IGARASHI Kohei

Born in 1983 in Shizuoka Prefecture, he directed his first feature film Voice of Rain That Comes at Night (2008) while studying at Tokyo Zokei University, which won the Korean Critics' Prize at Cinema Digital Seoul Film Festival 2008. His second feature film Hold Your Breath Like a Lover (2014), final work at the Graduate School of Cinema and New Media at the Tokyo University of the Arts, competed at the Locarno International Film Festival 2014 in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente section. The Night I Swam (2017), co-directed with French filmmaker Damien Manivel, was presented in the Orizzonti section of the Venice International Film Festival 2017 and numerous festivals around of the world. In 2023, he presented the short film Two of Us (2023) at the San Sebastian International Film Festival 2023, a sort of prequel to his latest feature film Super Happy Forever.

Herman VAN EYKEN

Professor Herman Van Eyken graduated with a Master's Degree in Audio Visual Arts from the RITS national film school in Brussels. He studied film in Italy under Prof. Mario Verdone and Prof. Umberto Eco after receiving an Italian fellowship. For over 40 years, he directed over 200 films, including commercials, documentaries, and feature films, earning acclaim and awards at international festivals. In 1990, he returned to RITS as a professor in Film Directing, pursuing his career as a film educator which led him to establish Singapore's first film degree program at LASALLE. He served as a jury member at Locarno International Film Festival 2001, served as Director of the Griffith Film School for over 14 years and chaired at the CILECT Asia Pacific Association for 8 years, leaving a mark on European and the Asia Pacific cinema as a film academic, writer, producer, and director.

KIM Miyoung

Kim Miyoung graduated from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Ewha Woman's University and the Korean Academy of Film Arts, and received an MA in Aesthetics at Seoul National University. She directed and produced short films including Finder (2008), Two Nights (2009), and The Moral in My Time (2012), and independent features including Upstanding Man (2015), Never Ever Rush (2018), and A Lonely Island in the Distant Sea (2023). A Lonely Island in the Distant Sea (2023) won the DGK MEGABOX Award at Busan International Festival 2021, Best Film and Best Actor awards at Busan Film Critics Awards 2023, Best Director at Women In Film Korea 2023, National Film award at Korea Arthouse Cinema Association Awards 2024, and Best Film award at Wildflower Film Awards 2024.