Short film competition

During the closing night of the 12th edition, we treat all visitors to the three best entries of our first short film competition. Currently, a 6-member jury under the professional leadership of Sahim Omar Kalifa is studying and evaluating the more than 1000 entries.

Are you curious which films will make it in the end, would you like to hear more about the criteria that were used, or do you want to help determine who will win the first audience award, then sign up for our closing night! Afterwards, we are happy to offer all attendees a drink!

THE JURY

SAHIM OMAR KALIFA

Sahim Omar Kalifa (1980) is a Belgian-Kurdish filmmaker based in Belgium. In 2001 he came to Belgium and in 2008 he got his Master in Filmmaking at Sint-Lukas Film School in Brussels. So far he has won more than 105 international awards. In 2016 Sahim became a member of the Academy Awards' ‘The Oscars’. He is currently working on his feature film Baghdad Messi and his feature documentary Iraq’s Invisible Beauty which are both expected to be finished in 2022.

ANS JANSSENS

My name is Ans. To me and for many years now, watching audiovisual media and subjecting them to an in-depth analysis go hand in hand. Since being in a wheelchair, the representation of (people with) disabilities has become an integral part of this analysis. Important criteria are the frequency and the manner in which (persons with) disabilities are portrayed in the work and the way in which people with disabilities are involved in the creative process. The knowledge I use in my assessments comes from my own personal experience as well as my time working for VRT-television and GRIP vzw. I consider GRIPs handbook for media professionals (Handboek Mediamakers), which I was able to contribute to last year, to be a helpful guideline for inclusive audiovisual media.

ESER EPÖZDEMIR

Born in 1984, Eser Epözdemir is an artist/cultural producer. Epözdemir’s multidisciplinary works are at the intersection of culture, health politics, inclusivity and equality, and the relationship between individuals and places. Besides her artistic career, she has also worked in the publishing and radio broadcasting sectors. She is currently a stakeholder and the Art & Culture consultant of an organization called Erişilebilir Her Şey (Accessible Everything).

JOSEFIEN CORNETTE

Josefien Cornette (1994 - they/she) is an artist and writer, with a background in art-history, feminism and -critical- disability studies. Josefien explores an artistic practice embedded in artistic research, inventing new strategies of story-telling, writing and reporting. Their work has been praised to be rebellious and poetic, winning several awards among which the DiverGent Thesis Prize (2020) with their book-manuscript A House Called Pain.

GEERT VAN HOVE

Geert Van Hove (1957), father/stepfather of 6 children, grandfather of 7 (almost 8) grandchildren. Jazz lover, basketball freak. Professor of Disability Studies at Ghent University in Belgium.

MA STUDENTS IN CULTURAL STUDIES

As part of the Cultural Studies Master’s programme, we are organizing the first edition of the Short Film Competition for the Leuven DisABILITY Film Festival. The reason why we wanted to be part of this project is our passion for film and our interest in working around the crucial topics of inclusion and diversity. We are happy to see this project coming to life and are encouraged by the significant number of submissions. We hope that this competition becomes a regular part of the festival and continues to inspire young film professionals to explore the topic of disability.

Pelin Su Özdoğan, Amira El-Belasi and Zhuo Niu