Screener Team

 Shannon Phelan is an Irish filmmaker with a passion for the horror genre. She studied film in London and holds an MA. Her dark screenplays have garnered a few nominations and wins in a myriad of festivals nationally and internationally. She has over 7 years experience in the Animation industry. While she firmly believes that every medium holds equal artistic value and contributes to the rich tapestry of filmmaking. Like Stanley Kubrick's close collaborator Leon Vitali, who coined the term "filmworker" to encompass the diverse range of individuals who contribute to the filmmaking process, Shannon sees herself as a "filmworker" at heart. She is not merely content to focus on one specific aspect of filmmaking; she is drawn to the collaborative nature of the art form and the opportunity to contribute to the creation of something truly magical. Her favourite storytellers include David Lynch, Alfred Hitchcock, Dario Argentp to name a few.  

 Lydia C. Fleischer is a Writer-Director, Media Designer, and Games Writer with broad experiences working on short and feature film sets. She has written, directed, and produced a variety of fictional short films, documentaries, and corporate films.

Her MA in Screenwriting for Film & TV at the National Film School, IADT, brought her to Ireland. Building on that, she trained both as a Narrative Designer and as a Script Reader. As a reader, she has since been providing feedback for production companies and screenwriters as well as for the Austin Film Festival.

Rehan Ali graduated with a BSc in Neuroscience in 2021 and an MSc in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology in 2023 from University College Cork. He is a writer and filmmaker most recently having written and directed ‘Water Under The Bridge’ for Virgin Media and co-written the short film ‘Haven’. He was one of the authors for the book ‘Correspondences: An anthology to call for an end to direct provision’ and his next piece will be published in Lowell, Massachusetts later this year.

Effie Veremi is the founder and director of KINOEMA, a film society that promotes cinema accessibility and gives a platform to disabled film-makers in the UK. She is curating for Compass Films and has worked on the inauguration film festival of Refugee Week Greece 2023. She is a member of the screeners committee for several film festivals such as Cornwall, Norwich and Lowestoft. In 2023, she was selected to participate in the Barbican's Emerging Film Curators Lab. 

Richard Davis has worked in film exhibition for over ten years in both Ireland and the UK. He was the assistant cinema programmer for Phoenix Cinema in Leicester and has also worked for QFT and Strand Arts Centre in Belfast. In more recent years he has worked as a freelancer for several arts and film festivals, including Belfast Film Festival, Docs Ireland, Dublin International Film Festival and Cornwall Film Festival. He currently curates a regular short film night in Belfast called The Short Take.

 Mahsa Kayyal is a passionate human rights activist and seasoned lawyer with a dedicated focus on women's and children's rights. Armed with an LLM in Human Rights, Mahsa boasts over fifteen years of experience in championing the cause of justice and equality.

Mahsa's commitment to human rights extends beyond the courtroom. She has a unique blend of legal expertise and a creative touch, utilizing visual arts to help children comprehend complex human rights concepts. Her innovative approach was recognized and awarded for creativity in reimagining Victor Hugo's classic novel making it more accessible to young minds. Her award-winning work revolved around portraying the intricate play of children's rights within the narrative, with a special emphasis on the protagonist. Mahsa's dedication to weaving the fabric of human rights into the artistic realm aligns seamlessly with the Catalyst International Film Festival's mission to showcase films that resonate with diverse perspectives and advocate for social change.

  Mehdi Zouaoui is a lecturer at Istanbul University and an amateur screenwriter. He enjoys writing experimental screenplays in various fields, drawing from his background in linguistics and literature. Mehdi's love for reading spans across politics, sociology, and English language teaching. He describes himself as a bird, yearning to explore new realities from the clouds, and a worm, gazing up at these clouds from the earth.