Åsa Lucander
Åsa Lucander is a director, illustrator, and animator originally from Finland. She relocated to London in 2001 and joined the renowned Aardman studio in Bristol in 2014. With a background rooted in illustration, Åsa’s passion naturally evolved toward moving images. Her storytelling is enriched by her diverse talents in design and animation, which she skillfully applies across various creative styles, including 2D, stop motion, and CGI.
Åsa has a unique flair for hand-rendered drawings and explores different textures and mediums throughout her work. She delights in blending humor with melancholy and excels at bringing characters of every shape and form to life through compelling scripts and inventive visions. Her innovative approach combines music, authentic dialogue, film segments, and hand-drawn characters in creative ways.
She has directed numerous shorts, including her award-winning film “Lost Property,” along with heartwarming commercial films for clients such as Blue Peter, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Project Everyone, and Childline. Her recent work includes directing the music video for Coldplay’s track “Daddy,” which has garnered numerous awards.
Sinem Sakaoglu
Sinem Sakaoglu is an inquisitive and playful filmmaker with a passion for stories that emotionally connect, visually appeal, and technically amaze. She works across all formats and techniques, from feature films and shorts to commercials and music videos, utilizing stop motion, CGI, live action, and mixed techniques.
Her journey began with her first stop-motion short “Eva” (2005) and led to directing Germany’s first stop-motion feature film, “Sandman and the Lost Sand of Dreams.” Sinem has contributed to many award-winning films such as “Bo,” “The Three Robbers,” and “Hadia,” earning numerous international accolades for best film, best director, and best animation. She is currently developing her next animated feature, “Kara,” which has already received Eurimages and other festival prizes for its development, production design, and script.
Since 2011, Sinem has directed high-end commercials featuring stop-motion and visual effects-heavy concepts. Her works are known for their exceptional production design, technical complexity, and fun factor. Comfortable with both in-camera and digital VFX, she seamlessly blends animation with live action, employing techniques like motion control, miniatures, and scaling. Sinem currently resides in Hamburg, Germany.
Susanna Jerger
Susanna Jerger is a skilled puppet fabricator, model maker, and scenic painter specializing in stop-motion animation and miniatures. She has collaborated with prestigious studios across Europe and the US, including Shadowmachine, LAIKA, Aardman, and Pedri Animation. Currently, Susanna is based in Berlin, where she lives with her partner and two children.
Her impressive credits include working on several Wes Anderson movies, such as “Asteroid City” and “Isle of Dogs” (Miniatures), as well as “Missing Link” by Chris Butler (Puppet Fabricator) and “Pinocchio” by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson (Scenic Artist). Susanna’s expertise and artistic contributions continue to enrich the world of stop-motion animation.
SİYAD Jury
Aslı Ildır
After studying Political Science and Film Studies at Boğaziçi University, she completed her master’s degree in Cinema-Television at Bahçeşehir University. She completed her PhD on Film Studies and Visual Culture at Antwerp University and Koç University. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow at Kadir Has University, Department of Radio, Television and Cinema and works as an editor at Altyazı Cinema Magazine, where she is on the editorial board. In 2017, he was selected for the Talent Campus programmes of Berlin and Sarajevo Film Festivals as a film writer.
Cumhur Cambazoğlu
Born in Beykoz, Istanbul. He studied at the Italian High School and Istanbul University Press and Broadcasting School. He started his journalism career at Hürriyet in 1984. In 1987, he joined Cumhuriyet Newspaper. After working as a reporter and editorial secretary for a while, he became the editorial director of Cumhuriyet Magazine, writing about cinema, music and sports. Between 1994 and 2001, he prepared the weekly music page at Cumhuriyet without interruption. He produced programmes for Cumhuriyet Radio. A member of SİYAD (Society of Cinema Writers) since 1993, Canbazoğlu’s music and cinema articles have been published in7 Days on TV, Hürriyet Çocuk, Beyazperde, Antrakt, Sinema, Altyazı, Nokta, Radikal, Milliyet Sanat, Total, Shaft, Billboard Türkiye, Arka Pencere Mecmua, Sinema Seven Mecmua, sinemamuzik.com.
Hasan Nadir Derin
Born in 1975 in Ankara. After graduating from Gazi University, Department of Industrial Engineering, he completed his master’s degree at the same department of Middle East Technical University. Since the late 1990s, his articles on cinema have been published on websites such as Beyazperde and Pera Cinema, and in various printed media such as Altyazı Cinema Magazine, Antrakt Weekly Cinema Newspaper, Fotofilm Magazine, Rabarba Magazine, and Cinema Maniacs, the website he founded himself. His articles were regularly published in Gölge e-Dergi during its publication period and he served as a member of the editorial board of the same magazine. He still makes weekly film reviews in Günce programme on Kanal B, his articles are published weekly on sinemamuzik.com and monthly in Milliyet Sanat magazine. He also actively reviews films on social media. Since 2015, he has been a member of the Cinema Writers Association (SİYAD).