Guests

Academic FERID MUHIĆ is a philosopher, poet and a mountaineer. He has been teaching philosophy (Modern and Contemporary Philosophy, Philosophical Anthropology, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Politics) at the Department of Philosophy, University "Ss. Cyril and Methodius" in Skopje. Now he is a professor emeritus at IBU and an MP in the Parliament of Republic of Macedonia. As a visiting professor on Contemporary Western Thought he has given lectures on many universities in Europe, USA, Malaysia and Singapore. Besides a great number of monographs in the area of philosophy, he is also writing poetry and prose, represented in philosophical and literary anthologies in many countries, and his work has been translated so far in ten languages.

GIAN MARIA TORE is a senior lecturer at the University of Luxembourg since 2011. He studied media and semiotics in Italy and France and his domains of specialization are semiotics of film and media, theory and analysis of film and aesthetics of film. Since 2010, he has regularly programmed conferences and screenings at the Cinematheque of Luxembourg for the spread of film theory and analysis to a wider audience (Université populaire du cinéma). Currently he is working on three new books from the areas of film, literature, comics, video games and media.

ROLAND VRANIK after graduation, has worked on several shorts and feature films as production manager and director's assistant and as a member of the Positive Production Workshop. In 2000 he received a grant from the Balázs Béla Stúdió and wrote and directed the experimental short film 'Dominator 2000' (2001). The same year he was director's assistant of 'Werckmeister's Harmonies' directed by Béla Tarr. His debut feature 'Black Brush' (Fekete kefe, 2005) has won a few awards, and 'Transmission' (Adás, 2009) showcased at more than 20 renowned film festivals worldwide,

TEDY NECULA directs and produces inspirational films. He has created over 40 feature and documentary projects targeting social projects and causes in Europe. Necula then had the chance to be in contact with people from vulnerable groups such as orphans, people with disabilities, LGBT or prison women, AIDS and communities at risk. His kind of philosophy makes him look for inspiration in the narrative of any subject, even in places where others find only dramas.

HANNAH PAVECK is a PhD Candidate in the Film Studies Department at King's College London. Her doctoral research focuses on the ethics, politics, and aesthetics of silence and listening in contemporary global art cinema. Drawing on the work of contemporary French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy, she interrogates strategies of silence in the films of Claire Denis, Elia Suleiman, and Abbas Kiarostami. Paveck received her M.A. in Cultural Studies from the University of Leeds, and holds a B.A. in English (Cultural Studies) from McGill University. With interests in continental, feminist philosophy and film-philosophy, Paveck is also a staff writer for the feminist film journal 'Another Gaze'.

NIALL KENNEDY is originally from Glasgow, Scotland. He obtained a PhD in Modern European Philosophy in the Centre for Research on Modern European Philosophy, Kingston University with a thesis titled "Deleuze and the Author". He also holds degrees from the universities of Glasgow and Oxford. His area of expertise is modern French Philosophy, with a particular interest in the philosophy of the arts, especially literature and cinema.

BOSKO KARADZOV holds a PhD in Philosophy and is a researcher in the areas od contemporary philosophy and pop-culture. He works as an assistant professor of Methodology, a philosophy teacher and educator in international educational programs on philosophy of art and pop-culture. He is an author of many scientific studies and authorized lectures on the aesthetics of digital comics, comics and political ideology, history of graphic literature, contemporary philosophy and digital education. Karadzov is co-author of the international educational program 'Art for Advocacy: comics as a tool for advocacy and education', in organisation of the International Debate Education Association – Southeast Europe.

DREN ZHERKA gathered his first experience in film at home in Kosovo, working in production companies and producing short films, music videos and documentary films. In 2003 he moves to New York working on few projects, and since 2007 he lives in Berlin - a city he calls a home. Besides studying European Ethnology at Humboldt University, Zherka has studied also film directing in the private film school Filmarche in Berlin. ECHO is his debut feature film from 2016, where we see him as a screnwriter, director and producer. Besides ECHO he has realized few short films, among which "The Wall" (Muri, 2009), based on J.P. Sartre "Le Mur" (Тhe Wall).

AMIRHOSSEIN ASGARI was born in 1978 in Tehran. He began his work in theater and after completing his education at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts entered in cinema and television. Assistant in more than 50 movies and series led him to make his first short film, the film called “Catnap" (Chort e Kotah, 2008). The film “Maybe another Time” (2012) is his second short film, which had succeed in domestic and international film festivals. BORDERLESS is his first feature film, that had its premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival and received a few awards.

ALEKSANDAR PROKOPIEV is a Macedonian novelist and essayist. He graduated and received his MA at the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade, Comparative Literature and Theory of Literature. He has published about fifteen works that have been translated into English, Turkish, Italian, Polish, French, as well as in all Balkan languages. He is involved in regional and European anthologies of short stories. He works as a full-time professor at the postgraduate Culturology Studies on University "Ss. Cyril and Methodius" in Skopje. Prokopiev is also for many years the artistic director of the international manifestation „Pro-За Balkan,“ and he is a member of the Balkan Academy of Arts. In recent years he has written scenarios, a few of which turned into films.

DAVID M. LARSSON is a philosophical counselor and practitioner based in Denmark. He earned his MA in Philosophy and Japanese at the Center for Subjectivity Research, University of Copenhagen, where he specialized in phenomenology, philosophy of mind, and Zen Buddhist philosophy. David currently runs a philosophical counseling practice from which he offers counselling to groups and individuals. He also conducts sessions for children in the nonprofit organization Rum for Undren [“Room for Wonder”], which aims to promote Socratic Wonder and critical thinking in schools and kindergartens across Denmark.