Chairperson of the jury.
Maria Douza is a film director and screenwriter with a career spanning feature films, documentaries, and television. She studied Byzantine Literature at the National University of Athens before training in directing and screenwriting at the National Film & TV School in England.
In addition to short and feature films, she has directed numerous commercials, promotional and cultural videos, and documentaries. Her debut feature film, The Tree and the Swing (2013), a Greek-Serbian co-production, screened at festivals worldwide, was distributed internationally, and was acquired by Netflix Europe. Her second feature, Listen (2022), a Greek-Bulgarian co-production, won awards at international festivals and secured worldwide distribution through Screenbound UK, now available on Amazon Prime UK.
Maria has also directed documentaries such as Thission Cinema of Athens (2017) for Canal+ and co-directed two history series for Hellenic Parliament TV and ERT. She is currently developing her next feature film, End Point, and scripts for two mini-series, Beautiful City and You Will Be Late.