SEEfest 2026 - Save the Date! April 29th - May 6th

Meet the Team

Board of Directors

A dedicated group of professionals ensuring the future of SEEfest.

Vera Mijojlić

Founder of SEEfest

Vera Mijojlić is a cultural producer who founded the South East European Film Festival (SEEfest) in Los Angeles in 2006. She has curated major film retrospectives for the UCLA Film Archive and Austin Film Society, and initiated a national tour of landmark short films with the Los Angeles FilmForum, with select films screening at the Pacific Film Archive, Harvard Film Archive, National Gallery of Art, and MoMA. In addition to the 2018 Women in Leadership Award from the City of West Hollywood, she has received multiple recognitions from the State of California, as well as the County and City of Los Angeles.

In demand as a creative adviser for independent filmmakers, she also dedicates her time as a guest-lecturer at universities, and produces scores of industry events, workshops, festival trailers, and conference panels. Vera began her career as a cultural reporter and film critic in Sarajevo, and received a degree in journalism from the University of Belgrade.

Jacob Segal

Investors Research Group

Jacob Segal, Principal of Investors Research Group (IRG) is an active investor/advisor to Southern California-based companies with sales in the $ 3- 20 million dollar range. His investment experience includes transactions with companies in the airport concessions business, financial service marketing, wire and cable manufacturing, radio programming distribution, medical devices and bakery equipment. Additionally, Mr. Segal participated in the acquisition, management, and disposition of over $250 million in real estate investments, including apartment buildings, shopping centers, and office buildings. Mr. Segal received his Bachelor’s in economics and statistics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Selma Selmanagić

S2 Components

Selma Selmanagić – Born in former Yugoslavia, Selma Selmanagić emigrated to the United States during the wars that ripped apart her country in the 1990s. Over the course of nearly twenty-five years in California, Selma has worked in the computer components industry and established her own company, S2 Components. For Selma, SEEFest is an outlet for marrying her passion for the culture of Southeast Europe with her desire to propagate that culture in her adopted country. Further, in bringing the region’s unique perspectives, storytelling traditions, and visual sensibilities to the greater Los Angeles community the films in SEEFest add to our region’s rich mix of cultures and contribute to its dialogue on our common humanity.

Robert S. Spich

UCLA Anderson (ret.)

Robert S. Spich is professor emeritus, Global Economics and Management at UCLA Anderson School of Management where he served as faculty director for the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER).   The success of that program led to the launch of the Center for Global Management. Spich co-founded, in partnership with the USC CIBER, the Asia Society and the Urban Land Institute, the Pacific Cities Sustainability Initiative. He has worked with the Brookings Institution, the Los Angeles Chamber and the Mayor’s Office to develop the Los Angeles Regional Export Council, as well as a consultant for companies that include Hughes Space and Communications, Northrop-Grumman, ENEL of Italy, CCMC of Chile, Amgen, Akzo-Nobel, Disney, Isabella Fiore, Sierra Systems and the Getty Conservation Institute. He had served in the Peace Corps in Chile and at the Agency for International Development in Washington, D.C. He completed both his MBA and Ph.D. at the University of Washington, D.C.

Debra Fink

The Hollywood Reporter

Debra Fink is the Managing Director, Entertainment in the Advertising Department of The Hollywood Reporter. She previously served as executive director of independent film and talent, and international sales. Her strong industry and advertiser relationships stem from her many years as executive vice president of Screen International. Debra continues to be involved with many entertainment organizations and trade group such as BritWeek, and BAFTA, and international arthouse and independent film distributors, filmmakers, and film festivals. She holds a degree in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin.

Hipolito Munoz

Board of Directors

Hipolito Munoz is the Co-Founder, with Jessica Just, of Creating Creators, school-based media training program for students in school districts across California. His diverse activities include: managing editor/publisher of the Latino Weekly Review, Latinos-At-Sundance, and Landscape-Latino online portals. He champions cross-cultural collaboration between the Latino community and multi-cultural organizations like SEEfest, as a way to develop a more integrated cultural community of diverse ethnic groups that exist in Southern California.

He is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach.

