Team
Team
Aleks Dimitrijevic
Festival Director
Aleks has over 18 years of experience in programming and audience development, championing emerging talent across screen industries. Most recently, she led six editions of the BFI Future Film Festival. She previously directed The Smalls Film Festival and has worked across programming and production for leading UK festivals including Sheffield Doc/Fest, BFI London Film Festival, LOCO London Comedy Film Festival and London Film Week.
Philip Ilson
Artistic Director
Philip Ilson co-founded LSFF in 2004. He was the short film programmer for the BFI London Film Festival between 2006 and 2022, and has worked as a freelance programmer, including at the East End Film Festival (London), Cork Film Festival (Ireland), and the Branchage Festival (Jersey), Latitude music festival, and at Curzon Soho Cinema.
Alice Maestrini
Festival Producer
Alice Maestrini is a film festival producer and cinema manager. Before joining LSFF, she worked in production roles at various festivals including London Korean Film Festival and London Indian Film Festival. She was co-director of community cinema Screen25 and is now a manager at Rich Mix.
Akinna Aquino
Programmer
Akinna Aquino is a British-Filipino producer working across film and events. She delivered the first virtual editions of both the London Short Film Festival and the London Screenwriters’ Festival in 2020/21. In addition, she’s worked on a number of film/video projects including 3D animations for Coloro x WGSN and a short film looking at the lives of the Filipino immigrant community.
Lucy Peters
Programmer
Lucy Peters is a film critic, curator and researcher in London, and the director of collective Electric Blue Cinema, exhibiting feminist, experimental and underseen perspectives.
Misha Zakharov
Programmer
Misha Zakharov is a Russian-Korean film critic, scholar, and curator, as well as a pro-Ukrainian political and queer refugee based in London. As a public speaker, facilitator, and community organiser, he has collaborated with some of the leading film institutions in the UK, including the BFI, ICO, Queer East, and Flatpack Festival.
Nia Childs
Programmer
Nia is a filmmaker and curator based in London. Her films have screened at a number of BIFA and BAFTA qualifying festivals such as the BFI London Film Festival, Aesthetica, The London Short Film Festival and BFI Flare. She is also a curator specialising in contemporary British cinema, and regularly hosts Q&As and interviews with filmmakers
Katie Sawyer
Programmer (Deaf strand)
Katie Sawyer is a Membership Advisor at BFI. She has worked across film studios, independent film festivals and at BFI London Film Festival, and has curated short films, worked on repertory cinema events and consulted for arts charities. She is passionate about accessibility in the arts, especially raising awareness of Disability cinema.
Pre-selectors: Diego Migliorini, Emmeline Hartley, Gabriel Calderwood, Hope Rangaswami, Katia Hiver, Liam Schell, Mark Brennan, Mascuud Dahir, Molly Miles, Nicky Ni, Robyn McKinson, Sofia Barrinha, Sophia Panayi, Sophia Satchell-Baeza, Tomer Levy, Tyia Burnett, Zain Gibson.