Short Encounters

INTRODUCING THE JURY TEAM: GUEST JUROR - JUMAI YUSUF
The 5th edition of Short Encounters International Film Festival brings together a team of BOLD visionaries. Each member of our jury brings a unique lens to storytelling, ensuring our selection celebrates bold voices, innovative craft, and unforgettable emotion.
Jumai Yusuf is a Writer, Director, Producer, and co-founder of Lunar Crown Productions, who is passionate about bringing underrepresented stories to the screen. A Muslim, Nigerian immigrant, she blends her unique perspective with bold, imaginative storytelling across both live-action and animation. She holds an MFA in Film & TV Production from USC and a B.A. in Neurobiology from Harvard. Her short films have screened at dozens of festivals worldwide, including Tribeca, HollyShorts, and Cannes.
Her Oscar-qualified short film "Nate & John" premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, was nominated for the 56th NAACP Image Awards, and won the Gold House Cultural Impact Award at the American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase during the 77th Cannes Film Festival. She was a fellow in the inaugural Sundance Institute x Walt Disney Muslim Artist Fellowship program, which supported her animated pilot script LAYLA AND THE STARSHIP AFROTOPIA. This pilot was also selected for the Culture House Immersive Incubator program, and the Television Screenwriting Lab for Black Muslim Writers hosted by MPAC Hollywood and the BlackHouse. Her horror feature script COCOA DOLL has been recognized on the Muslim List (presented by the Black List, MPAC Hollywood, and Pillars Fund) and the WScripted Cannes Screenplay List (presented by MUBI). She directed The Eid Gift for Rifelion's Ramadan America anthology, which premiered at The Muslim House @ SXSW 2024 and won awards at SeriesFest and Diversity in Cannes. She also produced Simulacra, a Student Academy Award-winning 3D animated/live-action hybrid film. Her full portfolio is available at www.jumaiyusuf.com

INTRODUCING THE JURY TEAM: GUEST JUROR - MYRIAM VERREAULT
The 5th edition of Short Encounters International Film Festival brings together a team of BOLD visionaries. Each member of our jury brings a unique lens to storytelling, ensuring our selection celebrates bold voices, innovative craft, and unforgettable emotion.
Myriam Verreault is a Canadian filmmaker from Québec, working across film and television. She first gained international attention with WEST OF PLUTO, a critically acclaimed debut that marked her as a distinctive new voice in Québec cinema. She later directed KUESSIPAN, which enjoyed major critical and audience success in Canada and abroad, and was widely praised for its sensitive, humanistic storytelling.
Alongside her feature film work, Verreault has directed more than 70 episodes of popular television series in Québec, demonstrating a strong ability to combine artistic vision with large-scale, collaborative production. Her work is recognized for its emotional precision, attention to character, and grounded, contemporary realism.