Joachim Zell

Board of Directors

Joachim Zell is the Head of HDR Content Workflow for BARCO, Hollywood. His expertise is in production and post-production workflows, ACES, and Imaging
Science. For 12 years, he served as the vice president of Technology at EFILM/Deluxe, where he designed and monitored production workflows from on- set production until the movie release. Previously, he was the VP of Advanced Technology at Technicolor Thomson, Burbank, CA, and before that he was a marketing manager Americas at Grass Valley Thomson. During his time in London, he worked as a product manager of digital film systems for Pandora Int. He supports SMPTE as Hollywood Section Manager and serves on the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Technology Committee team that defined the ASC CDL standard and holds the position of ACES Project Vice Chair at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. In February 2020, he became a board member of the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA). He holds a master’s degree in film and television engineering from “Fachhochschule Wiesbaden” Germany, and was a co- writer on 4× image processing patents.

Michael Tosti

Board of Directors

Michael Tosti is a production engineering expert who spent 32 years in the theatrical, broadcast, and streaming digital post production industry. He is currently working as the Director of Production Engineering at IDC-LA for the past 3 years. Before that, Mike spent 18 years as the Manager of Production Technology at Technicolor Creative Services, and prior to that as the Director of Technology at Cinesite Visual Effects. Mike started his post production career as a Software Engineer and customer support engineer on the Cineon Digital Film System at Eastman Kodak. He is a long-term member of SMTPE and Visual Effects Society.

Rosanna Marino

Board of Directors

Rosanna Marino serves as Chief Operating Officer of the International Digital Centre. She oversees the day-to-day operations, sales, and marketing of IDC LA and is based in the International Digital Centre’s new state-of-the-art Los Angeles facility. In this role, she brings over 20 years of media & entertainment experience with a focus on post-production in features and television. During this time she has grown her relationships and reputation for creative excellence within the Hollywood community. Prior to joining IDC Rosanna served as Senior Vice President, Sales and marketing for Fotokem where she was responsible for business development and establishing accounts with CBS, MTV/Nickelodeon, Fremantle Media, VIACOM, Disney, and Disney ABC. Rosanna’s expertise in traditional formats as well as her experience in driving the transition to file-based formats for Theatrical, Home Entertainment, International Distribution, and VOD has allowed her to provide unique support for clients like NETFLIX, I-Tunes, Amazon, In Demand, HULU, Google Plus and Crackle as they navigate the Theatrical and Home Entertainment space. Rosanna’s career has spanned leading post-production facilities including Laser Pacific, Modern Video Film and Ascent Media where she has led Sales and Marketing and helped drive the success of emerging Theatrical and Home Entertainment media services for Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Viacom, CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, Vudu, Saban Brands and Marvel Entertainment. Focused on superior service and creative excellence, Rosanna is an active committee member of the Hollywood Professional Alliance Awards (HPA), Hollywood Professional Alliance Women in Post, and Young Entertainment Professionals (YEP). She is a member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), a supporter of Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA), Advisory Board of Women In Technology Hollywood (WITH), and Women in Localization where she continues to pursue innovation and excellence within the industry.

Alina Condurat

Board of Directors

Alina Condurat is an attorney in the Entertainment, Technology and Advertising Practice Group at Sheppard Mullin.

Alina’s practice focuses on transactional entertainment matters, including rights acquisition and service agreements for television and motion picture productions. In addition, she handles copyright issues and production clearances.

Alina obtained her LL.M. from Loyola Law School with an emphasis in Intellectual Property. She is currently pursuing a Certificate in Business and Management of Entertainment through UCLA Extension. Prior to joining Sheppard Mullin she worked as a judicial extern for the Honorable Alex Kozinski, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Alina is Fluent in Romanian and conversant in Spanish.

Bob Sharka

Board of Directors

Bob Sharka is the Founder and President of Friends Of Film, a 501 c 3 nonprofit that helps filmmakers get their works seen, most notably through its International Oscar Submission Series held annually in Los Angeles. He also founded the Pacific Palisades Film Festival that ran for 8 years in his hometown, giving a Lifetime Achieve Award to Stacy Keach, Dom DeLuise, Frances Fisher, Nanette Fabray, Robert Guillaume, Robert Pine, and Seymour Cassel. FOF has also given financial support to various organizations and filmmakers including Villa Aurora, SEEFEST, and Theater Palisades (where he was a Board Member). He is a native of Cambridge Massachusetts, and graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in, of all things, electrical engineering! Bob lives in Pacific Palisades with his wife, Debbie and their miniature dachshund, Penny…

