Film: Toxic

Argentinian actor Nahuel Pérez Biscayart joined the Buenos Aires School of Fine Arts before training in private drama workshops. He went on to perform in a series of plays and films both for cinema and television in Argentina. Aged only 21, he was chosen for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Initiative programme, which took him to New York where he joined Kate Valk's company, The Wooster Group. In 2008, back in Argentina, a part in Pablo Fendrik's La Sangre Brota (Semaine de la Critique, Cannes 2008) brought him to the public's attention. During a trip to Paris, Benoît Jacquot got in touch to offer him the main part in Deep in the Woods, which premiered at the Locarno Festival in 2010. In 2014, he starred in Rebecca Zlotowski's Grand Central. The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival as part of the Un Certain Regard competition. Nahuel Pérez Biscayart was then cast in David Lambert's All Yours in Belgium, a role that won him an award at the Karlovy Vary Festival. 2017 saw him return to the silver screen in France, starring in Albert Dupontel's See You Up There and Robin Campillo's 120 Beats Per Minute (2017 Cannes Grand Prize), in which he played the role of Sean, a charismatic member of Act-Up Paris in the early 90s. The role won him Best Male Newcomer at the 2018 César awards among other awards. For his performance in film Persian Lessons in which he co-stars with Lars Eidinger (2020 Berlinale) he received a Golden Panda Award (Chengdu, China). Following Isaki Lacuesta’s « One year, one night » (Berlinale 2022) and « El empleado y el Patrón » by Manuel Nieto Saz (Quizaine des cinéastes, Cannes 2022), the film « La fille de son père » by Erwan Leduc closed the « Semaine de la critique 2023 » in Cannes. « Les gens d’à côté » by André Téchiné alongside Isabelle Huppert and « El Jockey » by Luis Ortega were released in 2024.

Film: Kill the Jockey (Main Actor)

Diego Figueroa. Filmmaker born in Santiago de Chile.

He recently released his debut feature “A Yard of Jackals”, which won Best Director in Opera Prima at the 28th PÖFF and Best Film at the 36th FicViña. The film has captured the attention of international film critics for its emotional and technical treatment of a subject that continues to resonate in Chilean society.

He has also been known for his short fiction films, such as “The Neighbours”, which received wide festival circulation and great success on the internet.

Film: A Yard of Jackals (Director)

Karabo Lediga is a writer and director for television and film. Her short film, which she wrote and directed titled ‘What DidYou Dream?’, premiered in competition at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and was also in competition at The Palm Springs International Short Film Festival amongst others. It won Best African Short at the Durban International Film Festival (2021). Karabo has written for the first African Netflix Original series, the spy thriller ‘Queen Sono’ and across 12 seasons of the two-time International Emmy nominated news satire show ‘Late Nite News with Loyiso Gola’ where she was also a director and performer.

Her other directorial work also includes Netflix’s six-part live stand-up comedy series ‘Only Jokes Allowed’ and the teen spy drama, ‘Classified’ (Diprente/Skybound Galactic) for which she also directed two of the eight episodes. She’s an alumnus of Berlinale Talents, Less Is More (Le Groupe Ouest) and TIFF Writers’ Studio.

Film: Sabbatical (Director)

Film: September 5 (Drehbuchautor)

Der Fleck (Skill Issue) (94 min) premiered at Locarno Film Festival 2024 and won a Special Mention.

Film: Der Fleck (Director)

Laura Laabs (1985, East Berlin) is an author and director. She studied Politics and Film studies, then Directing at the Film University Konrad Wolf and completed a master's degree with Andreas Kleinert.

Film: Rote Sterne überm Feld (director)

Martina Priessner studied Social and Cultural Sciences at Humboldt University in Berlin and works as a freelance filmmaker and author in Berlin. Her documentary debut WIR SITZEN IM SÜDEN (ZDF/Das Kleine Fernsehspiel) premiered in the national competition of the Leipzig DOK Film Festival in 2010 and was nominated for the Grimme Award in 2011. She has received scholarships from Nipkow, DEFA, Mercator and the Tarabya Cultural Academy. During a five-year stay in Istanbul, she made the found footage film EVERYDAY I'M CAPULING in 2013, which deals with the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul. As an IPC Mercator scholarship holder, she produced the film 650 WORDS in Istanbul in 2015, which deals with migration and language. Her documentary DIE WÄCHTERIN, produced with the support of the BKM, premiered in the German Competition at DOK Leipzig in October 2020 and was awarded the Goethe-Institut's Documentary Film Prize.

Film: Die Möllner Briefe (director)

Burhan Qurbani, born in 1980, is a graduate of the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy. As the child of Afghan war refugees, he grew up in various German cities due to his father's employment in the US army. After graduating from high school, he worked as an assistant dramaturge and director at various theaters. While still a student, he won various prizes for his short films, including the 2008 German Film Critics' Award and the Middle East International Film Festival's “Black Pearl” as “Best upcoming filmmaker of the year 2008”. His graduation film Shahada premiered in competition at the 60th Berlinale in 2010 and was awarded numerous national and international prizes. His next film Wir sind jung. Wir sind stark. opened the competition of the Rome International Film Festival and the Hofer Filmtage in 2014. He was nominated several times for the German Film Award 2015 (Best Cinematography, Best Film) and won the Lola for Best Supporting Actor. Burhan Qurbani's next film Berlin Alexanderplatz celebrated its world premiere in the Berlinale competition in 2020, was nominated for 11 Lolas at the 2020 German Film Awards and won five of them. Burhan lives and works in Berlin.

Film: Kein Tier. So wild. (director)

Born and raised in Berlin, Helena Zengel began her acting career at the age of five. She got her first leading role at the age of eight in Die Tochter by Mascha Schilinski. In 2019, Zengel played the role of the traumatized Benni in the film Systemsprenger by Nora Fingscheidt, which celebrated its world premiere at the Berlinale. She received the German Film Award for Best Actress in 2020. Following the international success of Systemsprenger, Zengel was cast by Universal Pictures in the American western News of the World by Paul Greengrass alongside Tom Hanks. For this role, she received nominations for a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress. Zengel also dubbed herself in the Italian, German, French and Spanish versions of the film. In 2021, Zengel appeared as Nina Cutter in A Christmas Number One, a romantic comedy starring Freida Pinto and Iwan Rheon. She also starred alongside Willem Dafoe in the 2021 A24 fantasy adventure film The Legend of Ochi, which will be released in 2025. She has also been cast for a lead roles in the series Die Therapie, based on a bestseller by Sebastian Fitzek and released on Amazon Prime in 2023.

