Aik Karapetian (1983) was born in Armenia, but 
raised and educated in Latvia. After having received 
his MA degree in film directing from the Latvian 
Academy of Culture,Aik Karapetian went on to study 
at the Académie Internationale des Arts ESEC in Paris, 
from which he graduated in 2008. At the Latvian 
National Film Festival, Lielais Kristaps 2007, his short 
film Disgust was awarded the title of Best Student 
Film. In 2011, Aik directed The Barber of Seville at 
Latvian National Opera, which was awarded Best 
New Production of the season, the next play being 
William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. People 
Out There is Aik's debut full-length feature film.

Alise Ģelze (1980) is a Latvian film producer and 
co-owner of the production company Tasse Film 
(Riga). She started with producing numerous 
commercials for Film Angels Studio where she also 
produced her first feature film Vogelfrei in 2007. 
With Tanka she has produced several short films 
and also the film Return of Sergeant Lapins (screened 
at CinEast 2012). Mother I Love You is her most 
successful film so far. Alise is also active as 
a DJ and at CinEast she will also perform 
at the Baltic Night at Melusina on 19 October.

Dariusz Jabłoński (1961) is a film director and 
producer. He was the 1st assistant director on 
Kieslowski's Decalogue. Initiator of the Polish Film 
Awards and founder of the Independent Film 
Foundation, promoting Polish film in Poland and 
abroad. Member of the European Producers Club 
and the European Film Academy, he is one of 
the leading independent producers in Poland.

Ewa Puszczyńska graduated from the English 
Literature Department of the University of Lodz. 
Since 1995 she has been working for Opus Film, 
an independent film production company in Poland; 
for the last 8 years as a producer and Head of 
Development, managing the development and 
execution of their projects. In 2007 she was 
appointed by the Minister of Culture as an expert 
for the Polish Film Institute. Ewa has produced 
films for Opus that have gained international 
recognition, among them Mr Kuka's Lessons, 
Spring 1941, and Zero. Recently she coordinated 
the development of Ari Folman's The Congress and 
produced Pawlikowski's new film Ida.

Ilinca Goia (1969) is a Romanian actor, whose acting 
debut is linked to the most prestigious Romanian 
student theatre company, Podul (The Attic). After 
graduating from the National University of Theatre 
and Film in 1992, she attended the courses of the 
"Old Globe" University in San Diego and appeared 
on its stage. She received a complete scholarship 
at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in 
New York. Her theatre experience was soon broadened 
when she performed on the Civic Light Opera's stage 
in San Diego, but also on Romanian stages, working 
with prestigious theatre directors such as Noel Craig, 
Elliot Swift and Andrei Serban. Her performance in Todd 
Salovey's Dybbuk was highly praised by the Critics Board 
in Los Angeles and obtained a Drama-Logue award. 
Although she has mainly performed and specialized in 
theatre, Ilinca also starred in various TV productions 
such as Roberta's Diaries (1999), Poor Man, Rich Man 
(2006 - 2007), Mothers' Doctors (2008), but also in 
features such as White Lace Dress (director: Dan Pita, 
1988) and The Moment of Truth (Andrei Blaier, 1991).

Kadri Kõusaar (1980) is an Estonian writer and director. 
Her media debut started at the age of 13 writing and 
drawing cartoons and comic strips for newspapers. 
She has since published numerous film, literature 
and music-related articles, as well as bestselling 
novels "Ego" (2001), "Free Rise" (2004) and "Alfa" 
(2011) in Estonia. She has also worked as a radio-DJ 
and TV-host, and has a university degree in Spanish 
language and literature. Her debut feature Magnus
(2007), about a father trying to help his suicidal son, 
was the first Estonian film ever included at the official 
selection of Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard, 
2007) and won main awards at Wiesbaden's "GoEast" 
and Prague's Febiofest. The Arbiter is Kadri's second 
feature that premiered in the East of the West 
programme in Karlovy Vary IFF in July 2013.

