Our INVITED JURY TO JUDGE OUR 10TH ANNUAL bifa qualifying film festival.

Taking to the stage, we have…

stef driscoll

Theatre Director and Director

Stef is a critically acclaimed and award-winning theatre director who centers contemporary stories with a social political heart directing new plays by some of the UK’s most significant theatrical voices. Stef was the Interim Artistic Director at The Gate, Artistic Director of Nabokov, and Associate Director at both Paines Plough and Lyric Hammersmith.

Stef’s innovative storytelling spans across multiple art forms including theatre, music, raves, spoken word and film where they push the boundaries of gigs and theatre. Accolades include the groundbreaking play WITH A LITTLE BIT OF LUCK by Sabrina Mahfouz for the first radio play to be broadcast on BBC 1Xtra winning Best Radio production at the BBC Radio and Music Awards. 

Stef has directed plays with criminal justice organisations Clean Break and Synergy, where she is currently an associate artist. She is also directing her debut short film CARE, written by Sophie Ellerby.

zara symes

Director and Writer

ZARA SYMES is an Australian-Scottish actor and filmmaker whose writing focuses on shifting identities, the female experience and sexuality within thrilling genre worlds. Zara’s adaptation of New York Times bestselling novel THE TAKING OF ANNIE THORNE for The Imaginarium is currently out to broadcasters with Richard Armitage attached, and Zara is co-adapting Victor Hugo’s classic THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME for Intaglio Films with Charles Dance attached.

Zara has written and produced several award-winning short films. ON AIR starring Dr Who’s Mandip Gill and Zara’s short film directing debut PUFF both premiered at Frightfest and London Short Film Festival among other prestigious international festivals. PUFF was recently awarded Best Microshot Film in the BFI 225 Film Club’s Female Excellence in Direction awards.

She is a member of BAFTA Connect and has worked extensively with NBCUniversal as a script editor and development coordinator across new and returning series, and as script consultant on the studio’s Venice Berlinale nominated multi-narrative VR/AR series ELEVEN ELEVEN. 

Zara’s next short film HE DIED BUT WOULDN’T LEAVE, a body horror examining the end-of-life care of aging parents which Zara has written and will direct, has been commissioned for production in early 2025 by Erebus Pictures.

thabo mhlatshwa

Writer / Director

Thabo first joined our VIP jury in 2022 having come straight from the ITV office where he has been penning episodes of Hollyoaks. We are thrilled to have Tabo join us again this year.

IMDB: Thabo Mhlatshwa

TWITTER: Thabo Mhlatshwa

andrea farrena

Producer, co-founder of TweetFest

Andrea works internationally as a producer, as well as running a talent management company, Farrena Films Mgmt, where she represents actors, directors and producers. Andrea believes that networking is the key to success in this industry hence why she joined the Tweetup team back in 2012. Andrea is currently producing a Creative England short film and has many more features and shorts in the pipeline.

ANGELA PETERS – FOUNDER AND PROGRAMMER

Founder of the UK Actors Tweetups, B.A.B.E. Acting Network, World Acting Summit (two-week online series) and a Backstage Expert since 2018, Angela loves getting involved in every part of the industry.

Angela is an international actress who has been on TV (Emmerdale, Queensland’s Best Living, The Awkward Man) in many cinema and festival screened feature films and shorts and films on Netflix, Sky, and Amazon Prime. And when she isn’t hosting the UK Actors Tweetup, she’s usually in her studio voicing a voiceover or audiobook in her native Aussie accent.

TWITTER: @angiepang

INSTAGRAM: @angiepet

CHRYSSANTHI KOURI – FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

Chryssanthi is a director and writer and has been working professionally in Film and TV productions for over 15 years. As a writer and director, she has produced 6 short films, as well as directed music videos and factual TV. She is also a former actor, trained at Mountview, and a theatre director specialising in new writing. Chryssanthi’s film work has been described as “simple and complex, lyrical and accessible and beautifully executed.

Chryssanthi is also the TweetFest Festival Programmer and has been working alongside Angela for the last four festivals as the lead programmer for the festival. 

TWITTER: @Chryskouri

INSTAGRAM: @chryskouri

Laïla ALJ

Actor/Theatre producer

Laila is an actor and theatre producer. Born and raised in Casablanca, Morocco, she studied theatre at Northwestern University. She also has an MA from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Laila lives in London and works across theatre, screen & audio. She is a founding member of MENA Arts UK, a UK based arts organisation championing the work of MENA+ (Middle East, North Africa and surrounding areas) creatives in the UK. She is also the producer at Theatro Technis, an independent theatre in Camden.

Laila is currently developing a solo play Chambers of the Heart with playwright Hassan Abdulrazzak and director Sepy Baghaei.

HAMZA MOHSIN

Writer/Director

TWITTER: lebadass

gemma gordon

Actress & Presenter

Gemma Gordon is a British Actress and Presenter known for ‘Dark Ditties Presents’ on Amazon Prime alongside Ian Gelder (Game of Thrones) and Bruce Jones (Coronation St). She has a key role in ‘Swipe Fever’ feature film, coming soon produced by Mark Forstater (Monty Python) and is endorsed by ITV Producer, Simon Withington as a Presenter of Wedfun News.

She was a 2019 Miss Universe Great Britain Finalist and promotes female empowerment through charities such as Centrepoint. She will present the Mental Health and Well-being Awards in 2022. Gemma trained at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.

IMDB: Gemma Gordon

INSTAGRAM: Gemma Gordon