Film: Transamazonia (cast)

Stefan Aust is a German journalist and author. He was editor-in-chief of the news magazine Der Spiegel from 1994 to 2008. From 2014 to 2024, Aust was editor of the daily newspaper Die Welt before rising to editor-in-chief from January to September 2016.

Film: Stammheim (screenwriter)

Maxi Haslberger

*1984 in Minneapolis. 2007 Studied Directing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, graduating in 2014. Studied at Columbia University in New York in 2011. His graduation film die menschenliebe was screened at the Berlinale and numerous other festivals and won the First Steps Award in 2014. In 2013 he founded the production company Amerikafilm. He is a member of the German Film Academy, the European Film Academy and was on the jury for the National Gallery's Advancement Award for Film Art. He has published texts in Revolver - Zeitschrift für Film, among others, and also lectures at the DFFB.

Film: Rote Sterne überm Feld (producer)

Jennifer Mallmann studied “Motion Pictures” at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences and then specialized in documentary film directing at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy, from which she graduated in 2024.

Film: Moria Six (director)

Ulrich Seidl started his career with award-winning documentaries such as GOOD NEWS (1990), ANIMAL LOVE (1995) and MODELS (1998). Seidl’s first feature fic_on film DOG DAYS (2001) won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Fes_val in 2001. Encouraged by this success, he and Veronika Franz founded Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion in 2003 not only to produce their own films, but also to provide production conditions for filmmakers that were
different from those offered by conventional production companies. Since then, Ulrich Seidl has produced his own films.
The first, IMPORT EXPORT, premiered in 2007 in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Seidl`s combined version WICKED GAMES - Rimini Sparta premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (2023).

Film: Böse Spiele – Rimini Sparta (Director)

Anatol Schuster (1985 in Darmstadt) is an author, director and producer. During his directing studies at the HFF Munich, he made EIN IDEALER ORT, which won the “Dialogue en perspective” award at the 2015 Berlinale, and his poetic graduation film LUFT, which was released in 2017. In the same year, he received the Wim Wenders Scholarship. Improvising the means, he made his cinema debut FRAU STERN, which became a surprise success and received numerous awards. In 2022, he founded the production company Zwillingfilm. CHAOS UND STILLE premiered at the A-Festival in Warsaw in October 2024 and won the Directing Award. He also co-produced the Israeli debut film BATIM (HOUSES) by Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum, which will celebrate its world premiere at the Berlinale Forum in 2025. He is co-director of Edgar Reitz' latest film LEIBNIZ.

Film: Leibniz (Co-director)

Film: September 5 (Regisseur)

Christoph Hochhäusler was born in Munich in 1972 and lives in Berlin. 1996-2004 he studied Film Directing at the HFF, Munich. 2017-2021 he was senior lecturer in Directing at the German Film and Television Academy, Berlin (DFFB). Hochhäusler is the author of numerous film journalistic works, including - since 1998 - as founder and co-editor of the film magazine “Revolver”. In 2013, Hochhäusler's cinematic work was part of the retrospective ‘The Berlin School: Films from the Berliner Schule’ at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 2024, the Diagonale in Graz dedicated a retrospective to his work. A selection of his film texts will soon be published as a book by Spector Books Leipzig.

Film: Der Tod wird kommen (director)

Pia Marais was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, to a Swedish mother and a South African father. She first studied Art in London, Amsterdam and finally at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf before studying Film at the DFFB in Berlin. 
She has written and directed four feature films. Her feature film debut The Unpolished won the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival in 2007. At Ellen's Age screened in competition at Locarno in 2010 and more than 40 other festivals, including Toronto and New Directors, New Films (Moma). Set in her native South Africa, Layla Fourie premiered in competition at the Berlinale in 2013 and received a Special Mention from the jury. In 2018, she made her first documentary Cari Compagni (Dear Comrades) for Arte.
Transamazonia is her fourth feature film and premiered in competition at Locarno and had its US premiere at the New York Film Festival's Main Slate.

Film: Transamazonia (director)

Niki Stein studied film directing with Hark Bohm, István Szabó and Alexander Mita at the Hamburg Media School. As early as 1984, he won the main prize at the European Short Film Festival in Berlin for his short film VORSICHT SEPP!

The Essen-born director and screenwriter has made over 50 feature-length films to date, including VATER, MUTTER, MÖRDER ! (2011), ROMMEL (2012), BIG MANNI (2016). He has also written and directed numerous episodes of the TATORT series and developed the teams of investigators for the Cologne and Frankfurt TATORT. For the Beethoven anniversary in 2020, he wrote and directed the film LOUIS VAN BEETHOVEN (2019/20), which screened at the Shanghai Film Festival and was shown in numerous cinemas in China and the USA, among others.

He also directs in the theater, writes and directs radio plays and teaches directing at the International Film School Cologne (ifs) and in the postgraduate film program at the Hamburg Media School.

Niki Stein has been nominated several times for the Grimme Award and the German Television Award. In 2010, he received the Bavarian Television Award and the Grand Prix d'Or in Biarritz for writing and directing the film BIS NICHTS MEHR BLEIBT, and the Grand Prix d'Or for best screenplay for VATER, MUTTER; MÖRDER (2011).

Film: Stammheim (director)

https://lichter-filmfest.de/en...Lilith Stangenberg (*1988) is a German film and theater actress known for her intense screen presence and radical choice of roles. She was a permanent member of the Volksbühne Berlin ensemble and has worked with renowned directors such as Frank Castorf and René Pollesch. She has been performing at Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg for two years, including in the title role in Antigone.

Filme: Stammheim, Creativo Paradiso (Cast)

After university, Bill Anderson (British filmmaker, FERA Chairman) worked for two years on the Fulmar Alpha oil rig in the North Sea, after turning away from writing dialog-heavy television dramas such as Nailed and turning to telling stories with images. Creatures of Light, his graduation film from the National Film and Television School, won the Chaplin Award for Best First Feature at the Edinburgh Film Festival.
 In his 30-year career as a television director, he has directed workplace dramas including Mr. Selfridge, The Mill and the BAFTA-nominated Dockers (the story of their strike, dramatized by a writers' group of sacked Liverpool dockers, produced by their union for Channel 4); historical epics such as Daniel Craig in Sword of Honour and Alex Kingston in Boudica (co-produced by MediaPro Studios and shot in Romania in 2002); crime dramas such as the pilot Lewis and the writing and directing of RTS and the Prix Italia-nominated Guardians.

