The International Film Festival (IFF) Art Film announces the jury of the International Feature Film Competition at its 32nd edition, taking place from 19 to 25 June 2026 in Košice. Feature films will be evaluated by Icelandic director and screenwriter Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, Slovak screenwriter and dramaturg Barbora Námerová, and Hungarian film critic and festival programmer Géza Csákvári.
The International Feature Film Competition is one of the festival’s four competitive sections. In each of them — feature films, Central European films, short films, and FIPRESCI — the jury awards a Blue Angel prize. A total of four Blue Angels are presented at the festival.
“We assembled the feature film jury to represent different professions and perspectives. Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson is a director whose films have screened in Venice and Toronto, and whose debut inspired a Hollywood remake. Barbora Námerová is a screenwriter whose scripts won the Golden Leopard in Locarno and the main prize at Serial Killer. And Géza Csákvári is a film critic and artistic director of the CineFest Miskolc festival, who has been mapping European cinema for over twenty years,” said the festival’s artistic director Martin Palúch.
Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson – a director whose debut inspired Hollywood
Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson (Iceland) is a director and screenwriter. He studied film at the prestigious Columbia University in New York. His feature debut Á annan veg (Either Way, 2011) screened at festivals worldwide and attracted so much attention that American director David Gordon Green remade it as Prince Avalanche, starring Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch. Following the film’s success, Sigurðsson was named one of ten most promising European directors by Variety (2012).
His third feature Undir trénu (Under the Tree, 2017), a darkly comic drama about a neighbourhood dispute, had its world premiere in the Orizzonti competition at the Venice International Film Festival and also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film became the second highest-grossing Icelandic film of the year and was selected as Iceland’s candidate for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson’s latest film is Northern Comfort (2023), his first English-language project. The comedy about a group of people trying to overcome their fear of flying had its world premiere at the SXSW festival. The film, featuring an international cast including Timothy Spall, was distributed in several countries.
Barbora Námerová – a screenwriter awarded in Locarno and at the Berlinale
Barbora Námerová (Slovakia) is a screenwriter and dramaturg. She studied screenwriting and dramaturgy at FAMU (Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts) in Prague. She lives and works in Prague.
Her screenwriting debut Filthy (Špina, 2017, directed by Tereza Nvotová) had its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and won the Czech Film Critics’ Award for Best Film 2017. The film Nightsiren (Svetlonoc, 2022), which she co-wrote with Tereza Nvotová, won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival — the highest award at one of the world’s oldest film festivals.
In 2025, she collaborated with Tereza Nvotová as a dramaturg on the film Father (Otec), which was presented at the Venice Film Festival. As the head writer, she created the six-part dramatic series Monyová (2025, directed by Zuzana Kirchnerová), which won the main Primetime Killer prize at the Serial Killer festival and was selected for the Berlinale Series Market 2026.
Géza Csákvári – film critic and artistic director of CineFest Miskolc
Géza Csákvári (Hungary) is a film critic, journalist and festival programmer. He completed his Master’s degree in Theatre Studies in 1999. As a journalist specialising in film, he has been active for over thirty years — writing for the leading Hungarian daily Népszava and the largest Hungarian film magazine VOX. He regularly covers the world’s most important film festivals, including Sundance, Berlinale, Cannes, Karlovy Vary and Venice.
Since 2009, he has served as the artistic director of the CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival, one of the most significant film events in Hungary. He is a member of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), the European Film Academy, and a voting member of the Golden Globes.
About the jury
The feature film jury at IFF Art Film 2026 brings together three distinct perspectives on the world of cinema. Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson is a director who knows the journey of a film from script through camera to festival premiere — his films have screened in Venice, Toronto and at SXSW. Barbora Námerová offers the perspective of a screenwriter and dramaturg whose texts shape stories from their very inception — the screenplay is the first element the jury considers when evaluating films. And Géza Csákvári, as the long-standing artistic director of CineFest Miskolc and a film critic, works daily with the question of what makes a film exceptional. The jury thus covers the entire chain from creation through writing to critical reflection.
The International Feature Film Competition is one of the competitive sections of the Košice film festival. The 32nd edition of IFF Art Film takes place from 19 to 25 June 2026. More information about the festival is available at www.iffartfilm.com. Cinepasses can be purchased at aff.cinepass.sk.
The 32nd IFF ART FILM is made possible with the support of:
Main organizer: ART FILM FEST s.r.o.;
Co-organizers: Mesto Košice, K13 – Košické kultúrne centrá, Visit Košice, ART FILM FEST, n.o.;
With the financial support of: Audiovizuálny fond;
The project was co-financed by the Košice Self-governing Region from the Terra Incognita program;
Main partners: CODES Brand House, H2O FUND SICAV;
Automotive partner: AUTO-VALAS;
Main media partners: TV JOJ, Pravda, Eurotelevízia;
Sponsors: U. S. Steel Košice, ANTIK Telecom, Kino Úsmev, LOKO TRANS Media, CORE Labs, Technická univerzita v Košiciach;
Technological partners: NOV, ZEBRA, Deutsche Telekom Systems Solutions Slovakia, DELTA OnLine, ARICOMA, Datacomp;
Official suppliers: DKC Veritas, PLOOM, DOMOS SLOVAKIA, Reštaurácia Contessa, Natura, Kinley, Julius Meinl, Aupark Shopping Center Košice;
Media partners: JOJ play, JOJ 24, Film Europe Media Company, Rádio KOŠICE, Aktuality.sk, Forbes, Startitup.sk, Korzár, Slovenka, SITA, TASR, Mediaboard, AHOJ TV, See & Go, Česko-Slovenská filmová databáze – ČSFD, Filmsk.sk, BigMedia, Kino Sterio, Košice City Guide, Košice V Skratke, MOJAkultura.sk, diva.sk, koktejl.sk, zenskyweb.sk;
Partners: JOJ Cinema, Jojko, DDDental, CK TUI ReiseCenter Slovensko, Taper, ECO Technologies, Letisko Košice, Rent2Eat, CPK Transport, iWish.sk, Kvety Garomi, Hair Factory Košice, MIHYRING;
Gastronomic partners: Pub u Kohúta, OhniskO Fire Dining & Brew Bar, MAIKO SUSHI, Kaviareň Slávia, El Nacional, Tabačka Kulturfabrik, Casa Trade – Casablanca cafe, Macarons Košice.
