Famous British film - maker Peter Webber, who directed the Oscar nominated Girl with a Pearl Earring, will be jury member at this year's NexT short film festival in Bucharest.

Scheduled to take place between April 3 and 7 in the Romanian capital, the festival will bring together 25 films from 22 countries. These were selected from more than 1,000 films submitted for the competition.

Webber, who debuted with the Girl with a Pearl Earring and with Hannibal Rising, will also hold a masterclass on film directing within the NexT festival.

The jury will be made of Karel Och, artistic director of the Karlovy Vary film festival, Martina Bleis, member of the selection committee for the Berlinale CoProduction Market, Julia Sinkevych, from the Odessa film festival, film music composer Alfonso González Aguilar, and Romanians Vava Ştefănescu, cultural manager and choreographer, and musician Vlaicu Golcea.

Two Romanian productions are among the 26 selected in the competition: Maine, Bach... (Tomorrow, Bach), by Mihnea Andrei Ciorică, and Idle by Raia Al Souliman. NexT will host a Romanian competition for the first time, separate from the main competition, where entries will be announced soon.

This year at its eight edition, the film festival will include screenings and events at Cinema Studio, Elvira Popescu, CinemaPro cinemas, and Carturesti tea shop.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Peter Webber on Twitter)