Yekaterina Bordacheva graduated in 2006 from the economics department of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, where for several years now she has taught courses on advertising and public relations in the film industry. She has published articles on distribution of children's films in Russia and internationally and difficulties therein. Since 2013 she has been program director for the Russian Film Market, a member of the Cinema Foundation of Russia's council of experts, curator of the international film program for children and youth «Your cinema» IFCD «Spirit of fire», Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Ugra, and member of the European Children's Film Association.
ANASHKIN SERGEI, RUSSIA
Sergei Anashkin graduated from the film scholar department of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in 1989. He has authored numerous articles published in the popular press, encyclopedias, and scholarly journals, as well as the book Films of Asia and the Middle East (2015). He edited the collection Sakha: The World of Mysterious Nature and Myth (2017) published in English and Korean for a retrospective of Sakha film at the Busan International Film Festival. He is the winner of the Elephant award of the Russian Film Critics' Guide in the category Best Articles (2005), and he has received awards for his books in the categories History of Cinema (2016) and Popularization of Regional Cinema (2018). He is a member of the selection committees of the Cheboksary International Film Festival, the Kazan International Festival of Muslim Film, and the Kinoproba International Film Festival and School (Yekaterinburg). He is a member of the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema. His interests include modern Asian cinema. He is an expert on the indigenous cinema of Russia's eastern regions.
KNYT ERIK JENSEN, NORWAY
University studies in Oslo, France and the USSR – in history and French/Russian language. Graduated from London International Film School as director, cinematographer and producer, worked many years with Norwegian Broadcasting Cooperation (NRK). Has made numerous short films, documentaries, TV dramas and feature films, often related to history and people in the North: Finnmark between East and West (1985), Stella Polaris (1993), Burnt By Frost (1996), Ice Kiss (2008). His greatest commercial success was the documentary Cool & Crazy (2001), distributed worldwide. His works are widely awarded; in the US, Europe, Scandinavia and Russia. Presently working on the war epos Longing For Today.
STRUKOVA ALISA, RUSSIA
Alisa Strukova is a journalist, editor, and artist. In the early 1990s she served as an editor and correspondent for Radio Russia. Since 2002 she has worked as an editor for the Paradise film distribution compnay. From 2006 to 2015 she was editor-in-chief of the film magazine Rolan. From 2004 until 2008 she served as manager for the Moscow International Children and Youth Film Festival. Since 2003 she has worked for the Window to Europe Festival of Russian Film as festival manager, editor-in-chief of the festival's daily bulletin, press-conference moderator, and program curator. Since 2013 she has been program director for the Window to Europe Festival.
RASTORGUYEVA OLGA, RUSSIA
Olga Rastorguyeva has headed the Heritage of Chukotka Museum for ten years. Under her leadership the museum has carried out educational efforts and a television project. She actively collaborates with the Russian State Museum of Oriental Art, the State Darwin Museum, the State Contemporary History Museum, The D. S. Likhachev Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage, and the the Northeastern State University.
Alexei Vakhrushev graduated from the directing department of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in 1996. From his first works he has focused on his native land and the people living in it. From 1993 to 2001 he worked as a screenwriter and director of documentary films for the M-FILM studio in Moscow. From 2001 until 2008 he was affiliated with the Ethno-online company, where he served as director for the Russian National Geographic cycle and also carried out some projects of his own. Since 2009 he has been head producer and director at the studio High Latitudes in Moscow. In 2019, Vakhrushev was awarded a distinguished title by the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug for his significant contributions to preserving and supporting the region's cultural heritage. Vakhurshev is a member of the Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation, the Russian Film-Director's Guide, and the NIKA Academy of Cinema Arts. He has been recognized at film festivals at Russia and abroad. He is a fellow of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences.
SOLDATOVA SVETLANA, RUSSIA
Svetlana Soldatova is the creator of several documentary films. One of her major achievements was first prize for the film The Youngsters of Solovets (2002) at the International Barents TV Festival in Piteå. It was that idea of a media forum bringing TV journalists together that inspired her to found the international festival Northern Character, which has been held in Murmansk since 2008. She began working in Murmansk as a correspondent for the youth section of Murman State Radio and Television. In 2003 she moved to TV-21, where she created several television projects. In 2006 she launched the program Our Morning, which in 2011 won in the category of Best Infotainment Program in the TEFI-Region competition. Prizes at Russian film festivals have been awarded for her programs and films The Three Faces of Eve (2000), The Current (2001), A Conditional Conviction (2006), Cold Land, Warm Heart (2014), and A Taxi Driver's Day (2017). Since 2009 Soldatova has been head of the Murmansk television channel ТV-21.
KORSÆTH HILDE, NORWAY
Hilde Korsæth was born and raised in Levanger, Norway. In 1985 she entered the school of the Norwegian state broadcaster NRK and has subsequently worked for NRK television as a camera operator. In 2000 Korsæth founded the Tundra Film company. Her first documentary was Biznis in Zig-Zag (2002), about two women – one from Vadsø and the other from Murmansk – and the house of fashion they founded. In 2007 Korsæth presented the Norwegian public with the documentary From Vardø with Love. It tells of a small brass band from Norway who in 1959 bypassed all formalities about crossing the border and took an orchestra along the Barents Sea to Murmansk in order to put on a concert. Korsæth's documentary My Beloved (2011) tells of the former minister Jan Henry T. Olsen, who was stricken with Alzheimer's disease at the age of 51, and his wife Laila who stood by her husband during this difficult trial for the family. In 2017 and 2018 Korsæth presented two films based on the World War II stories: The Kiberg Odyssey and For All the Fathers Fought. The Kiberg Odyssey (2017) is an opera-documentary about the Norwegian partisans of the Finnmark region who fought on the side of the USSR, and who were forsaken by their command and their homeland. For All the Fathers Fought (2018) tells of a son's journey to discover the forgotten story of his father, a Soviet scout during World War II.
APLETINA IRINA, RUSSIA
Irina Apletina graduated in 2004 from the department of psychology of the University of the Russian Academy of Education. Since 2002 she has held the position of director at the cinema hall «Polyarniy». She works to develop film distribution in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Since 2017 she has been a member of the organizing committee for the Golden Raven International Arctic Film Festival. She takes an active role in the cultural and social life of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.