The jury, consisting of actor and producer Miro Barnjak, Slovenian director and producer Siniša Gačić, and writer Almin Kaplan, is awarding the best short documentary film at the 27th Mediterranean Film Festival.

This three-member jury brings together experience from various fields of art and film production – from years long acting and producing work, to award-winning documentary directing, literary work, and film script writing.

 

Miro Barnjak is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian and Croatian film, theatre, and television actor and producer. He was born in Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje. He is a long-time member of the ensemble of the Croatian National Theatre in Mostar and one of the recognisable names on the Mostar theatre scene. He has played numerous roles in film, television, and theatre, while also distinguishing himself with his work behind the camera. He made his film debut in 1997 in "Red Dust", directed by Zrinko Ogresta. After that, he appeared in a number of films and television projects across the region. One of his most significant projects is the film "Living and Dead" (2007), for which he also wrote the screenplay, together with writer Josip Mlakić. He has played notable roles in numerous plays at his home theatre, the HNK Mostar. In addition to acting, he is works as a producer and writes scripts for feature films and documentaries. He lives and works in Mostar.

Siniša Gačić (1980) is a Slovenian director and producer. He graduated in film and television editing and completed postgraduate studies in directing at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT) in Ljubljana. He has been working at Radio Television Slovenia since 1999. He is the author of several award-winning documentaries, including the feature-length documentary “Boj za” from 2014, which won the Vesna award for Best Film at the Slovenian Film Festival, and “Daughter of Camorra” (2019), which premiered at the Sarajevo Film Festival and won the Vesna award for Best Documentary. He is the founder of the production company Zuhr Film.

Almin Kaplan (1985) is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian poet and prose writer. His work has appeared in literary journals in Bosnia and Herzegovina and throughout the region. He has also edited Strane, a website dedicated to literature and culture. He has gained recognition for poetry and prose deeply rooted in his Herzegovinian homeland, post-war experience, family memory, and the social realities of everyday life. He has published poetry books “Biberove kćeri” (2008), “Čekajući koncert roga” (2012), “Ospice” (a novel in verse, 2014), “Mostarska zbirka” (2017), and “Bukara” (2017). He is the author of the novels “Trganje” (2017), “Meho” (2019), “Šušanj” (2023), and “Mali otac” (2025), as well as the prose  “Dubravske priče” (2020), the diary “Kućni ljudi” (2022), and the book “Razgovori s Markom” (2022), constructed from conversations with the poet Marko Vešović. He has won several literary awards, including the Mak Dizdar, Ratković Poetry Evenings, Zija Dizdarević, Skender Kulenović, Edo Budiša, and Kočić's Pen awards. He is working with director Pjer Žalica on developing a screenplay for a film based on his novel ”Šušanj”. He is an editor at the Buna publishing house in Mostar and lives in a village near Stolac.