Team

Festival Director

Patrik Krivanek is a Czech-British film director, producer, and screenwriter based in London. He studied film with a focus on screenwriting at the Film and Television School Wales and earned a BA in film from the prestigious Westminster Film School, specializing in directing. He also participated in the Sundance Institute’s Directing Actors program, further refining his directing voice. He has worked on both international and Czech productions, including the talent show Britain’s Got Talent, the feature films Smiles of Sad Men and Two Words as the Key, and Masters of the Air, an Apple TV+ series produced by Spielberg, Hanks, and Goetzman.

His films and screenplays have earned accolades at prestigious Academy Award-qualifying festivals and screenplay competitions, such as the Austin Film Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival, and the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards, among others. In 2020, he founded Ephor Pictures Ltd, an independent British production company. As a producer, he has participated in the Producers Network at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Founder of the International Film Gala (London), he leverages his extensive knowledge and experience from his work with several prominent film festivals, including the Westminster Film Festival and the Cardiff Independent Film Festival.

He is also currently in pre-production on his directorial feature debut, Muddy Shoes.

Head of Programming

Luca Ferrara is an Italian filmmaker specializing in short and feature films, as well as commercials. He is the founder and director of the international Brixia Film Festival in Brescia and previously led the Westminster Film Society and Westminster Film Festival in 2018 and 2019, returning as Jury President in 2020. 

Currently, he serves as the Head of Programming of our festival and collaborates with various international film festivals and screenwriting competitions, including the Oudeis International Film Festival in Rome.

Marketing Director

Christopher Fernandez is a graduate of the BA Film course at Westminster Film School (University of Westminster, London), where he specialised in production and post-production sound, as well as directing.

He was selected as a ScreenSkills Sound Trainee for 2023–24 and has worked as a sound recordist on a range of short films, with additional credits in high-end television and independent productions. His recent work includes Phoenix Risefor the BBC and several projects with the production company Pigeon Shrine.

Alongside his work as a commercials director, Christopher currently serves as Marketing Executive at the Royal Court Hotel and has been appointed Marketing Director for our festival, bringing his creative and strategic insight to the promotion of this year’s edition.