Katarzyna Klimkiewicz (1977) is a graduate of 
the Polish Film School in Lodz and an alumna of 
the Binger Film Lab in Amsterdam. Since 2000 she 
has collaborated with Polish National Television on 
many projects, including her documentary, Krystian 
Lupa's Labyrinth. Her documentary Wasserschlacht - 
The Great Border Battle co-directed with Andrew 
Friedman was awarded Berlin Today Award during 
Berlinale 2007. She is also president of Young 
Polish Filmmakers Association FILM 1,2, in 
connection with which she has been highly active 
politically to improve funding for emerging filmmakers, 
a member of the European Film Academy and an 
assessor for the Polish Film Institute. Her short film
 Hanoi-Warszawa (screened at CinEast 2011) won 
numerous awards and was voted the Best Short 
of 2010 by the European Film Academy. Flying 
Blind is her debut feature film.

Kati Kovacs (1963 in Helsinki) has published 
many graphic novels that have been translated 
into Swedish, Hungarian, French and German. 
Her work is characterized by themes like longing 
for freedom and a hunger for life, and by an 
uplifting sensuality and warm, satirical humour. 
She has won several awards, including the 
Sarjakuva Finlandia Prize (2011) for her book 
"Who's Afraid of Nenian Ahnav?". Being the 
artist and co-scriptwriter for Lisa Limone is her 
first encounter with the movie world.

Kristina Buožytė (1982) is a film and television 
direction graduate at the Lithuanian Academy of 
Music and Theater. Her feature debut The Collectress 
(her graduation work) won the Best Film award at 
the Lithuanian Silver Crane Awards (2008) and 
participated in more than 30 festivals. Her second 
feature Vanishing Waves won a number of prizes 
at many festivals, including four awards (Best Movie, 
Best Director, Best Script and Best Actress) at the 
Fantastic Fest in Austin, USA.

Leon Lučev (1970) was born in Šibenik, Croatia. 
He is one of the rare actors who is also a qualified 
car mechanic. He made his movie debut in a 1996 
Vinko Brešan's blockbuster comedy, How the War 
Started on My Island. As one of the most popular 
and talented Croatian actors he has played numerous 
roles since then, both of heroes and villains, in 
Croatian movies, including the film Cannibal Vegetarian 
screened at CinEast 2012. He appeared in Jasmila 
Žbanić's films Grbavica and On the Path, and won the 
Best Actor Award at Sarajevo FF for his performance 
in Buick Riviera. Circles is Lučev's first cooperation 
with the talented Serbian director Srđan Golubović.

Maria Sadowska is a well-known Polish singer, film 
director, composer, writer and producer. Working 
in the music industry from an early age, she has 
released so far 9 solo albums, and directed many 
music videos for top Polish artists as well as for 
her own songs. Her short films have been screened 
at many film festivals around the globe. Women's 
Day is Sadowska's debut feature film.

Márk Bodzsár (1983) graduated from Budapest 
University of Theater, Film and Television (Directing, 
Screenwriting and Film Aesthetics) and collected 
the Simó Sándor Award for the best diploma film 
for Bloody Mary in 2007. He has directed the episode 
To Breathe In of the omnibus film East Side Stories, 
which won first prize at the 9th Kamera Hungária in 
the drama category. Heavenly Shift is his first feature 
project premiered at Warsaw IFF only days before 
the screenings at CinEast.

Martichka Bozhilova is a Bulgarian producer (Agitprop 
production house) but also a lecturer at various 
European workshops and events in the field of 
documentary cinema, official ambassador of the 
European Documentary Network (EDN) in Bulgaria 
and co-founder and director of Balkan Documentary 
Center. She focuses on producing creative docu-
mentaries with an international potential and 
a strong author's style.

Metod Pevec (1958) is a Slovenian director and screenwriter,
writer/novelist and an actor. He studied philosophy and 
comparative literature and has appeared in several Slovenian 
and Yugoslav feature films and tv series. He has also written 
several novels and a collection of short stories. As a film 
director, Metod Pevec often focuses on portraying strong 
female characters in difficult life situations. So far he has 
made five successful feature films - Carmen (1995), Beneath 
Her Window (2003), Estrellita (2007), Good Night, Missy (2011) 
and Tango Abrazos (2012) - and several documentaries 
(including the award-winning Alexandrians).

Michal Kollár is a Slovak producer and co-founder 
of Fog'n'Desire Films production company. Among 
the films he produced: The Great Thaw by Viktor 
Tauš, The House by Zuzana Liová (in competition 
at CinEast 2011), The Gypsy Vote by Jaroslav Vojtek, 
August Fools by Taru Mäkelä or Clownwise by V. Tauš.