Moderators
CILECT Congress 2026
27-31 October 2026
Barry Dignam
Barry Dignam studied drama at Trinity College, Dublin, and film at the National Film School of Ireland (IADT). He has over twenty-five years’ experience in teaching, academic strategy, and leadership. At IADT, he has held various roles, including Head of the Department of Film & Media. Currently Program Director of FilmEU at IADT, Barry serves as Vice Dean, European University and Chair of GEECT. His short film work has been recognized with nominations for prestigious awards such as the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the Golden Bear at Berlin.
Bruce Sheridan
Independent Researcher: Human / AI interactions in creativity and learning; Film director and producer; Winner Best Drama 1999 New Zealand Television Awards; Professor, Columbia College Chicago; Member CICANT External Advisory Board; Member International Journal of Film & Media Arts Editorial Board; CILECT President 2018-2024; Chair CILECT North America (CNA) Regional Council 2014-2018; Chair CILECT Developing Technologies Standing Committee (DTSC) 2025-2026.
Heather Addison
Heather Addison is the director of the School of Cinematic Arts, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), USA. She has taught a broad range of courses in film history, criticism, and theory, with a particular focus on genre studies and animation. Her primary research area is Hollywood's relationship to American culture. At UNLV, she co-wrote a $271,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant that cataloged and preserved materials in the Howard Hughes Motion Picture Production Records. She has served continuously on the board of UFVA in multiple roles (President, Conference Vice-President, and Treasurer) and is currently CNA (CILECT North American Regional Association) Chair since 2024.
John Mugubi
Dr. John Geofrey Mugubi is a Professor of Film and Dramatic Arts at Kenyatta University, Kenya. He is Chair of the CILECT African Regional Association (CARA). He previously served as Dean of the School of Creative Arts, Film and Media Studies and as founding Chair of the Department of Film and Theatre Arts. A scholar, filmmaker, editor and arts administrator, he works in film education, African cinema, screenwriting, artistic research and collaboration. His interests include decolonial film pedagogy, immersive media, virtual reality, cultural heritage and relationships between traditional storytelling and emerging technologies.
Manuel José Damásio
Manuel José Damásio holds a Ph.D in Media studies by the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and a tenure by Universidade do Minho. He is an Associate Professor and the Head of the Film and Media Arts Department at Lusófona University, Portugal. He has vast experience in consulting and production concerning several areas of the field of audiovisual and multimedia production. He is the author of several papers and chapters in international peer-reviewed publications and was the principal investigator in numerous international R&D projects. He is the President of CILECT (2024-2028) and the General Coordinator of FilmEU.
Rachel Landers
Rachel Landers is a multi-award winning author, filmmaker, and academic with a PhD in history. She is professor and Head of Media Arts, Animation and Music and Sound Design at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), Australia. She was elected as a CAPA Regional Council member in 2023 and awarded the Powerhouse Museum Research Fellowship. In 2024 she published the monograph Hybrid Documentary and Beyond for Routledge and was awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Project 2025-28 investigating science communication for children. She is currently the chair of the Ad hoc CILECT Academic Excellence Standing Committee (CAEC) and a board member of the Australian Museum.
Raúl López Echeverría
Raúl López Echeverría is a Mexican filmmaker and film educator. He studied Filmmaking at the Universidad de Guadalajara and specialized in Screenwriting and Editing at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Rome. He has taught Film Directing at the Departmento de Imagen y Sonido, Universidad de Guadalajara, since 2010, and the Fiction Creative Projects Workshop at ITESO since 2022. His feature Domingo premiered at Shanghai International Film Festival and was included in Industry Selects at Toronto International Film Festival. He has directed award-winning shorts and documentary features. Chair of CIBA (CILECT Ibero-American Regional Association, 2018-2024; 2024-present).
Stanislav Semerdjiev
Prof. Dr. Stanislav Semerdjiev is Executive Director, International Association of Film, TV and Media Schools (CILECT, www.cilect.org, 2011-present) and Distinguished Professor, Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA, https://en.sta.edu.cn/, 2005-present). Rector, National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria (NATFA, www.natfa.bg; 2003-2011, 2015-2024). President, Bulgarian Association of Film, TV and Radio Scriptwriters (BAFTRS, www.baftrs.com; 2006-present). Founder of the first B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. Screenwriting Programs in Bulgaria (1991). Creator of the first Bulgarian long-running TV series Hotel Bulgaria (2004). His hybrid film The Hamlet Adventure (2008) and his dance performance Bulgarian Mystery (2019) have been widely acclaimed. Script-editor, screenwriter, producer of 100+ Europеan full-length or short film projects.
Theodore 'Regge' Life
Regge Life, Double BA, MFA, PGD, Executive Director at Global Film Network Inc. and Senior Distinguished Director in Residence at Emerson College, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Artists for dedication, achievements, and leadership in media, filmmaking, and production. With over five decades of experience, Mr. Life has built a distinguished career in media, focusing on filmmaking and production. In these roles, he works to bring stories from filmmakers around the world to American and international audiences, often focusing on narratives overlooked by mainstream media. He oversees projects from inception to completion, directing and producing films and television content.
Tobias Frühmorgen
Tobias Frühmorgen is a film lecturer, researcher, and filmmaker. At Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal, and FilmEU European University, he teaches project development in the European master’s program KinoEyes and the European bachelor’s program FilmEU. He participates in several Erasmus-, EIT-, and Horizon-funded research projects, including FilmTerm, future.film.education, ReSTART, C-Accelerate, Cyanotypes, Crescine, RIT, and WIRE. Tobias supervises international film projects and has coordinated joint research initiatives on generative AI. He is a screenplay and story analyst, a certified Green Consultant, co-leads a sustainability course at Lusófona University, and serves on the CILECT Standing Committee for Sustainability. He is currently completing a scientific-artistic PhD on AI and Screenwriting at Film University Babelsberg.
Yu Ran
Dr. Yu Ran is Full Professor, Chair of the Convergence Media Center, Communication University of China (CUC), and Chair of Media Committee, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Education of China. He taught photography, new media and film production classes for 15 years and founded the “Lab of Shadows”, out of which student films were awarded at many international festivals. He is winner of CILECT Teaching Award 2019 (Promising Young Teacher) and leads the Guangming Cinema project. He has won the “National Best Works Award”, the “Annual Top Ten Documentary Award”, the “Beijing Young Teacher Teaching Competition” and others. Publications: Photography Technique, Photography Composition and Aesthetic of Light.