2026 Noho cinefest jury

featured jury

Jacek Krawczyk

Film and theatre director, independent filmmaker, choreographer,
actor-dancer, performer, and member of the Dance and Ballet Section of
the Association of Polish Artists of Theatre, Film, Radio, and Television.
Creator and director of short films that have won awards at independent
festivals, and recipient of the Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture.

Danica Lee Clauser

Danica is a New York-based actor and filmmaker, with credits that include the viral short film “Trick or Treat 2!” and the award-winning horror pilot “Inkblack,” where she earned “Best Actress” at the New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival. She is the co-founder of Bare Bones Filmmakers, an indie arts collective dedicated to micro-budget independent film. Their work has shown across the country, including at Cinequest, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, and our very own New York and North Hollywood Cinefest, and can be viewed online through Film Shortage and Beyond the Short.

Denis Mityushev

Independent short filmmaker, serving on the jury with a focus on storytelling and cinematic execution.

Napaht Na Nongkhai

Napaht Na Nongkhai is a New York-based Thai actress and multidisciplinary artist. A graduate of The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, and Interlochen Arts Academy, her work spans stage and screen, with credits in Off-Broadway theatre and independent film. She made her professional debut in Thailand at age 15 as the youngest lead in Evil Queen: The Musical, and has since expanded into writing, co-creating, and composition, including collaboration with Grammy and Academy Award-winning artist Luis Resto. She also has a background in music, with recognition from a national Yamaha Music Festival in Thailand.

Pedro Vasconcelos

Pedro was born in Porto, Portugal, in 1965. When he was young, he wanted to become an architect, but it didn’t take long for him to realize that his future was in communication and moving images. He worked for a few newspapers and radio stations, and before long he was at RTP, Portuguese national public television. There, he joined and developed several projects and eventually began directing my own shows.

Later, he took a detour into the distribution industry, still focused on brand communication, until he decided to dedicate himself full‑time to Completa Mente, Lda, the company he founded. Today, he can proudly look back on seven television shows, a feature film, several short films and documentaries, more than 80 international awards, some of them for writing, and even three books.

Veronika Esslinger

Veronika Esslinger is an award‑winning actress, filmmaker, and writer whose work has been recognized at international film festivals. Trained in Method Acting within the Lee Strasberg tradition, she creates psychologically driven films with a strong visual and emotional signature. Her projects have received numerous awards worldwide, and she brings extensive experience in directing, screenwriting, and performance to her evaluation of film and visual storytelling.

Alice Benoit

Alan Rexroth

Alan lives and works as a Producer, Director and Photographer in New York City and Berlin. Numerous travels to the most remote places and his involvement in various socially engaged projects shaped his view of the world and are strongly reflected in his work. He is currently working on the feature documentary #WHEREAREYOU about the limits of digital communication.

festival jury

Aline Salloum

Aline Salloum is an NYC-based actress and creative from Beirut, Lebanon whose performance
credits span a range of countries. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts NY and
a member of the 2018/2019 Academy Company, her stage credits include 3Penny Opera
directed by George Abud at Theater at St. Jean’s, The Misanthrope with Molière in the Park,
Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World by Yussef El Guindi at the Public Theatre, The
Meltdown, which she co-created and performed at Rattlestick Theater, Only Remains Remain,
by Freya Powell performed at MoMA PS1 and Gratitude by Oren Safdie at Urban Stages.
Alongside her stage career, Aline continues her on-screen work, with her most recent lead role
in Synthetic, directed by Ismail Albukhari.

Riccardo Maffioli

Shamil Aliyev

Silvano Perozic

Silvano Perožić is a Croatian multidisciplinary artist — a painter, an active registered composer, and multi awarded short‑film director known for the shorts “V” (2006) and “Q1” (2022) .
As both composer and director, he designs visuals and music as a single organism.
His artistic philosophy emphasizes research, experimentation, and harmony between image and
music.