2025 International Jury

Shahana Goswami is a versatile Indian actress with a career spanning 20 years. She has acted in more than 35 projects in India and internationally. Known for her roles in Rock On!! (2008), Firaaq (2009), A Suitable Boy (2020), Bombay Begums (2021), Zwigato (2023) and most recently Santosh (2024), Shahana has made her presence felt. She has won a number of awards for her performances both in India and internationally, and has worked in films in four different languages and from different parts of the world. Having lived in Paris for four years in the middle, Shahana is currently based in Mumbai, India.

Al Cossar is a Melbourne-based film curator and screen culture professional born in New Zealand. He is currently Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Film Festival.

After graduating from the University of Auckland in Film and Marketing, Al continued to train as an editor, working locally in post-production supervision. Since moving to Melbourne in 2004, he has worked across a wide array of screen culture locations, working within Public Programs at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), as Program Director for the Portable Film Festival, as a founding Programmer and subsequent Board Member for the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, and as Festival Manager for Flickerfest, among others. He has also previously been a television film critic for ABC News Breakfast.

Al has been Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Film Festival, one of the largest and longest-running film festivals in the world, since its 2019 edition. He has worked at the festival across multiple roles since joining in 2011.

Ani Hoo graduated in 2012 with a Diploma in New Media, driven by a strong interest in the media industry and a desire to find her path within it. She joined Mocha Chai Laboratories in 2014 as a Digital Media Mastering Specialist, later becoming Project Manager. During her six years there, she worked primarily on feature films and festival titles. The experience proved pivotal in shaping her career in post-production, supported by the mentorship of Mocha Chai founder Chai Yee Wei and access to facilities equipped with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. This environment gave Ani a strong grounding in technical standards and workflows for cinema.

In 2020, Ani joined the Fox Network Group under the Walt Disney Company as an Editor. She was responsible for preparing and processing assets for linear and non-linear services for broadcast and digital media uses in the Asia Pacific region. She then worked at a subsidiary of TBWA, handling localisation and post-production for major international technology campaigns, managing deliverables under tight timelines while ensuring technical and creative quality.

Ani is currently with Little Red Ants, where she produces post for commercial and short film projects. In parallel, she operates as a post-production supervisor on feature films, including Viet and Nam by Truong Minh Quy and Crocodile Tears by Tumpal Tampubolon. She has developed a strong ability to adapt across different environments: agency and commercial projects demand fast turnarounds and resourceful solutions, while feature films require a slower, more collaborative process with a focus on detail and collective effort. Ani has built a reputation for problem-solving under pressure and maintaining high standards in picture, sound, and subtitles. She believes that precision and quality are essential at every stage of post-production, whether in a quick preview or a final release.

Tearepa Kahi is a Māori filmmaker who started his career with two international award–winning short films, Tauā: War Party and The Speaker. His feature film directing credits include Mt. Zion, Poi E: The Story of Our Song, and Muru, which won the Cultural Diversity Award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2022. Tearepa has directed over 40 documentaries and helped write Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Tearepa’s new feature film Sgt. Haane is a World War II film that focuses on the Māori Battalion and will be released in 2026.

Dan Villegas is an award-winning director, cinematographer and producer based in Manila, the Philippines. He began his career as a director of photography, winning the Balanghai Trophy for Best Cinematography three times – in 2008, 2010 and 2024. He made his directorial debut with the coming-of-age film Mayohan (Maytime) in 2010, which won multiple awards at the 2010 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, including Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Music, and Best Actress.

Dan directed the sleeper hit English Only, Please, which earned him Best Director at the 2014 Metro Manila Film Festival. He went on to helm several box-office successes for major Philippine studios, including The Break-Up Playlist, How to Be Yours, and Always Be My Maybe. His 2018 film Exes Baggage grossed over USD7 million worldwide. Dan also directed episodes for both seasons of Almost Paradise for Electric Entertainment and worked on the Amazon Prime hit Cattleya Killer. He directed the hit series Replacing Chef Chico, Netflix’s first Filipino original series.

In 2017, Dan co-founded boutique production company Project 8 Projects with fellow filmmaker Antoinette Jadaone. Under this banner, he has produced numerous blockbuster and award-winning films. Notable titles include The Missing, which was the Philippines’ official entry to the 2024 Oscars; Sunshine, winner of the Crystal Bear at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival; and Diamonds in the Sand, which won the White Mulberry Award at the 2025 Far East Film Festival. He also produced the 2014 indie hit That Thing Called Tadhana, made on a modest USD45,000 budget and grossing over USD2.6 million.

Dan holds a master’s degree in entrepreneurship from the Ateneo de Manila University where he teaches feature film directing and cinematography.