Events: Better Together – Towards a European Network for Film & Democracy, No State of the Art, No Art of the State

Gaby Babić works as a programmer/cultural worker for various film festivals and cultural institutions, she is co-founder of Remake. Frankfurter Frauen Film Tage and runs the Asta Nielsen cinema library in Frankfurt am Main. She is a member of the selection committee of goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern European Film.

Event: Von uns aus von hier aus – Filme machen Gegenperspektiven

Roger Behrens, 1967, lives and works in Hamburg; numerous publications on the critical theory of society. Research assistant at Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg (educational science), specializing in educational theory and philosophical foundations.

Events: Das Kultivieren der Angst, Währung Angst – Ein Geschäftsmodell der Medien

Mariangela Bombardieri is a multidisciplinary artist who develops devices designed to enhance, heal and improve the human body.
She trained at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts and her first artistic performance, entitled "Realitytour", was scheduled as part of the Art Live 4 festival of the prestigious Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin (IT).
Mariangela Bombardieri also participated in the writing of several screenplays and in the production of Fabio D’Orta’s first feature film, "THE COMPLEX FORMS", as executive producer, costume designer and set designer.

Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay (born 1987) is a filmmaker and producer who graduated from the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. His directorial debut “Oray” received international recognition and was awarded the prestigious Best First Feature Award at the 2019 Berlinale. In 2020, he founded filmfaust GmbH together with producer Claus Herzog-Reichel. The company has since established itself as a creative force in European cinema, producing award-winning feature films and documentaries. Notable productions include Cem Kaya's “Liebe, D-Mark und Tod” and “Sirenenruf” by directing duo Miri Ian Gossing and Lina Sieckmann.

Film: Hysteria (director)

Event: Dreams, Nightmares & Revolutions – Filmemachen ohne Angst

Severin Fiala, born in Horn in 1985, studied Screenwriting and Dramaturgy at the Vienna Film Academy under Walter Wippersberg. He works for the Red Cross and celebrated his first successes with the award-winning short film “Elefantenhaut” (2009, co-directed with Ulrike Putzer).

Film: Des Teufels Bad

Event: Kino des Schreckens – Warum macht man Filme, die Angst machen? 

Cornelia Grünberg studied Directing and Screenwriting at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin and graduated in 1994 with her award-winning graduation film "Paul IV. (based on the novel “Paul Vier und die Schröders” by Andreas Steinhöfel).

Event: No State of the Art, No Art of the State

Alfred Holighaus, Managing Director of the Kuratorium junger deutscher Film

Alfred Holighaus (born 1959 in Dillenburg, Hesse) has been the interim Managing Director of the Kuratorium junger deutscher Film since April 1, 2025, a position he has held since 2006 as a member of the Board of Trustees and since 2019 as an honorary board member.

Previously, he was President of the German Cinema Industry Organization (SPIO), Managing Director of the German Film Academy, Head of the “Perspektive Deutsches Kino” section at the Berlinale and Developer and Producer at Senator Film Produktion. He most recently held the same position at REAL FILM Berlin and was in charge of NDR's “Tatorte” at Nordfilm Kiel. Holighaus has been a member of various film and television juries since 1990 (Grimme Prize, FFA, Max Ophüls Prize, Studio Hamburg-Nachwuchspreis, etc.). He has produced international documentaries (“Fallen Angel - Gram Parsons”) and received the Honorary Award at the Max Ophüls Festival as well as the Film Prize of the City of Hof. He is a member of the German and European Film Academies.

Event: Blank Slate Talentförderung

Markus Keuschnigg, born 1981 in Kitzbühel (Tyrol).
From 2006 to 2016 film journalist at Radio FM4 and film critic for the daily newspaper Die Presse. Contributions to book publications on the work of Harmony Korine and Werner Herzog, among others. In 2010 co-founder of the SLASH film festival, which specializes in genre cinema, and has been its artistic director ever since.
Since 2013 he has worked as a dramaturgical consultant, in particular for Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, for example on ICH SEH ICH SEH (2014) and DES TEUFELS BAD (2024).

Event: Kino des Schreckens – Warum macht man Filme die Angst machen?

Philipp Ladage was born in Bückeburg in 1993. After training as a businessman, he completed a degree in business administration. Today he works as an AI video artist. With DDR Moonbase, he has created a multimedia art project that uses artificial intelligence, humor and visual design to bring a fictional, retrofuturistic moon world in the style of the GDR to life. The short videos he publishes on platforms such as Instagram and YouTube reach a large and ever-growing community. Friendship!

Event: All AI all the time, Future Frames

Pia Marais was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, to a Swedish mother and a South African father. She first studied Art in London, Amsterdam and finally at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf before studying Film at the DFFB in Berlin. 
She has written and directed four feature films. Her feature film debut The Unpolished won the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival in 2007. At Ellen's Age screened in competition at Locarno in 2010 and more than 40 other festivals, including Toronto and New Directors, New Films (Moma). Set in her native South Africa, Layla Fourie premiered in competition at the Berlinale in 2013 and received a Special Mention from the jury. In 2018, she made her first documentary Cari Compagni (Dear Comrades) for Arte.
Transamazonia is her fourth feature film and premiered in competition at Locarno and had its US premiere at the New York Film Festival's Main Slate.

Film: Transamazonia (director)

Event: Dreams, Nightmares & Revolutions – Filmemachen ohne Angst

Niklas Nissen is the support officer for young talent. He is particularly responsible for material development. After working on the film set for several years, he joined Hessen Film& Medien in 2021. He was initially responsible for events and moved to the position of funding officer in March 2023.

Event: Blank Slate Talentförderung

The German-Kurdish director, screenwriter and producer Ayşe Polat was born in Malatya and grew up in Hamburg. After several award-winning short films, she made her first feature film AUSLANDSTOURNEE in 1999. The feature film EN GARDE won the Silver Leopard for Best Film and Best Actress at the 2004 Locarno International Film Festival. In 2008 she founded PunktPunktPunkt-Filmproduktion. This was followed by further feature films and a documentary. She has also directed TV films, including Tatort.

Events: Dreams, Nightmares & Revolutions – Filmemachen ohne Angst, Auch Dinosaurier haben Angst

Louis Savy is the founder and festival director of the London Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film, better known as SCI-FI-LONDON. Louis champions filmmakers who combine science fact and fiction for entertainment and education. He sees the medium of film as an easy and accessible way to communicate difficult scientific concepts and to look at possible outcomes of new developments. He has produced several films and organizes a major film competition as part of the festival, challenging participants to make original science fiction films within a weekend.