E’Ian West

Board of Directors

E’Ian West is an award-winning producer, writer, director, and entertainment industry entrepreneur. In 2022, his film, SHADED, won the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival and the Award for Excellence in the Documentary category at the Southern Shorts Awards Festival. His other credits include short films TRIGGERED, PANORAMA, which made a qualifying run for the 95th Academy Awards, as well as the TV series Love in LA. He is the owner of L.A.-based Montage Media Production Company and the Brella Streaming Network. Through Montage, West has made relationships at MTV, VH1, WeTv, Lifetime Network, Discovery Network, GSN, Oxygen, and E! Network. His work has been featured by Business Insider, ABC News Channel 7, and The California Business Journal. He is also the founder and president of the Los Angeles and Miami Creator Studios, which help local college students learn about the entertainment industry and find fruitful professional connections. E’Ian has worked with nonprofits such as The Los Angeles Children’s Hospital, The Los Angeles Sports Council, The Ventura College Foundation, The Dream Builders, and The Legacy Charitable Foundation. He is a member of the Television Academy. https://www.montagemediausa.com/

Program Advisors

The talented group responsible for the wonderful array of programming for each festival.

Ilayda Cetinkaya

Director of Programming

Ilayda Cetinkaya is an award-winning Turkish producer based in Los Angeles. She moved to the United States in 2014 to pursue a career in film, earning her bachelor’s degree in Film Production from Chapman University. Over the decade, she has worked on numerous short films, music videos, and commercials, with her projects screening at festivals worldwide. Her solo-produced 35mm short film SKIN won the Gold Medal at the 2023 Student Academy Awards, screened at over 50 festivals worldwide, and earned her Best Producer awards at the 2024 Reale Film Festival and Los Angeles Cinematography Awards 2023. She line produced the Rising Voices short Corpse Fishing, a collaboration with Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad, which premiered at Tribeca 2024. A graduate of AFI Conservatory’s Producing Fellowship, she received the Ataturk Youth Award in 2024 and her short film RE-ENTRY won the Sloan Foundation production grant. She is also a programmer for the 15th Asian World Film Festival and 20th SEEfest 2025. Additionally, she associate produced for a TV series pilot One For The Team  directed by the Emmy-nominated writer/director/actress Rain Valdez.

Rada Šešić

Program Advisor

Rada Šešić works as a festival programmer, film lecturer, and film director. Born in former Yugoslavia, she lives in The Netherlands. She is the Head of the Documentary Competition of the Sarajevo Film Festival, competition committee member at IDFA, program advisor of IFF Rotterdam, a participant in the project selection for the Hubert Bals Fund and DOHA fund. She is a lecturer at the Amsterdam Master of Film program, mentor at various documentary workshops in Europe and Asia, as well as Artistic Director of Eastern Neighbours FF in The Hague that started in 2009. 11 years ago Rada established Docu Rough Cut Boutique which she co-chairs. Additionally, she leads the Last Stop Trieste platform for projects in the final cut stage. As a director, she made several documentaries and dance films in Yugoslavia and in The Netherlands (Room without a view, 1997, IDFA a.o., Soske, 2001, MoMA a.o. , In whitest solitude, 2002 – IFFR a.o. On the way to school.). As a critic, she wrote articles for many film magazines, Dox, Sineast, Croatian Film Annual, Dutch Skrien, and UK Variety as well as for the Encyclopedia of the Documentary film (Routledge), Animation world magazine (issue3.7.1998), The Cinema of the Balkans, (book by Dina Iordanova), participated in the books on Mani Kaul and Girish Kasaravalli…

Chantal Chauzy

Program Advisor

Chantal Chauzy served for 10 years as Vice President of Acquisitions and Homevideo at Strand Releasing, one of the leading independent film distributors in the U.S. She is now VP of Sales and Acquisitions for All Rights Entertainment. She holds an M.A. in film studies and a B.A. in English from the Sorbonne University in Paris.

Darko Lungulov

Program Advisor

Darko Lungulov directed his debut feature Here & There, winner of the Tribeca award for Best NY Narrative, while he was living in New York and directing documentaries for Spiral Pictures/Ross and teaching production courses at Long Island University. He was the Board President of BelDocs, Belgrade International Documentary Film Festival. At present, he is the President of the Serbian Film Directors Association. Currently, Darko is developing two feature films and finishing a documentary.

Virgil Adumitroaie

Programmer At-Large

Virgil Adumitroaie is a Data Scientist at JPL, where he develops outer planetary environment models and radiation monitoring software for the Juno Mission. During his career, he has been involved in turbulent combustion modeling, data dimension reduction, neural networks, signaling pathways and scientific software development, as well as optimization methods and uncertainty analysis applied to decision problems. He also teaches at USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering.

