Ticking Boxes or Raising Bars?
Ethics, Quotas & Creative Autonomy in Contemporary Cinema
From gender-parity pledges to safe-set protocols, film production is increasingly shaped by ethical standards and inclusion targets. Supporters argue that such frameworks protect workers, broaden authorship, and help smaller industries gain visibility; critics warn that the same rules can tempt filmmakers into “checkbox” compliance and subtle self-censorship. Are we encouraging more original voices, or just making filmmakers play it safe to meet the rules? Can ethical guidelines protect creativity, or do they risk limiting it?
SPEAKERS
ELAD SAMORZIK
Programmer, Berlin International Film Festival | FR
MARINA GUMZI
Producer/Scriptwriter, Nosorogi | SI
MODERATED BY
TIME
Wednesday, August 20th, 2025
09:30 – 10:30 (CET)
LOCATION
Festival Garden
NATAŠA BUČAR
Managing Director, Slovenian Film Centre | SI
VALESKA NEU
International Sales and Management, Films Boutique | DE
DIANA LODDERHOSE
International Features Editor, Deadline
Elad Samorzik
Elad Samorzik is a Paris-based film programmer and consultant, currently serving on the selection committee of the Berlin International Film Festival. He previously spent over a decade as Artistic Director of the Jerusalem Film Festival. Samorzik consults for the Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink industry platform and programs for the Arava International Film Festival. He is a scout for the Sam Spiegel Film Lab and serves as an expert for other labs and platforms. His extensive career in film and media includes overseeing six film channels for the cable provider HOT and working as a journalist for Haaretz. He has also worked in film distribution and held key programming roles at the Haifa International Film Festival. Samorzik has served as a juror at numerous festivals, including BAFICI, the Cartagena, Les Arcs, and Vilnius Film Festivals, the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Montréal, and the Reykjavík and Thessaloniki International Film Festivals.
Marina Gumzi
Marina Gumzi is a producer, scriptwriter, and researcher. An alum of the Next Wave postgraduate programme on the future of film at DFFB Berlin, she also studied degrowth and ecological economics. Films she has co-written or co-produced have won European Film Awards, César Awards, and Tiger Awards, and have been screened at major festivals and venues including the Sarajevo Film Festival, CPH:DOX, the Berlin and Toronto International Film Festivals, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and the Centre Pompidou, among others. Gumzi frequently collaborates on research projects focused on regulatory support mechanisms, especially regarding environmental impact reduction and promoting diversity in the film industry. A visiting lecturer at the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film University in Poland, she has also served as an academic researcher at the Babelsberg Konrad Wolf Film University in Potsdam.
Nataša Bučar
Nataša Bučar has extensive experience in the film industry. For several years, she managed the Ljubljana International Film Festival, the largest event of its kind in Slovenia. At the same time, she has been running film distribution activities at Cankarjev Dom, an independent art-house distribution in Slovenia. Previously, she gained management experience as Director of the Festival of Slovenian Films, Assistant Director of the Slovenian Film Fund, and General Director of the Media Directorate at the Slovenian Ministry of Culture. In 2016, she worked as a marketing expert for Kinodvor, the art-house cinema in Ljubljana; at the end of that year, Bučar was appointed Managing Director of the Slovenian Film Centre, a post to which she was re-appointed for another five-year term in 2021. She is a member of the Board of the European Film Agency Directors Association and a member of the European Film Academy.
Valeska Neu
Alongside her studies in history, journalism, film, and cinema, Valeska Neu has been involved in the national and international film industry since 2002 in various roles, including at film festivals, in the promotion of young talent, and in the production sector. Since 2010, she has worked for the German-French world sales company Films Boutique, beginning as Festival Manager and becoming responsible for international sales and general management in 2016. Neu speaks at a variety of producer workshops and works as an expert for the European Commission and the Austrian Film Institute. Since 2023, she has been a member of the board of Europa International, and has acted as the association’s president since 2025.