Events: Future Frames, Showing Films without Fear,  Stop all AI

Nataly Shafir is a multidisciplinary designer, video artist, and lecturer working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, design, and creative education. She is the founder of Designers with AI, a professional community exploring the future of creativity through AI tools, and leads the innovation department at the Israeli Graphic Designers Association. Nataly also founded ReThinker, an initiative that creates learning spaces for youth by combining design, technology, and creativity.

Events: All AI all the time, Future Frames

Rüdiger Suchsland is a journalist, critic, author and director. He studied history, philosophy and politics. He also occasionally teaches and writes books. His work focuses on film, theory, pop culture and Asia. He has been editor of the internet magazine artechock since 1997. Since 1998 Suchsland has been working for various film festivals, is a member of international juries and holds various positions on the board of the VDFK (Association of German Film Critics).

Events: Eröffnung und Masterclass mit Ulrich Seidl, Das Kultivieren der Angst, Schöne Spiele - Thesen der "Ästhetischen Linken" zum Gegenwartskino, Die Öffentlichkeit der Angst

Felix Trautmann is a research associate at the Institute for Social Research. In his research, he moves between political philosophy, social theory and aesthetics. Recent publications: The Imaginary of Democracy. Politische Befreiung und das Rätsel der freiwilligen Knechtschaft (Konstanz 2020); and as editor (together with Leonie Hunter) Im Sinne der Materialität. Film and Society after Siegfried Kracauer (Berlin 2022).

Event: Von uns aus von hier aus – Filme machen Gegenperspektiven

Dilan Yildirim has been working at Hessen Film&Medien since October 2020. She started as a project coordinator for the Kreativprämie - an award for artists from trades that are rarely recognized for special achievements, e.g. production design and visual effects. Since May 2022, she has been responsible for short film and treatment funding.

Event: Blank Slate Talentförderung

Stefan Aust is a German journalist and author. He was editor-in-chief of the news magazine Der Spiegel from 1994 to 2008. From 2014 to 2024, Aust was editor of the daily newspaper Die Welt before rising to editor-in-chief from January to September 2016.

Event: Die Öffentlichkeit der Angst

Aysun Bademsoy (born 1960) lives in Berlin. Her films have screened at numerous international festivals. Since 2024, the Deutsche Kinemathek has been responsible for the preservation and digital restoration of her work.

Film: Spielerinnen

Event: Von uns aus von hier aus – Filme machen Gegenperspektiven

Volker Beller is co-founder of the Randfilmfest, a festival for independent and experimental films in Kassel. Beller is passionately committed to promoting independent filmmaking and, through Randfilmfest, offers a platform for films outside the mainstream. His own cinematic works are characterized by innovative narrative structures and the exploration of marginal social issues.

Event: Showing Films without Fear

Kurt Brazda, born in Vienna in 1947, graduated from the Film and Television Department of the University of Music and Performing Arts (MDW) with a degree in image technology and cultural management. For over 30 years, he worked as a cameraman on around 600 productions for the film and television industry. In this capacity, he co-founded the Association of Austrian Cinematographers (AAC) and also headed it for 25 years. Today he is honorary president of the AAC. He was one of the founders of the Austrian Film Distribution Society VDFS and is also a founding member of the Academy of Austrian Film. He has worked for many years as a documentary film director and lecturer at universities of applied sciences and has also appeared in public as a photographic artist. For several years he has been chairman of the Working Conditions Committee of IMAGO - International Federation of Cinematographers.

Event: Better together - Towards a European Network for Film and Democracy

Peter Dinges, Board Member of the German Federal Film Board

Following his law studies, the Saarbrücken-born lawyer initially gained professional experience as a lecturer in commercial law in Magdeburg from 1991 and then as a lawyer in Arnstadt. From 1993, the fully qualified lawyer worked for Telepool GmbH in Munich before being appointed Deputy Managing Director of TeleTaunusFilm GmbH in 1994. In April 1995, he returned to Telepool Munich as Head of Business & Legal Affairs and has been a member of the management board there since 1999. He has been a member of the FFA Board of Directors since April 1, 2004.

Peter Dinges is the chairman of the shareholders' meeting of Vision Kino, a non-profit organization for the promotion of film and media literacy among children and young people. From 2014 to 2018, Peter Dinges was Chairman Of The Board (President) of the European Film Agency Directors (EFAD) - the association of national public film funding organizations in the European Union.

For his services to bringing the French and German film industries closer together, Peter Dinges was made a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2008 and an Officier in May 2014. In February 2025, the French ambassador elevated him to the highest rank of the Order, Commandeur, on behalf of the Minister of Culture.

Event: M² MedienMittwoch

Veronika Franz, born in Vienna in 1965, studied German and Philosophy and worked as a journalist. She has also worked with Ulrich Seidl as an artistic collaborator since 1997 and wrote screenplays for all of his films, including HUNDSTAGE (2001), IMPORT EXPORT (2007), the PARADISE trilogy (2012/13) and BÖSE SPIELE - Rimini Sparta (2023). In 2003, she also founded Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion GmbH with him.

Filme: Böse Spiele - Rimini Sparta, Des Teufels Bad

Event: Kino des Schreckens – Warum macht man Filme, die Angst machen?

Marie-Hélène Gutberlet studied art history, philosophy and film studies in Frankfurt/Main and Basel. After almost 20 years of employment in film studies, she has been working as a freelance curator, author and film researcher at the interface between cinema, art and theory since 2010, mostly in collaborative constellations, and as a sparring partner in material research, material development and form-finding for emerging film projects.

Gutberlet has been a member of the international jury at Akademie Schloss Solitude since 2019.

From 2019 to 2020, she was a substitute professor for film at the HfG Offenbach. She has been a professor of film since the 2020 winter semester.

Event: Von uns aus von hier aus – Filme machen Gegenperspektiven

Christian Hoppenstedt

Specialist lawyer for copyright and media law

Lecturer at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (h_da/mediencampus).

Studied law in Frankfurt am Main and Munich

Worked as a film editor, assistant director and film producer during his studies.

Legal clerkship at the Landgericht Frankfurt am Main with stations in commercial law firms in Potsdam and Los Angeles with a focus on copyright and film law.

