JURY
Chris Overton
Jury Committee
An Academy Award® winning director/producer, founder of Slick Films, and a member of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
He began his career as an actor working with directors such as Joel Schumacher and Roman Polanski.
Chris made his directorial debut with 'The Silent Child’, for which he received the
Academy Award® for Best Live Action Short, as well as over 50 other international
awards with ‘The Silent Child' and his second short, ‘Leader’. His 3rd short film ‘in too
deep’ has just been completed and will be released later in 2022.
Chris has also directed commercials. His Huawei Story Sign Christmas campaign,
won seven Lions at Cannes, eight One Show awards, three D&ADs, and a Grand Prix at Eurobest.
Through his company Slick Films, Chris advocates first-time filmmakers in bringing their stories to life.
Kia Brooks
Jury Committee
Deputy Director at The Gotham Film & Media Institute (formerly IFP).
She oversees the organization’s programming, membership and marketing. Prior to her role as deputy Director, she was the Director, Membership & Strategic Partnerships at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP.
She oversaw the Media Center’s general operations, event programming, membership and strategic partnerships. Before joining IFP, she worked in publicity and special events for over five years at revered companies such as Focus Features, Tribeca Film Festival, and Oscilloscope Laboratories working on theatrical releases, awards campaigns and special events titles include “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Anna Karenina,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Time is Illmatic,” among others. Kia Brooks received a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Public Communications from American University. She loves connecting people and building community.
Sam French
Jury Committee
An Oscar-nominated filmmaker and founding director of the documentary production company Development Pictures, Sam’s work has appeared on HBO, BBC, CNN, Channel 4 News, Al Jazeera, National Geographic, and other broadcast outlets.
In addition to multiple award-winning documentaries, Sam wrote and directed the Academy Award® nominated short film “Buzkashi Boys,” which was the first narrative film since 2001 to be filmed entirely on location in Afghanistan.
Sam believes in the power of storytelling to connect people across different cultures, and that if we share our stories, we can change the world.
Anita Svingen
Jury Committee
Festival Director, Kortfilmfestivalen / The Norwegian Short Film Festival, Academy Awards® Qualifying.
Anita joined The Norwegian Short Film Festival, Norway’s second longest-running film festival for the first time in 2006 and is now Executive and Programming Director. She worked previously for many years in TV production and was Head of Programming for Norwegian SBS Radio.
She is also a member of several boards, including the Oslo Fusion International Film Festival and Norway Festivals.
The Norwegian Short Film Festival was founded in 1978 and presents the latest Norwegian short films and documentaries. The festival is an important arena for debuting young filmmakers in Norway and is considered one of the most important screening venues for independent short films and documentaries among established filmmakers.