Esperança Bielsa is Associate Professor and ICREA Academia Fellow at the Department of Sociology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. Her interdisciplinary research combines approaches from sociology and translation studies in order to develop theoretical, methodological and empirical perspectives on topics that include cosmopolitanism, globalization, world literature and foreign news. She is the author of Cosmopolitanism and Translation (Routledge 2016) and The Latin American Urban Crónica (Lexington Books 2006), co-author, with Susan Bassnett, of Translation in Global News (Routledge 2009), and co-editor, with Christopher Hughes, of Globalization, Political Violence and Translation (Palgrave Macmillan 2009). She is currently working on the production of two edited volumes, the Routledge Handbook of Translation and Globalization (co-edited with Dionysios Kapsaskis) and the Routledge Handbook of Translation and Media (forthcoming).
Predrag Cvetičanin teaches Sociology of Culture and Aesthetics at the Faculty of Arts, University of Niš, and Cultural Policy and Cultural Rights at the UNESCO Chair at the University of Arts, Belgrade. He is also the director of the independent research institute Centre for Empirical Cultural Studies of Southeast Europe. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade (2011), an MSc in Philosophy from the London School of Economics and Political science (LSE) (1998), an MA in Sociology of Arts from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade (1997); an MA in Art History at the Central European University (CEU) Prague (1995); and a BA in Sociology at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Niš (1989). He has coordinated a large number of national and international research projects. He wrote and edited twelve books dealing with the class structure of South-East European societies, with the relationship between social and cultural stratification, with informal practices, household strategies and with cultural participation in South-East Europe.
Jukka Gronow (born 1945 in Helsinki. Finland) is an emeritus Professor of Sociology at the Uppsala University, Sweden and a Docent of Sociology at the University of Helsinki, Finland.
His main research interests are in social theory, classical sociology, and the sociology of culture and consumption. He is an expert on the history of the culture of consumption in the former socialist countries. His major publications include The Sociology of Taste (1997), Ordinary Consumption (2000, co-edited with Alan Warde), Caviar with Champagne. Common Luxury and the Ideals of Good Life in Stalin’s Russia (2003), Fashion Meets Socialism (2015, co-authored with Sergey Zhuravlev) and Suomalainen maku (The Finnish Taste; Purhonen et al, 2014). Deciphering Markets and Money. A Sociological Analysis of Economic Institutions came out 2020. In addition, he has published articles and research reports in both international and Finnish journals and edited works.
Hamy Ramezan is a Finnish-Iranian film director and screenwriter. Having fled persecution in Iran, and survived Yugoslav refugee camps as a young boy, Ramezan and his family arrived in Finland in 1990. He graduated from the film school at UCA, Franham in 2007 and has since completed several short and documentary films.
Ramezan won Best Narrative Short at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015, Oscar-qualifying the short film Listen (Kuuntele, 2014, co-directed/co written with Rungano Nyoni). His work has also been nominated for the European Film Awards (2015) and selected for the Directors’ Fortnight during the Cannes Film Festival in 2014.
Ramezan’s short film Keys of Heaven (Paratiisin Avaimet, 2014) impressed the international festival circuit and took among others, four prizes at the Tampere Film Festival, including the prestigious Risto Jarva Prize.
Over the Fence (Viikko ennen vappua, 2009) was a worldwide hit, having screened at more than 50 international festivals and earning eight prizes, including Best Live Action Short at the Toronto Worldwide Short Film Festival, Best Fiction at Curtocircuito Santiago de Compostela and a Special Mention at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival.
Refugee Unknown won The Main Prize at Tampere Film Festival (2016) in the category of over 30-minute films. The film was also the audience’s favourite in the National Competition.
Aamu Film Company’s The Oasis of Now (2020) has won the Finnish Film Affair’s Best Project Award 2019. Currently in post-production, the film tells the story of a family seeking asylum in Finland. The decision was unanimous amongst the jury, consisting of Stine Bomholt-Hansen from LevelK, Tom Abell from Peccadillo Pictures and Gyda Velvin Myklebust from The Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund.
“The sensitivity in the portrayal of the boy and his family is delicate and emotionally balanced – this project really touched us. The film has impressive visual style and presents a rising talent in director Hamy Ramezan. Its universal themes have the potential to speak to audiences all over the world.”