Worked at at Bayerischer Rundfunk and Neue Sentimental Film AG.

Founded the law firm HOPPENSTEDT RECHTSANWÄLTE in Frankfurt am Main in 2002 with a focus on all sectors of the creative industries, with a focus on copyright and license agreement law.

Experienced legal expert in the areas of film, games and advertising. Regular publications, workshops and lectures on legal topics relating to the creative industries.

Event: m² MedienMittwoch

Manuela Klauser is the founder of the creative agency voller ideen, bringing extensive expertise from her experience as Head of Digital Business, Head of IT, and Creative Director. She advises companies on strategic use of cutting-edge technology—from content creation to advanced AI-generated images and videos. As the AI artist behind Sheisinblack.art, Manuela established the distinctive style Dark Enchantment, elegantly blending darkness, fantasy, and playful charm. Her work inspires a global audience of over 270K followers on social media.

Event: Future Frames, All AI All the Time

Boaz Lavie is a New York Times bestselling writer, award-winning technology podcaster, and lecturer at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, working at the intersection of human storytelling and machine intelligence. His graphic novel "The Divine", created in collaboration with Asaf and Tomer Hanuka, has been translated into six languages, won the International Manga Award, and received a Hugo Award nomination. "Making Software", the podcast hosted by Lavie, earned the Geektime Award for best Israeli software development podcast for three consecutive years.

Event: All AI all the time, Stop all AI, Future Interface – Science Fiction and the Gospel of Elon Musk

Giordana Marsilio is an editor at SWR Kultur - Aktuell Kultur for audio and online content. She was born in Italy and grew up in Rome.

Event: Das Kultivieren der Angst

In the 80’s and 90’s, Chris Oosterom worked as a film
programmer in different venues in the Netherlands. After six years at the Netherlands Filmmuseum, he started his own distribution company, first in Amsterdam, later in London. Since 2012, he is the Director of the Imagine Fantastic Film Festival in Amsterdam.

Events: Showing Films without Fear, Better together - Towards a European Network for Film and Democracy

Burhan Qurbani, born in 1980, is a graduate of the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy. As the child of Afghan war refugees, he grew up in various German cities due to his father's employment in the US army. After graduating from high school, he worked as an assistant dramaturge and director at various theaters. While still a student, he won various prizes for his short films, including the 2008 German Film Critics' Award and the Middle East International Film Festival's “Black Pearl” as “Best upcoming filmmaker of the year 2008”. His graduation film Shahada premiered in competition at the 60th Berlinale in 2010 and was awarded numerous national and international prizes. His next film Wir sind jung. Wir sind stark. opened the competition of the Rome International Film Festival and the Hofer Filmtage in 2014. He was nominated several times for the German Film Award 2015 (Best Cinematography, Best Film) and won the Lola for Best Supporting Actor. Burhan Qurbani's next film Berlin Alexanderplatz celebrated its world premiere in the Berlinale competition in 2020, was nominated for 11 Lolas at the 2020 German Film Awards and won five of them. Burhan lives and works in Berlin.

Event: Better together - Towards a European Network for Film and Democracy

Ulrich Seidl started his career with award-winning documentaries such as GOOD NEWS (1990), ANIMAL LOVE (1995) and MODELS (1998). Seidl’s first feature fic_on film DOG DAYS (2001) won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Fes_val in 2001. Encouraged by this success, he and Veronika Franz founded Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion in 2003 not only to produce their own films, but also to provide production conditions for filmmakers that were different from those offered by conventional production companies. Since then, Ulrich Seidl has produced his own films.

The first, IMPORT EXPORT, premiered in 2007 in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Seidl`s combined version WICKED GAMES - Rimini Sparta premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (2023).

Film: Böse Spiele – Rimini Sparta

Event: Opening and Masterclass with Ulrich Seidl

Niki Stein studied film directing with Hark Bohm, István Szabó and Alexander Mita at the Hamburg Media School. As early as 1984, he won the main prize at the European Short Film Festival in Berlin for his short film VORSICHT SEPP!

The Essen-born director and screenwriter has made over 50 feature-length films to date, including VATER, MUTTER, MÖRDER! (2011), ROMMEL (2012), BIG MANNI (2016). He has also written and directed numerous episodes of the TATORT series and developed the teams of investigators for the Cologne and Frankfurt TATORT. For the Beethoven anniversary in 2020, he wrote and directed the film LOUIS VAN BEETHOVEN (2019/20), which screened at the Shanghai Film Festival and was shown in numerous cinemas in China and the USA, among others.

He also directs in the theater, writes and directs radio plays and teaches directing at the International Film School Cologne (ifs) and in the postgraduate film program at the Hamburg Media School.

Niki Stein has been nominated several times for the Grimme Award and the German Television Award. In 2010, he received the Bavarian Television Award and the Grand Prix d'Or in Biarritz for writing and directing the film BIS NICHTS MEHR BLEIBT, and he also received the Grand Prix d'Or for best screenplay for VATER, MUTTER; MÖRDER (2011).

Event: Auch Dinosaurier haben Angst

Oleksandra Sydorova

Creative and passionate 3D Artist Generalist with over 8 years of experience utilizing a wide range of skills from modeling to animation for HyperCasual games design. Driven by desire to explore new technologies, with focus on 2d and video AI for production and marketing.

Events: All AI all the time, Future Frames

Marion Wagner studied law at the Università di Trento (Italy). After a one-year stay at the TV station ProSiebenSat1 in Munich, she joined the then newly founded film funding organization IDM Südtirol (Italy) as a funding officer in 2011. Since 2019, she has headed the funding department of Hessen Film & Medien GmbH in Frankfurt. In her role, she is responsible for the strategic orientation of Hessen Film in addition to supporting international co-productions. The focus is on documentaries, new talent, internationalization, diversity in film and green filming.

Event: m² MedienMittwoch

Uri Aviv is a curator, program director, project manager, arts producer, artistic consultant, essayist, moderator and speaker. Aviv is the director of the Utopia Festival & events season, the namesake non-profit cultural association and co-editor of the Utopia magazine. Aviv writes and speaks on topics intersecting technology, media and society, science, science fiction, digital/arts and the future/s, his articles have been published in major outlets and journals in Israel and around the world.

Based primarily in Tel Aviv, Aviv has participated and presented at numerous international platforms including the re:publica conference, Ratio, DocuTech, and B3. He has also taken part in curating, editing, and producing international cultural initiatives in various fields and venues, among them Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Brussels and Shenzhen. Aviv is currently a program consultant at the LICHTER International Film Festival in Frankfurt.

