Pre-Jury

A pre-jury of more than 30 local science education and science communication professionals from the participating countries are closely involved in the selection of the films.

In Singapore the pre-jury in 2025 consisted of the following members:

Uma Mahdawan

STEM Professional Development Officer, Science Centre Singapore

Ms Uma is an Educator with the Ministry of Education (MOE) Singapore. Currently seconded to Science Centre Singapore, she looks into STEM related professional development for educators. With a Bachelors Degree in Applied Physics and Masters in Education, she has been in the public service for 21 years teaching science/physics to secondary students and heading the Student Development, and Character & Citizenship Education (CCE) departments for over 10 years.

Martina Schmid-Lindenmayer

Project coordinator, Goethe-Institut Singapore

Martina has been working as a project coordinator for educational services in the language department at the Goethe-Institut Singapore since 2019. In her current role, she organizes events and training courses for learners and teachers of German. Martina has a great personal interest in science topics and is looking forward to the second Science Film Festival in Singapore.

Ute Hartmann

Head of the Language Department

Ute has been working with the Goethe-Institut Singapore since 2014. Since 2023 she is the Head of the Language department leading the team of teachers and language office in providing high-quality German language courses and German language examinations for adults and children. A scientist at heart, she thoroughly enjoys expanding her knowledge through the wide variety of science-related films in the Science Film Festival and is happy to be a part of it.

Valerie-Ann Tan

Programme Coordinator, Cultural Department, Goethe-Institut Singapore

Valerie-Ann Tan is a cultural worker in Singapore. She is the Programme Manager at the Goethe-Institut Singapore, where she develops and implements the Institute’s cultural programmes. Her areas of interests include the interstices of art, civil society, and public space.