MERMAID AWARD

After receiving a BA Hons degree in creative writing and drama, Mike Gilbert trained as a professional actor in Oxford until 2015. Soon after graduating, he began co-writing a comedy feature film with Josh O’Connor, called Bonus Track, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in 2023. That same year, he wrote and directed a short film called Big Cat, which premiered at the Manchester Film Festival in 2024. Since then, he has again been co-writing with Josh O’Connor on a new feature film, which is being developed by the British Film Institute. Simultaneously, Mike Gilbert is working on an adaptation of the novel The Shepherd’s Life for a feature film.

David Moragas (Almoster, Spain) is a writer, screenwriter, and film director. He graduated in Audiovisual Communication from Pompeu Fabra University and holds an MA in Film Directing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. His work explores affective relationships and desire through an intimate, observational lens. His films include Demà ho deixem (2022), winner of the VOC Òmnium Award and D’A Audience Award, and A Stormy Night (2020), which premiered at D’A. His second feature, Un altre home (2026), premiered at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in 2026 and won the Jury Prize at Lovers Film Festival in Turin. He is also the author of the novel Fervor (2024).

Smaro Papaevangelou is a film editor and documentary filmmaker based in Athens, Greece. She studied Film at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In 2014, she was selected for Berlinale Talents, and in 2018 for Sarajevo Talents. Her editing work has screened and received awards at international festivals, including Berlin, Venice, Sundance, and Toronto. In 2022, she received the Iris Award for Best Editing from the Hellenic Film Academy for the film Moon, 66 Questions. She is a founding member of Blink GFE and Nionia Films and a member of the Hellenic Film Academy and Tempo Film Editors. Her debut feature documentary, Careful Where You Tread, is currently in post-production, produced by Marni Films with the support of EKKOMED.