Events: Stop All AI, Better Together – Towards a European Network & Democracy, Future Interface – Science Fiction and the Gospel of Elon Musk

Geraldine de Bastion is an expert in digital policy and international cooperation. She is the founder of the Global Innovation Gathering (GIG), a network of grassroots innovators, social entrepreneurs, founders and managers of makerspaces, hackerspaces and innovation centers. In 2018, she wrote and presented the ARTE documentary “Digital Africa”, which captures many of the activities of the innovators in the GIG network, and since 2012 she has been part of the curatorial team of re:publica, Europe's largest conference on the Internet and society, and regularly organizes and curates events on the topics of politics and digitization. In 2018, she organized the first re:publica in Accra, Ghana, with over 2000 participants and over 260 speakers from all over Africa. Geraldine is also a popular moderator and speaker at events on digital transformation, sustainability and innovation. She moderates events such as the OECD International Transport Forum, the Start Up Energy Transition (SET) Tech Festival and last year was invited to keynote the German Innovation Award and the Aue Symposium in Helsikni.

Events: Stop All AI, Future Frames, Better Together – Towards a European Network for Film & Democracy

Fritzie Benesch worked for various production companies during her studies of Visual Communication at the UDK Berlin. She has been studying film and television production at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF since 2019. She is now completing a Master's degree there. During her studies, she has produced various short films that were nominated for the FIRST STEPS AWARD, screened in the NEXT GENERATION SHORT TIGER program and won a STUDENT ACADEMY AWARD. Together with Judith Frahm, Fritzie Benesch also developed the format “Ausnahmezustand Film!”, which deals with social sustainability and talent development in the film industry and with which she has already led numerous panel discussions and workshops. Fritzie is currently working on her first feature film.

Event: Blank Slate Talentförderung

Elisabeth Bronfen is a cultural scientist, author and freelance curator. Since 2023 Emerita of UZH, she is still Global Distinguished Professor at New York University. Areas of research: Literature and visual culture, femininity and death, crossmapping as a hermeneutic process, TV dramas, Shakespeare and seriality. In addition to her numerous monographs, anthologies, essays and contributions to exhibition catalogs, she is also the author of the cooking memoir “Bessessen” (Echtzeit) and the novel “Händler der Geheimnisse” (Limmat Verlag).

Event: Das Kultivieren der Angst

Fabio D'Orta was born in Milan. He studied at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts and created sets for theater and commercials.
He was an illustrator, special effects artist, experimented with stop motion and directed commercials and music videos for Italian artists and international brands. In 2020 he founded the production company Metronic Films with which he produced his first feature film "THE COMPLEX FORMS", taking care of the story, screenplay, direction, photography, editing and special effects.
"THE COMPLEX FORMS" participated in several international festivals and won numerous awards: SLAMDANCE, TORINO FILM FESTIVAL, FANTASPORTO, FILMQUEST, CINEQUEST, TRIESTE SCIENCE+FICTION, CURTAS, MACABRO FICH, MAMMOTH LAKES, FANTASPOA and others.

Carlos Gerstenhauer studied medicine in Hamburg and Madrid. The German-Spaniard began his film career in the early 1990s as a director and producer in advertising. Since 1996, he has worked as a filmmaker and author for Bavarian television and ARD. For 20 years, he has reported on international film festivals for “kinokino”, ‘Capriccio’ and “Titel Thesen Temperamente” and on current film events in magazine articles and film essays.

Event: Zukunft Nach dem Zukunftsrat – Wie weiter beim öffentlich-rechtlichen Fernsehen?

Maxi Haslberger

*1984 in Minneapolis. 2007 Studied Directing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, graduating in 2014. Studied at Columbia University in New York in 2011. His graduation film die menschenliebe was screened at the Berlinale and numerous other festivals and won the First Steps Award in 2014. In 2013 he founded the production company Amerikafilm. He is a member of the German Film Academy, the European Film Academy and was on the jury for the National Gallery's Advancement Award for Film Art. He has published texts in Revolver - Zeitschrift für Film, among others, and also lectures at the DFFB.

Event: Schöne Spiele – Thesen der "Ästhetischen Linken" zum Gegenwartskino

RP Kahl (filmmaker, guest professor HfG Offenbach) studied at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts Berlin, Rostock branch, and has been working as an actor for film and theater since 1990. In 1995, he moved behind the camera and produced the award-winning feature film “Silvester Countdown” by Oskar Roehler in 1997. Together with Luggi Waldleitner's Roxy-Film, he produced his feature film directorial debut “Angel Express” in 1998. He also creates music videos and theater productions. He has been a member of the board of the German Film Academy since 2013 and one of the three executive chairmen since 2017.

Events: Auch Dinosaurier haben Angst, Währung Angst – Ein Geschäftsmodell der Medien

Laura Laabs (1985, East Berlin) is an author and director. She studied Politics and Film studies, then Directing at the Film University Konrad Wolf and completed a master's degree with Andreas Kleinert.

Event: Schöne Spiele – Thesen der "Ästhetischen Linken" zum Gegenwartskino

Sara Lopo is program coordinator at MOTELX as well as programmer for feature and short films and curator of the Big Bad Wolf section. She is also a programmer for Fantastic Fest (USA) and project coordinator for BIF Market, the Brussels Genre Coproduction Market (Belgium). She has been involved in cultural events since she helped organize small concerts for the Luxembourg Music Club as a volunteer and later as an intern at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, where she was involved in the production of the opening show of the German collective Rimini Protokoll. During her studies in Communication and Cultural Management, she was part of the coordination team of the art festival “D'Avril en Mai”, which she carried out as a final project, and completed an internship at the distribution and VOD platform for independent cinema, UniversCiné Belgium (now Sooner). Sara Lopo regularly participates in international film markets and European festivals for fantastic film and has been invited as a jury member to the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalunya (Spain) and Trieste Science+Fiction Festival (Italy).

Event: Showing Films without Fear

In her role as a cross-media horror producer within the international creative industry, Mariam has become a voice of the horror genre.

As a presenter, she regularly speaks on topics such as the horror industry, horror psychology, horror for children, and representation in horror films. Furthermore, she was appointed as the Funding and Financing Ambassador for the EU co-funded project 'Creative Shift', has years of experience in live action shoots, 2D, 3D, stop motion, hologram production and 3D mapping, and has also produced video projects for institutions such as the UN.
In addition to her work as a producer, she is co-founder of video game studio Spoondrift Games, is also currently leading a project to further VR exposure therapy, and runs the Nightmare in the Ozarks film festival.

