The FEST 2025 masterclass program brings together a remarkable selection of international and national film professionals, with sessions scheduled between June 23 and 28. Among the highlighted names are Scandar Copti, Martin Percy, Filipe Carvalho, Gonçalo Galvão Teles, Guillermo Garcia-Ramos, Edison Alcaide, Nick Page, Chris King, John Cameron, Jens Petersen, Paul Davies, Kaveh Farnam, Philippe Rousselot, Katie Byron, and Brillante Mendoza. These experts offer valuable insights across directing, producing, art direction, editing, sound, music, and the film industry.
With its broad and diverse programming, FEST 2025 positions itself as a platform for inquiry and imagination, where cinema acts both as a mirror and an engine for transformation. Through stories of resistance, social struggles, and visions of the future, the festival remains a space where critical and poetic perspectives engage with the world.
Filipino director and producer Brillante Mendoza is known for his raw and realistic style that exposes social and moral tensions in urban Philippine life. He gained international recognition with Kinatay, which earned him the Best Director Award at Cannes in 2009. Palestinian director Scandar Copti, an Oscar nominee, rose to prominence with his debut feature Ajami (2009), winner of the Camera d’Or at Cannes, and more recently with Happy Holidays (2024), awarded at the Thessaloniki Festival. Portuguese-Brazilian actor Edison Alcaide, a former FEST participant, returns to share his journey to starring in Disney+’s Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes (2025), portraying the innocent Brazilian man killed on his way to work in London.
British post-production supervisor Polly Duval, credited with films such as Notes on a Scandal (2006), One Day (2011), and Colette (2018), plays a crucial role in completing diverse cinematic productions. British director Pete Travis, known for Vantage Point (2008) and Dredd (2012), started his career as a social worker before dedicating himself to cinema. Portuguese director and producer Gonçalo Galvão Teles is recognized for works like Gelo (2016) and Senhor X (2010), making significant contributions to national cinema.
French cinematographer Philippe Rousselot, Oscar winner for A River Runs Through It (1992), is renowned for his work on Interview with the Vampire (1994) and Big Fish (2003). British director Martin Percy, a BAFTA and Emmy winner, is known for interactive films and digital learning projects, pioneering AI use in works like Lifesaver and The Bali Temple Explorer. Iranian independent producer and screenwriter Kaveh Farnam is widely recognized for his culturally committed and socially conscious projects, notably collaborating with Mohammad Rasoulof on There is No Evil (2020), winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Festival, and A Man of Integrity (2017), awarded in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section.
On June 26, FEST’s Directors Hub will host three unmissable panels tackling current issues: The Impact of AI on the Present and Future of Film; Safety, Consent and Power Dynamics: The Actor and the Film Industry; and Ethics on Screen: The Role of Festivals in the Moral Landscape.