Stefania Magidson

Chair, Romanian Program

Stefania Magidson is the Chair of the Romanian Program at SEEfest and the
founder and president of Blue Heron Foundation, one of the largest non-profit
organizations in the Romanian diaspora. She is a dedicated supporter of the UCLA
Graduate School of Education, the Oakwood School (LA), the Everychild Foundation
(LA), SEEfest (LA) and the Making Waves Romanian Film Festival (NY). She is the
co-producer of the film Omega Rose, and author of the book of essays, Searching for
the White Magician. In 2022, through her Blue Heron Foundation she launched a
major humanitarian campaign to assist Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war. In
recognition of her work to set up critical assistance, including medical aid, for war
refugees in Romania, Moldova, and Poland, Stefania was awarded the 2022 SEEfest
Legacy Humanitarian Award.

Denny Dugally

Feature Films

Denny Dugally started as PA in the Art Department and worked her way up to Production Designer, working on many feature films, commercials, music videos and hundreds of hours of Primetime Television and streaming. She received an Emmy for Art Direction for the pilot of NYPD Blue and was nominated for the pilot of Arrested Development. In recent years she designed the feature film, The Secret,for director Andy Tennant, and all 3 seasons of the Netflix hit series The Kominsky Method with Michael Douglas and the late Alan Arkin. She has recently finished designing 3 seasons of the Rob Lowe led hit series on Fox, 911: Lone Star, for Ryan Murphy Television.

Imad Ftouni

Programmer-at-Large

Imad Ftouni worked in IT in Silicon Valley for 13 years. He then switched to studying film production, improv acting, and sketch writing. He worked in various capacities on several film productions including You Kill Me, an independent feature starring Ben Kingsley, Bonds on Bonds, an ESPN TV show on Barry Bonds, and Unflinching Triumph. He was also a literary associate for the Golden Thread Productions in San Francisco.

Michael Pardy

Documentary Films

Michael Pardy was an actor in New York City for over twenty years. He had a second career at the Open Society Foundations (OSF), most notably working on the Arts & Humanities Initiative of the OSF Project on Death in America. Subsequently, he was the founding COO of the OSF spinoff, Institute on Medicine as a Profession at Columbia University. As well, he is an avid collector of Outsider Art and Mexican Retablos. Post-covid, he looks forward to resuming his acting career.

Tudor Munteanu

Associate Programmer

Tudor Munteanu is an award-winning actor and filmmaker. In 2008, he
immigrated to the U.S. from Romania to pursue acting and has appeared in a variety
of productions (The Nun, The Disaster Artist, Hawaii Five-O, Criminal Minds). His
debut short film, Other Side (writer, co-director) earned the 2016 IFS Film Festival
award for Best Independent Short. He has produced live-action and
documentary shorts and is currently producing a feature based on a Nicholl
Fellowship Awarded Screenplay. He is a member of SAG AFTRA and in 2018 he
served on the Screen Actors Guild Awards Nominating Committee.

View Profile on IMDB

Tarik Bilgiseven

Associate Programmer

Tarik Bilgiseven is a Turkish artist based in Los Angeles, California. He moved to Los Angeles in 2021 to pursue a degree in Animation and Entertainment Design and is currently a senior at Otis College of Art and Design. Tarik has had the opportunity to be mentored by award-winning producer Yuhki Demers. Between academic years, he worked on the pre-production, design, and development of a feature animated film in Turkey, and contributed to the story development and designed characters for various short films in California.

Khadim Dai

Associate Programmer

Khadim Dai is a documentary filmmaker, born in Afghanistan and raised as a refugee in Pakistan before once again seeking refuge in Indonesia. His work explores themes of identity, memory, conflict, and displacement. His films have been showcased internationally at esteemed institutions, including the Van Abbemuseum, Ian Potter Museum of Art, QUT Art Museum, and REDCAT. Khadim has received prestigious grants such as the Sundance Documentary Fund, IDFA Bertha Fund, Asian Cinema Fund, Docs Up Fund, and InMaat Foundation. He holds a BFA in Film/Video from the California Institute of the Arts.

Tshombe Sampson

Associate Programmer

Tshombe Sampson is a licensed California attorney. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College where he obtained an A.B. degree in economics and served on the Directorate of the Dartmouth Film Society. He also has a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in finance degree and a Juris Doctor degree from Pepperdine University. He has studied photography at Santa Monica College.