Events: Film als Therapie – Wie das Kino uns die Angst nimmt, Kino des Schreckens – Warum macht man Filme die Angst machen?

Born 1982 in Hamburg. Studied film directing at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB). Co-founder of the film collective and the production company of the same name “Schattenkante” with its film education initiative “Film macht Schule”. In addition to his work as a director, he is also active as an author, composer and producer as well as a screener and presenter at the Berlinale and the Munich Film Festival, among others, and runs the Broyhan Fantastik Film Festival at the Künstlerhaus Hannover.

Events: Showing Films without Fear, No State of the Art, No Art of the State

Addie Reiss, C³PO
Cinematographer & Volumetric Capture Pioneer, innovates AI-driven 4D Gaussian Splats.

As Chief Content Creation Products Officer at DNE, he spearheads groundbreaking volumetric capture systems, merging cinematography with depth-sensing imaging for hyper-realistic holographic experiences. Reiss pioneered AI-powered 4DGS, capturing sub-millimeter emotional nuance as immersive motion holograms.

Reiss’s fusion of cinematographic intuition and technical mastery positions him at the forefront of volumetric media, transforming entertainment and education through emotionally resonant, dimensionally fluid storytelling. His projects span films, documentaries, cultural heritage, and immersive media, driven by the ethos: “We record truth—not approximations—using photons, not machine-hallucinations.”

Event: Future Frames

Anatol Schuster (1985 in Darmstadt) is an author, director and producer. During his directing studies at the HFF Munich, he made EIN IDEALER ORT, which won the “Dialogue en perspective” award at the 2015 Berlinale, and his poetic graduation film LUFT, which was released in 2017. In the same year, he received the Wim Wenders Scholarship. Improvising the means, he made his cinema debut FRAU STERN, which became a surprise success and received numerous awards. In 2022, he founded the production company Zwillingfilm. CHAOS UND STILLE premiered at the A-Festival in Warsaw in October 2024 and won the Directing Award. He also co-produced the Israeli debut film BATIM (HOUSES) by Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum, which will celebrate its world premiere at the Berlinale Forum in 2025. He is co-director of Edgar Reitz' latest film LEIBNIZ.

Event: Dreams, Nightmares & Revolutions – Filmemachen ohne Angst

Prof. Dr. Marcus Stiglegger (* 1971), teaches film studies in Münster, Mainz, Regensburg and at the Ludwigsburg Film Academy. Dissertation in 1999 on the subject of history, film and myth (SadicoNazista. Geschichte - Film - Mythos, Hagen: Eisenhut 2014, 3rd edition.); habilitation in 2005 on the subject of the seduction theory of film (Ritual & Verführung, 2006);

Event: Währung Angst – Ein Geschäftsmodell der Medien

Dr. Otto Teischel (*1953) is a philosopher, psychotherapist, psychoanalyst and author. He has worked as a small publisher, gallery owner, bookseller, film critic and lecturer in adult education. After completing his doctorate, he founded a “philosophical practice” in Bonn in 1986 (one of the first in the German-speaking world), where film discussions were already taking place regularly at the time. Trained in logotherapy and existential analysis (according to Viktor Frankl), palliative care and psychoanalysis. Full-time psychotherapist and psychoanalyst in Klagenfurt am Wörthersee since 2005, self-employed in his own practice since 2010. Head of a film therapy patient group in a psychosomatic clinic for many years. Since then, using the example of film interpretation, he has developed the fundamental approach of “existential psychoanalysis”, which understands the subjective consciousness of the individual person from their traumatic life story. 2023 Opening of the “Practice for Film Therapy” in a small movie theater, where weekly film therapy groups are held for everyone. More details at:  WWW.FILMTHERAPIE.ORG

Event: Film als Therapie – Wie das Kino uns die Angst nimmt

Film policy activities

Events: Blank Slate Talentförderung, Better together - Towards a European Network for Film and Democracy

Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay (born 1987) is a filmmaker and producer who graduated from the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. His directorial debut “Oray” received international recognition and was awarded the prestigious Best First Feature Award at the 2019 Berlinale. In 2020, he founded filmfaust GmbH together with producer Claus Herzog-Reichel. The company has since established itself as a creative force in European cinema, producing award-winning feature films and documentaries. Notable productions include Cem Kaya's “Liebe, D-Mark und Tod” and “Sirenenruf” by directing duo Miri Ian Gossing and Lina Sieckmann.

Film: Hysteria (director)

Alexander Griesser studied Film, Journalism and Political Science at JGU Mainz and Bond University (Australia). During this time, he worked as a cameraman for film productions and was responsible for the visual design of numerous short films. Since graduating in 2009, he has mainly realized documentary works for television and produced his cinema debut DIE KANDIDATEN with Michael Schwarz in 2017. His first feature film work, MODEL OLIMPIA by Frédéric Hambalek, celebrated its world premiere at the Black Nights Film Festival Tallinn in 2020. Alexander is currently working on the two feature films DER TOD IST EIN ARSCHLOCH (Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis 2025) and WAS MARIELLE WEISS, which screened in competition at the 75th Berlinale. It was nominated twice for the GERMAN CAMERA PRIZE.

Film: Der Tod ist ein Arschloch (cinematographer and producer)

Serkan Kaya, born in Leverkusen in 1977, speaks fluent German, English and Turkish. He studied acting and musical theater at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen and subsequently took on leading roles in musical theater. From 2011 to 2016, he played Udo Lindenberg in “Hinterm Horizont” in Berlin. Kaya has also appeared in theater productions at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, the Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen and Theater Bonn, working with directors such as Armin Petras and Andreas Kriegenburg

His most recent roles include the film “Was von der Liebe bleibt” (2023), the ZDF thriller “Eine bessere Welt” (2024), the ARTE/ZDF production “Von uns wird es keiner sein” (2024) and “Hysteria” (2025). He received the German Acting Award for his leading role in the streaming series “KBV” in 2021 and the Grimme Audience Award for his performance in “Der König von Köln” in 2020.

