Onion Award Jury

Mark Edwards

A 30-year industry veteran, producer and broadcaster Mark Edwards began his career in New York in the 1990s supervising the post-production of a 10-hour documentary series on the history of American cinema.

Based in Paris since 1995, he served for four years as Director of the USC Shoah Foundation (founded by Steven Spielberg) in France before working across Europe as an independent producer. In 2012, he joined ARTE France as Head of International Co-productions.

In 2021, he was appointed Director of Documentaries in Europe for Netflix. In his role as a broadcaster, he has served as a commissioning editor on more than a hundred documentary films and series. Since his departure from Netflix in February 2024, he has returned to working as an independent producer and media consultant. He has extensive experience teaching documentary production and writing and has been a member of several different film commissions.

James Berclaz-Lewis

Since 2023, James Berclaz-Lewis has served as Head of Programming at Visions du Réel, while also leading the Programming Office at the Vevey International Funny Film Festival. His career has included positions such as that of Chief Coordinator of the FIFDH in Geneva from 2016 to 2020, followed by a position on the programming team of the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival until 2023.

Beyond that, he has collaborated with the Geneva International Film Festival, the feminist multidisciplinary festival Les Créatives, and played a role in Switzerland’s Lex Netflix campaign, advocating for reform in national media policy.

Margarita Arsova

Margarita Arsova is a cultural producer and project manager with extensive experience in festival organization and cultural event management.

Since 2010, she has been an integral part of Youth Cultural Center (MKC), contributing to its development as a key cultural venue in Europe. She serves as the Executive Producer of CINEDAYS Festival of European Film, overseeing programming, funding, and audience engagement, and has been instrumental in elevating its international recognition. Additionally, she is the Program Co-curator of ZDRAVO MLADI, a festival dedicated to innovative music programming.

Beyond festival work, Arsova has led various cultural initiatives, including managing international projects like SCENERGIES and Big Time Takeover, fostering artistic collaboration and youth engagement. She has also contributed to theater and film production as a board member of the Turkish Theater Skopje and co-manager of Art Project Lab Skopje.