We’re delighted to introduce the jury for this year’s Italy Exported short films competition! The 2020 Ristretto Awards short films in contention will be available to view online from October 1 to November 1, 2020, as part of the 2020 feStivale.

Meet the jurors: 
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Beth Accomando (KPBS, Film Geeks SD)
‍Beth Accomando covers arts and culture around San Diego for KPBS News and is the host of the Cinema Junkie Podcast. Beth is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and Online Film Critics Society, and is past president and former education chairperson for the San Diego Film Critics Society. She served as the festival director of Film School Confidential: A Showcase of San Diego Student Filmmaking. In the past she has served on the film selection committee for the San Diego State University Student Film Festival, San Diego International Film Festival, and San Diego Latino Film Festival. Now she volunteers as part of the Film Geeks at the Digital Gym Cinema to bring independent and envelope-pushing genre filmmaking to the Media Arts Center San Diego’s micro-cinema. 
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Lucy Eagleson (Outside The Lens)
‍Born and raised in Escondido, California, Lucy spent three years living and volunteering at an orphanage in Bosnia-Herzegovina, inspiring her to pursue a career in filmmaking. Lucy obtained her Master of Fine Arts in Film and TV Production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and she continues to produce and direct short documentary films. She brings her passions together by seeking to instill in young people the importance of telling their stories, while providing them the skills necessary to create digital content.

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Edda Manriquez (Les Femmes Underground, Academy of Motion Pictures Film Archive)
‍Edda Manriquez is an award-winning experimental filmmaker whose work has been featured at prestigious film festivals all around the world. Edda is the founder and director of a travelling womxn’s film festival, Les Femmes Underground International Film Festival. She obtained her M.F.A. in Film and Video at the California Institute of the Arts and her Bachelors in Visual Arts, Communications, and Stage Management from the University of California, San Diego. Edda currently works at the Academy of Motion Pictures Film Archive.
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Natasha Mulholland (Reading International, Inc., Angelika Film Center)
‍Natasha studied media and fine art at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She started her career at PBS in Chicago working for a show that exhibited arts all around the city. She then moved on to Facets Multimedia Inc. where she was involved with the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival for nearly ten years. From there she has been behind the scenes managing events for several major film festivals all around the country, including: Telluride, Sundance, Seattle, TCM, and Palm Springs. Now serving as the Marketing Manager of the Angelika Film Center in San Diego, Natasha loves that she gets to talk about film all day every day.
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Yazdi Pithavala (Moviewallas)
‍Yazdi K. Pithavala is a lead reviewer and podcaster for Moviewallas.com, where he also provides coverage of film festivals. Yazdi is a scientist by training, working as a Clinical Pharmacologist at Pfizer Inc, and is Assistant Clinical Professor (Voluntary) at the UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy. He has been blogging about cinema for the past decade. He is a member of the San Diego Film Critics Society, and has been serving as its elected Secretary since 2014. He is a frequent guest on KPBS’s Midday Edition to discuss film. There is nothing he would rather spend time on than attending film festivals. 
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Katarina Richard (Minor in Italian, San Diego State University)
‍Katarina Richard has been a volunteer with the San Diego Italian Film Festival for two years. At San Diego State University she minored in Italian Studies while pursuing a Bachelor’s in the Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences. Italian cinema marries her interests of studying languages and engaging in film discussion, allowing her to delve further into cultural themes while building an appreciation for Italy’s contributions to film. 
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Miguel Rodriguez (Founder of Horrible Imaginings)
Miguel Rodriguez is the founder and Executive Director of the Horrible Imaginings, a San Diego-based film festival dedicated to genre cinema, performance, and art. He is also a film curator and programmer for San Diego Latino Film Festival, The Film Geeks San Diego, and Digital Gym Cinema. By day, he helps support and train instructors for the Educational Technology Services Department of UC San Diego.
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Itzel Rousseau (Women In Film, Los Angeles)
‍Born in Baja California, Itzel knew from an early age that she wanted to work behind the scenes in the movies. While studying film production at San Diego State University, she produced narrative, documentary, and animated short films. After graduating, she was a film screener for the Austin Film Festival and then a volunteer and intern for the San Diego International, Latino, and Italian film festivals. Currently, she is a member of Women In Film Los Angeles and is completing her M.F.A. in Film and Television Producing at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.
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Valeria Rumori (Italian Cultural Institute – Los Angeles)
‍Valeria Rumori has been director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles since 2015. Her overseas assignments have included interim director and director of the Italian Cultural Institutes in San Francisco from 2003 to 2009 and Marseille, France, from 2009 to 2012. Prior to joining the Foreign Office in 1993, she worked for the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, where her duties included attracting international students and promoting Italian culture. Cinema has had a particularly significant role in her international career and she has actively collaborated with Palm Springs International Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Worldfest Houston, the New Italian Film Festival, Mill Valley Italian Film Festival, Cinema Italian Style, Filming ItalyLos Angeles, Italian Film Festival USA, and in Italy with LUCE Cinecittà, Scuola Nazionale di Cinema Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, and Centro Nazionale del Cortometraggio, among many others.