2025 JURY WINNER
“It has been a privilege to watch this curation of films. We’ve witnessed such contrast: boldness in construction and form, quiet intimacy and the domestic, the opening of historical wounds, and urgent social cinema. We’ve found the regional flavours rich and insightful. And while every film in the line-up had something to say to our minds, the winning film not only spoke to our hearts but also inhabited our dreams and invaded our thoughts from the moment we first watched it. For its ability to portray such a contemporary state of mind, at this exact moment in history — what it must feel like to want to escape one’s own body at the risk of so much — without dwelling on it or playing for laughter or tears — we decided to give our top award to… EL JOCKEY, directed by Luis Ortega.”
“Special mention goes to the film MOLT LLUNY which bravely explores delicate and contemporary themes, like immigration and one’s self discovery and sexual orientation, without being heavy handed, no one theme or issue cannibalising another. Its leading man, Mario Casas, alone deserves a prize and so does the filmmaker Gerard Oms, who chose him to play against type in this film, which features the Netherlands as one of the film’s leading characters.”
Vincent Jaskowski-Prowse, Leigh Singer, E. Nina Rothe
VINCENT JASKOWSKI-PROWSE
Vincent Jaskowski-Prowse is an award-winning marketing leader and currently Head of Marketing for Attitude Magazine and Rolling Stone UK.
Formerly in global brand roles at Unilever, he has spearheaded purpose-driven campaigns for some of the world’s most recognisable consumer brands, including Dove and Omo/Persil.
Alongside his commercial work, Vincent has profiled leading voices in film, theatre, politics, and culture for Attitude. His lifelong passion for Spanish and Latin American cinema began during his first-class undergraduate degree in Modern Iberian and Latin American Regional Studies at University College London, and Complutense University of Madrid. He divides his time between London and southern Spain.
LEIGH SINGER
Leigh Singer is a film journalist and video essayist for international publications, websites and Blu-ray labels including Sight & Sound, The Guardian, The Independent, Little White Lies, Second Sight Films and the British Film Institute.
He is a programme advisor for the London Film Festival and the London Korean Film Festival and was Senior International Programmer for the Red Sea Film Festival. He currently oversees audiovisual MA dissertations at the UK’s National Film and Television School.
E. NINA ROTHE
E. Nina Rothe in a journalist and blogger who was born in Florence, Italy and grew up in New York City.
She has written for Vogue Italia, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Cosmopolitan Middle East, The Art Newspaper, Empire Arabia, Tehelka, The National, Bespoke, Thrive Global, Firstpost, and the HuffPost. Nina has also moderated masterclasses and public talks with the likes of Ralph Fiennes, Meg Ryan, Annemarie Jacir, Haifaa al-Mansour, Andrei Konchalovsky and French photographer Brigitte Lacombe.
Lately, she has been contributing to Screen International, with a focus on cinema from the MENA region, but also fashion and art publication Flaunt Magazine. Nina now lives in London and runs her own website at ENinaRothe.com.
