2009 Teddy Awards Jury

If you’re curious about whom the Jury members for this year awards are, then take a look at their brief bios.

Justine Barda born in 1970, is a programmer for the Seattle International Film Festival and a programming associate for the Sundance Film Festival. Previously she served as Director of Special Initiatives for Hedgebrook, a literary foundation and writers' retreat. She was also the director of Three Dollar Bill Cinema, which produces the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Barda has a Ph.D. in English with a specialization in Cinema Studies. She has written numerous film reviews and is currently working on a collection of short stories. She divides her time between Seattle and Paris.

Manny de Guerre born in 1972, works for the Side by Side International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, Saint Petersburg, Russia. She organizes and coordinates both their film programming and special events. She holds a degree in Cultural Studies and a Master’s degree in Russian Studies. Manny has carried out extensive research in Russia on the social, political and psychological significance of arts and culture. She has done volunteer work for a local LGBT community in the UK, designed and managed a regional community group’s website, as well as organizing various cultural events including an LGBT film society.

Rudi Fürstberger born in 1969, is the Programming Director of the Queer Film Festival Verzaubert, touring four German cities every year (Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, and Berlin) and the Fantasy Film Festival Berlin. Before working for Sundance and publishing several articles on film, Fürstberger took drama classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York. As a PR-Adviser he worked for the New York based agency Jeremy Walker & Associates, responsible for marketing such films as “American Psycho”, “Presque Rien”, “L.I.E”. and “Monster’s Ball”, as well as for NewFest, LGBT Film Festival, New York.

Stephen Kent Jusick born in 1969, is the Executive Director of MIX New York City Film Festival. He has been curating experimental film since 1989 and making films since 1992. In 1995 he founded Fever Films to distribute experimental film and video for public exhibition. Some of Jusick's Super-8 film work can be seen on the “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” DVD. Jusick's Super-8 documentation of bands include: the Scissor Sisters, Fischer Spooner, Le Tigre, Lou Reed, and Moby. In January 2001 he founded the CineSalon in New York City, which inspired John Cameron Mitchell’s film “Shortbus”, that Jusick appears in.

Mercedes Martín born in 1976, is the head of the International Film Festival on Gender and Sexual Diversity Llamale H, Uruguay. The festival was founded by Francisco Dalmao in 2006. It provides Uruguay with the opportunity to both participate in LGBT film culture and to exhibit queer cinema from all over the world. Martín Mercedes graduated with a degree in Psychology and Psycho-Drama.

Cosimo Santoro born in 1973, is the Programming Director of the Torino LGBT Film Festival, Italy. He graduated with a degree in Critical Film Theory in 1998. Since then he has published several articles and essays on film, collaborated with the Turin Media Center of Italian Independent Cinema, and worked for CinemAmbiente -Turin International Environment, Documentary in Europe, Cervino International, and Torino Film Festivals. He has curated queer programmes for the Madrid International, Batik Film Festival in Perugia, and for LGBT Festival Diversa Buenos Aires. He has served as a juror for LGBT Film Festivals at Frameline San Francisco, Mezipatra, and Queer Lisboa.

Kyle Stephan born in 1974, programmes for the British Film Institute’s London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. She served as Guest Curator for the 2008 MIX Brasil Film Festival in São Paulo and as the Curatorial Fellow at SF Camerawork Gallery in San Francisco. She is a Los Angeles based curator, producer, and author, specialized in Latin American cinema, experimental film, and media art. As a producer, she has successfully developed numerous media art projects that have exhibited at various international festivals and venues. She is currently producing a feature-length documentary on the history of the Feminist Art Movement in the US. Her critical writing on film, art, and culture has appeared in numerous publications.

Emina Trumic born in 1986, is one of the four organizers of the first Queer Sarajevo Festival, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Trumic is an activist in Organization Q, the only active LGBTIQ organization in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She studied English and German and works as a freelance translator for Q and other organizations and events. Currently she is studying Radiological Technology in Sarajevo. During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with others, she formed the caravan theater “Dromedar“ performing across Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as in Germany.

Now you know.