Mr. Sampson is an experienced arbitrator, and, an experienced computer and business consultant. He has arbitrated over a hundred consumer oriented disputes. He has worked with developing businesses, individual entrepreneurs, startup companies, and small businesses. He has also worked for top law firms and major film studios.

Mr. Sampson has provided advice and counsel on a broad range of business projects ranging from international business development involving fortune 500 companies to local entrepreneurs looking to start a small business. For more than a dozen years, he has worked with SEEfest and has assisted in programming its short narrative films, documentaries, and animations. He has also photographed the
SEEfest annual film festival and many of its local cultural events.

Currently, he is self employed and represents creative talent in the film, video and music recording industries.

Leon Ristov

Associate Programmer

Born and raised in Skopje, Macedonia, Leon Ristov began making films at the age of 11, landing his first job in the industry at 16 with a lead role in the Berlinale-premiering feature WHEN THE DAY HAD NO NAME (2017). Leon’s sophomore short I’M CALLING YOUR FATHER (2020) premiered at the Sarajevo FIlm Festival, and screened internationally at over 20 festivals—including SEEFest, Film Front, and FeKK— winning two Grand Prix. Leon is currently based in New York, where he has supported acquisitions, distribution and sales at Magnolia Pictures, Oscilloscope Laboratories and Zeitgeist Films. The first from his country to attend the Film M.F.A. at Columbia University, he is currently completing the program as a Miloš Forman Fellow. His upcoming short EARLY PICKUP is supported by Clermont-Ferrand EuroConnection. He is a 2025 Sundance Institute Ignite x Adobe Fellow and holds a B.A. in Film Studies from Wesleyan University.

SEEfest Staff

Artistic Director
Vera Mijojlić

Honorary Chair
Irina Maleeva

Chair, Romanian Film Program
Stefania Magidson

Programmers
Denny Dugally, Feature Films
Michael Pardy, Narrative Documentaries
Ilayda Cetinkaya, Director of Programming
Imad Ftouni, Programmer-at-Large
Virgil Adumitroaie, Programmer-at-Large

Associate Programmers
Tudor Munteanu, T. Starren, Khadim Dai, Leon Ristov, Tarik Bilgiseven 

Art Director
Elyas Beria, elyas.com

Honorary MC
Hettie Lynne Hurtes

Director of Digital Marketing
Denise Wakeman, denisewakeman.com

Festival Manager
Gabrielle Fisch

Volunteer Coordinator
Jimmie Waites

Web Master
Michael Levy

Community Outreach
Silvana Yaneva

Youth Program
Hipolito Muñoz
Jessica Just

Opening & Closing Visual Content
Coldea Productions
Serkan Ensoner

Photographers
Lukas Maier
Tshombe Sampson

Social Media 
Lejla Subašić

Educational Initiative
Aida Vidan
Adnan Džumhur

SEEfest Review 
Allie Rigby, Editor 

Strategy
Elisa Iovine 

Trailer & Video Editor
Harvey Carrasco

Team of Supporters
Elena Secota, Isabella Anikst, Michael Thomas, Sabra Chili, Giannina Toaxen, Silvana Yaneva, Winston Stemler, Lorena Hagivreta, Avery Abell, Neno Pervan, Catalina Tautu, Katya Buchneva, Tigran Ispiryan, Vladana Hrivnakova, Brendan Kanary, Joe Green, Arevik Sargsyan, Hans-Martin Liebing, Iulia Ramirez, Jessie Dailey Rohrer

Advisory Board
Amila Oručević, DOJ Accredited Representative, Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service
Andrea Capachietti, Humanitarian Aid Consultant, Los Angeles
Carol Contes, Attorney, Los Angeles
Christine La Monte, Producer, Los Angeles
Elyas Beria, Designer, Seattle
Gail Kligman, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, UCLA
Isabella Anikst, UCLA Extension
Ken Aaron, Social Uplift Foundation, Los Angeles
Lelei Lelaulu, Earth Council Alliance
Liana Grancea, Executive Director, UCLA Center for European and Russian Studies
Nenad Dukić, Film Critic, Belgrade
Peter Gross, Managing Partner-PMG Associates, Santa Monica
Stefania Magidson, Blue Heron Foundation, Los Angeles
Thomas Blount, Architect and Arts Patron, Miami
Toni Bell, Impact Strategist, Los Angeles