Margje de Koning, Goran Bogdan and Vanja Jambrović are this year’s Rab Film Festival jury members. The director of the Dutch film festival on human rights (Movies that Matter), a respected Croatian actor and producer of the currently most-watched Croatian film, will decide on the 12 films in the festival’s competition.
MARGJE DE KONING
After finishing her studies, Margje de Koning directed documentaries for various
broadcasting companies for 12 years. For some years Margje was a teacher for documentaries at the University of Amsterdam. In August 2004, Margje became Commissioning Editor for a documentary slot of 52’ docs. This meant producing and co-producing creative single 52'-documentaries on contemporary social, social-cultural and moral issues with a strong human interest angle. The focus is on Dutch subjects but surely also on subjects from over the whole world. Since January 2005 Margje de Koning has been responsible for the Television Department of IKON and on January 2012 she became Head of TV, Radio and New Media programming at IKON. From January 2016 IKON has been incorporated within EO with Margje de Koning as Head of Documentaries for EOdocs. She takes part in juries, panels and moderates (pitching)sessions in the filmindustry.
Since September 2019 she left the Public Broadcaster in order to become the new artistic director of the filmfestival Movies that Matter. Margje is voting member of DAFF, EFA and The Academy (Oscars)
GORAN BOGDAN
Goran Bogdan was born in 1980 in Široki Brijeg, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is a Croatian theatre, television, and film actor. From 2005 to 2012, when he earned his master’s degree, he studied at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. Bogdan has been a permanent member of the Zagreb Youth Theatre since 2010, where he has performed several roles in plays worldwide by several notable directors. He attracted the attention of the film public with his roles in Kristijan Milić’s films BROJ 55 (2014), Vlatko Vorkapić’s SONJA AND THE BULLF (2012), and OTAC (2020) by director Srdan Golubović, and the Oscar-nominated short film THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT (2024) by director Nebojša Sljepčević. He has also achieved acclaimed roles in several television series, such as SILENCE, SHADOWS OVER THE BALKANS, and ZONES WITHOUT SIGNAL.
VANJA JAMBROVIĆ
Vanja Jambrović graduated in comparative literature and philosophy at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, and in production at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. As a producer and co-producer, she stands behind many documentaries and hybrid films. The films produced by Vanja have won over 150 awards at international film festivals, three times have been selected for European Film Awards (“Fiume o morte!” 2025.,”Srbenka” 2019 and “Valerija” 2024). “Fiume o morte!” by Igor Bezinović won two main awards at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2025 – the Tiger Award and the Fipresci Award, and a total of 6 Golden Arenas at the national film festival in Pula. This film is currently the most-watched film in Croatia’s cinemas. Nebojša Slijepčević’s “Srbenka” won 23 awards at film festivals, including the Doc Allianze Award from the Association of European Documentary Festivals. Her films won Heart of Sarajevo for best documentary three times (“Srbenka” 2018, “Museum of the Revolution” 2022 and “Valerija” 2024). Vanja’s projects are funded by many international institutions and funds, including the Sundance Institute (“Museum of the Revolution” by Srdjan Keca). She has participated in international workshops for film producers REACT (2017), EAVE (2015), Producer on the Move in Cannes (2014), Emerging Producer in Jihlava (2012) and Eurodoc (2010). She has been teaching at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. She has been a mentor and lecturer at the international workshops for development of documentary projects: Documentary Campus Masterschool from Germany, Eurodoc from France, Ex Oriente from the Czech Republic, BDC Discoveries and Circle Women Doc Accelerator.
