Gita Feizi
Gita Feizi is the President of the Jury of the 21st edition of the Early Bird International Student Film Festival. She holds an Associate’s degree in Animation and a Bachelor’s degree in Cinema with a specialization in Directing, and she is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Cinema.
She began her professional career in 2013 as a script supervisor and has since gained over twelve years of experience in the film industry, contributing to numerous productions and occasionally working as a production designer.
In 2020, Feizi directed her first professional short film, Rojan, followed by The Plain Sings (2023), which received international acclaim. The film has been selected and awarded at several festivals, including:
– Early Bird Grand Award, 20th Early Bird Student Film Festival, Bulgaria
– Main Award (Ages 23–27), 26th YOUKI International Youth Media Festival, Austria
– Special Jury Award, 31st Thalmässing Short Film Festival, Germany
– Best Music Award, 20th Nahal Student Film Festival, Iran
– Invisible Lands Award, 4th Son of a Pitch Film Festival, Italy
– Best Short Film and Best Film in Kurdish Language, 14th Kurdish Film Festival Berlin, Germany
Feizi is currently in post-production on her third short film, Children of Heaven.
Phil Peters
Professor Phil Peters’ career as a Producer and Production Designer spans over thirty years, with projects in the United States, India, Europe and Australia. His designs include the Emmy winning television series Northern Exposure and numerous other film, television and interactive projects.
A few examples of his work include: Mistress starring Robert DeNiro, Waiting for the Light starring Shirley MacLaine, Crazy in Love starring Holly Hunter, Father starring Max von Sydow, Percy and Thunder starring James Earl Jones, and Windrider starring Nicole Kidman.
His interactive producing projects include The X-Files for Fox Interactive, MovieBeam for Disney, GameSilo for iBlast, and Searchopolis by Secure Computing.
He is currently a Professor of Production Design at the University of Central Florida’s Film Program in Orlando, Florida. When he is not busy producing or designing projects, he can be found hiking the canyons and mountains of the American Southwest looking for inspiration for his next project.
Stephan A. Shtereff
Mr. Stephan A. Shtereff is a multifaceted actor, performer, and cultural producer based in Sofia, Bulgaria. With over two decades in the industry, he has starred in numerous theater productions, earning acclaim for roles in award-winning works exploring Bulgarian socialist realism, innovative movement, and contemporary performance art, including Icarus Award-winning pieces like Nonument 1.0 and Nonument 2.0.
On screen, Shtereff has appeared in local and international films and TV shows.
As co-founder of the Antistatic International Festival for Contemporary Dance and Performance, he fosters cross-cultural collaborations while blending his acting expertise with event coordination and academic insights into European arts.
Nowadays, he hosts the morning show on BNT1 — Bulgarian National Television.