, born in Skopje, has graduated from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje, Department of Film and TV Editing, in 2000, and she has obtained the title Master of Arts in Film and TV Editing in 2012. Her first novel is Eleven women (Единаесет жени) (2011, ILI-ILI) and she has won the award “Novel of the Year” by “Utrinski Vesnik”. In 2014 she publishes the film-essayistic book “Life Convincing Images (Слики со животна уверливост)” (ILI-ILI) dedicated to the documentary films of Vladimir Blazhevski. As an author she is also present in the “Revija malih knјževnosti” (2013) published by Udruga za promicanje kultura ’Kulturtreger’, „Best European Fiction 2017“ and „Contemporary Macedonian Fiction“ (2019) by Dalkey Archive Press. „Keep Quiet with an Open Mouth (Молчи со отворена уста)“ (2019, ILI-ILI) is her second novel. Mladenovska Andjelkov has an extensive experience in montage of documentary films and reportages.

VLADIMIR MARTINOVSKI is a poet, writer, literary critic, translator, and university professor. He graduated and received his master's degree at the Faculty of Philology "Blaze Koneski" in Skopje, and his doctorate at the University of Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle, on the topic "Aspects of expression poetry: C. Baudelaire, V.K. Williams, S. Janevski, V. Urosevic, J. Ashbury, and I. Bonfois". He works as a professor at the Department of General and Comparative Literature at the Faculty of Philology "Blaze Koneski" at UKIM. He is a member of the Executive Board of the International Association of Semiotics, a member of the International Association of Comparative Literature, and of the Executive Committee of the European Network for Comparative Studies. He studies the intermediate relations between literature, the fine arts, and music. He is a member of ZKKM, DPM, and the Macedonian PEN Club. He also plays music.

TIJANA PETKOVSKA graduated and obtained her master's degree at the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje, at the Institute of Philosophy, with an emphasis on contemporary philosophy. Between undergraduate and postgraduate studies, she has completed a one-year specialist course in film directing at the International Department of FAMU (Film and Television School of the Faculty of Performing Arts) in Prague. In the meantime, she has been doing video editing and has worked at various film festivals in Skopje, including the Philosophical Film Festival. For a short period, she wrote film reviews and for daily newspapers and web portals, and also published texts in the fields of philosophy and aesthetics of film in magazines such as "Philosophical Debate" and "Blesok". She is currently working as a freelance writer and is about to release of his first English-co-authored novel by the end of the year.

KICA KOLBE is a philosopher and writer. She studied philosophy at the University of Skopje (1970-1974). She received her master's degree in 1982. in Belgrade on the aesthetics of Theodor Adorno, and received her doctorate in 1985 in Skopje on German Aesthetics from the 18th century, published under the title "The Principle of Longing" (1989). She started her academic career at the Faculty of Philosophy from 1976-1986 as assistant professor of aesthetics in the Aesthetic Laboratory. She has published film, art, literary criticism, and philosophical essays in "Razgledi", "Stremez", "Kinotechki Mesechnik", "Utrinski Vesnik", "Filozofija", "Lettre..." and others. She published the novels "Aegeans" (1999), "The Snow in Casablanca" (2006, "Novel of the Year"), "The Gavrilov Women" (2008, Macedonian nomination for Balkanika), "Land of Refugees" (2016), and "The Knight and the Byzantine Woman"(2020).

Funkier is a collaborative initiative, with residency in Serbia and, part of the year, in Luxembourg and the Netherlands, starting as a street project in Italy in 2018. Funkier’s heart is Andrija Hadžić (cajon and vocals) who has in the meantime started to cross national borders and enter the doors of cafes and clubs in other countries. In joining festivals and collaborations with many other professional musicians the project has gained a lot of experience all around Europe. Funkier‘s mission is to save old classic tunes from being buried in dust, always interpreting them with a certain hint of Funk & Soul. Funkier is also involved in singer-songwriter work that connects Andrija’s influences, mixing them with his own music style.