2021 Jury
London Film Week

Head Of Theatrical, Lionsgate

Matt Smith

Matt is the Head of Distribution at Lionsgate, a role which oversees all aspects of theatrical distribution.

Matt Smith started in the film industry at EDI (now comScore) in May 1994 as Executive Assistant. After a year researching Box Office he went on to work for PolyGram in the Sales Department where he stayed for the next four years. Just before PolyGram’s demise he moved to Pathé as Sales Manager in 1999, staying for five years. After a brief time at Tartan as Head of Sales, he moved to fulfill a similar position at Lionsgate in September 2005, where he has since been promoted to Head of Distribution, a role which oversees all aspects of theatrical distribution.

Matt is a member of BAFTA and is on the Industry Advisory Board of the National Youth Film Academy, and occasionally gives talks at industry forums, film educational institutes and festivals.

Notable films worked on:

LA LA LAND
THE HUNGER GAMES franchise
EDDIE THE EAGLE
CHICKEN RUN
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
NOTTING HILL
LOCK, STOCK & TWO SMOKING BARRELS
SPICEWORLD THE MOVIE
TRAINSPOTTING

Film Programmer

Shira MacLeod

Recently she has been programming for the EUNIC Short Film Festival and for Raindance Film Festival.

Shira is an industry professional with 16 years experience running repertory cinemas and is most noted for building audiences for international film festivals. She set up and was the Director of Cinema at Regent St Cinema for 5 years and was Director of Cinema at Riverside Studios for 11 years. She also programmed The Arnolfini for 2 years and worked as a consultant for Dochouse. Recently she has been programming for the EUNIC Short Film Festival and for Raindance. She originally trained as a contemporary dancer and worked professionally for 10 years.
Director, Writer

Sophia Car-Gomm

Sophia’s films have screened at London Film Week, London Short Film Festival, Raindance, Cambridge Film Festival and the BFI Southbank. She is now commissioned by Siglo de Oro to write a libretto based on a Greek myth.

Sophia Carr-Gomm started out as an actor in Shetland (BBC), World’s End (BBC) & Mr Selfridge (ITV). But in 2017 she turned her attention to writing and directing. Her first film, 'The Wider Sun’ premiered at the BFI Southbank and won ‘Best Director’ at Oslo Film Festival in 2018. Her subsequent film 'Nobody’s Darling’ starring Karla Crome (Carnival Row, Misfits) screened at London Film Week 2019 and London Short Film Festival 2020 to name a few. Following that, her film ‘Mine’ has screened at Raindance 2020, Très Court 2021 and was selected for the 'Shiny Awards' in London. She
was recently featured on the front page of Pitch magazine as New Talent
for her directing work. She was recently commissioned by the Fieri Consort to write and direct a film. This music-film collaboration follows the journey of an old man living alone, as he travels mentally, physically and spiritually through the four chapters of music in search of home. She is currently commissioned by Siglo de Oro to write the libretto for the composer Ben Rowarth’s next music piece which uses the myth of Cassandra and the Trojan Horse as an allegory for climate change.
BFI Film Academy Young Programmer

Nick Willis

Nick Willis is a writer, director and film programmer based in London.

Nick Willis is a writer, director and film programmer based in London. At age 18, Nick was selected as a BBC New Creative and was then commissioned by BBC Arts and Arts Council England to write and direct his debut short film Speak for Herself. He works as a BFI Film Academy Young Programmer, most recently curating a panel discussion on collective filmmaking as part of the 2021 BFI London Film Festival. In 2019, Nick performed in a production of Ageless by Benjamin Kuffuour at the National Theatre and since then he has been working in production for Theatre and TV. He splits his time between all of this and studying for a BA in Production Arts for Screen at Wimbledon College of Arts, UAL.
Director, Editor

Benoît Fry

Benoît lives in Montreal, Canada, where he works as video editor for a production company, is shooting a VR 360 film and has just finished an exhibition of his photography series “Faces of Cape Breton”.

In the 90’s in France, Benoit Fry would direct short films in VHS with his friends. This oriented him towards studying cinema and getting his University degree in Film Studies in 2002. That is when he discovered his love for darkroom film developing. He’s since worked on music videos, short films, super 8 projects, and has done years of editing for documentaries and fiction. Today, he lives in Montreal, Canada, where he works as video editor for a production company, is shooting a VR 360 film and has just finished an exhibition of his photography series “Faces of Cape Breton”.
Director

Eva Weber

Eva is a German/London based director. Her multi-award-winning films have screened at 100+ festivals, including Sundance, Telluride, SXSW, Hot Docs, BFI London, Sheffield, IDFA, and broadcast on US and international television.

Eva Weber is a German/London based director. She has found acclaim with films like the 27-minute documentary “The Solitary Life of Cranes” (“one of the most absorbing documentaries of the year” – The Observer), the mid-length film “Black Out” (“An eye-opening doc … moves seamlessly between the straightforward and the poetic” – The Hollywood Reporter) and the fiction short “Field Study” (nominated for the European Film Awards). Eva’s multi-award-winning films have screened at 100+ festivals, including Sundance, Telluride, SXSW, Hot Docs, BFI London, True/False, Sheffield and IDFA, and broadcast on US and international television. Eva is the recipient of a Sundance Institute Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award; and a Fellow of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, Directors Lab, and Composers & Sound Design Lab.

Following prizes are Awarded:

Short Films
Best Short
Jury Prize

Feature Films
Best Film
Jury Prize
Best Director
Best Acting
Best Screenplay