Film: Hysteria (cast)

Angelina Maccarone began as a writer of song lyrics before completing her MA in literature. As a filmmaker, she has explored various genres: comedy, thriller and drama. She won the German Film Award “Lola” for her screenplay KLANDESTIN. Her filmography includes award-winning films such as THE LOOK (2011) Cannes Film Festival Official Selection, nominated for the German Film Award. VIVERE (2006) Tribeca Film Festival Competition, “Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award” at Outfest. VERFOLGT (2005) “Golden Leopard” at Locarno Cinéastes du Présent. FREMDE HAUT (2004) Karlovy Vary Competition, “Hessischer Filmpreis”, “Golden Aphrodite Best Film” and “Best Director” at Cyprus IFF, “Best Feature Film” Bilbao Zinegoak a.o. Since 2014 she is professor for directing at the Film University Babelsberg.

Film: Klandestin (director)

Jenny Schily is a German actress known for her captivating performances in film, television and theater. She gained wide recognition mainly through her work with renowned German directors such as Ulrich Köhler in SCHLAFKRANKHEITEN (Berlinale 2011) or Volker Schlöndorff in DIE LEGENDE VON RITA (Berlinale 2000), as well as in leading German high-end series such as Tom Tykwer's BABYLON BERLIN and CHARITÉ. Her work is consistently praised for its emotional depth and authenticity. Jenny Schily's performances are characterized by her ability to convey profound emotional complexity and authenticity, often in roles that require sensitivity and introspection.

Film: Im Haus meiner Eltern (leading actress)

Patrik Thomas works as a filmmaker, curator and lecturer in Munich, Frankfurt and Lisbon. He studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, the Faculdade de Belas-Artes Lisboa, the HGB Leipzig and the USP São Paulo, specialising in post-colonialism, cineclubismo and Brazilian resistance cinema.

www.patrikthomas.de
www.cinevelocite.de

Film: Boalândia (Regisseur)

Marcin Wierzchowski, Born in Warsaw in 1984. His parents fled from Poland to Germany because of the war, when he was still so small that he could fit into his mother's handbag. At the age of 17, Wierzchowski dropped out of school and started working in a video store. There he watched countless films and decided to become a director. In 2012, he caught up on his A-levels and subsequently began studying philosophy in Frankfurt am Main. In 2013, he transferred to the Mainz University of the Arts to study Fine Arts with a focus on film under Professor Harald Schleicher. Today he lives and works in Frankfurt am Main and Warsaw. He is a director, author, video artist, set designer and producer and is currently working on his first fictional material in addition to other documentary films.

Film: Das deutsche Volk (Regisseur)

Olli Duerr

Born in March 1981. Trained as a book and offset printer. Worked in a print shop for several years. Studied Film Studies at the JGU Mainz and Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Mainz. Works as a cameraman, photographer, freelance filmmaker and illustrator.

Film: Zeppelin oben rechts (director)

Claus Herzog-Reichel (born 1986) is a film producer from Cologne, Germany. His first production, “Oray” by Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, won the First Feature Award at the 2019 Berlinale. The following year, he and Büyükatalay founded their own production company, filmfaust GmbH. Their jointly produced documentary “Liebe, D-Mark und Tod”, directed by Cem Kaya, was nominated for both the German Film Award

2023 and the Grimme Award 2024.

In 2024, he produced “Immaculata”, a short film by Kim Lêa Sakkal, which was selected for the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes. His latest films “Hysteria” and “Sirens Call” will premiere at the Berlinale in 2025.

Herzog-Reichel is currently working on four new feature films: “A Paradise Lost” by Kim Lêa Sakkal, ‘Eigengrau’ by Ruhat Yildiz, “Summer Blues” by Anna Ansone and “Future is in Pamphylia” by Deren Ercenk. He was trained at the Rotterdam Producer Labs and Berlinale Talents and is a member of the German Film Academy.

Film: Hysteria (Producer)

Nathaniel Knop was born in 1968 to a Jewish-Chinese family in Czernowitz/Ukraine. Studied Psychiatry. Postgraduate degree in Film Directing. Assistant director with A. Kaidanovsky and K. Zanussi. Came to Berlin as a Nipkow scholarship holder (European scholarship for professionals in audio-visual media) and founded his film production company KINOBRIGADA in 1999. Worked for the TV stations 3SAT and ARTE, for museums. Lives with his wife and 5 children in Frankfurt am Main.

Film: Jetzt? (director)

Dascha Petuchow

As a young production company, Plotlessfilm focuses on the interface between artistic arthouse and entertaining genre films. As a self-determined platform, we offer a point of contact for the development and production of ambitious documentaries and feature films for the cinema. Artistic independence and a collective way of working are at the forefront of both the selection of stories and partners. The creative exchange and the joint development of material with all partners are elementary components of our concept and promote new, intensive synergies. The resulting films tell extraordinary and moving stories, always driven by the question: What does it mean to be human?

Film: Oro Amargo (Bitter Gold) (Co-Producer)

Anatol Schuster (1985 in Darmstadt) is an author, director and producer. During his directing studies at the HFF Munich, he made EIN IDEALER ORT, which won the “Dialogue en perspective” award at the 2015 Berlinale, and his poetic graduation film LUFT, which was released in 2017. In the same year, he received the Wim Wenders Scholarship. Improvising the means, he made his cinema debut FRAU STERN, which became a surprise success and received numerous awards. In 2022, he founded the production company Zwillingfilm. CHAOS UND STILLE premiered at the A-Festival in Warsaw in October 2024 and won the Directing Award. He also co-produced the Israeli debut film BATIM (HOUSES) by Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum, which will celebrate its world premiere at the Berlinale Forum in 2025. He is co-director of Edgar Reitz' latest film LEIBNIZ.

Filme: Chaos und Stille (Regisseur), Batim (Houses) (Co-Produzent)

Stella Tinbergen

Film: Henriette und Guido – Eine ungewöhnliche Liebesgeschichte (Regisseurin)

Julian Gerchow

As a young production company, Plotlessfilm focuses on the interface between artistic arthouse and entertaining genre films. As a self-determined platform, we offer a point of contact for the development and production of ambitious documentaries and feature films for the cinema. Artistic independence and a collective way of working are at the forefront of both the selection of stories and partners. The creative exchange and the joint development of material with all partners are elementary components of our concept and promote new, intensive synergies. The resulting films tell extraordinary and moving stories, always driven by the question: What does it mean to be human?

Film: Oro Amargo (Bitter Gold) (Co-Producer)

Banafshe Hourmazdi was born in 1990 and grew up in the Ruhr area. She studied acting at the ADK Baden-Württemberg and completed a master's degree in acting at the ZHdK. In 2015, she won the Newcomer Award of the City of Vienna for her production “Meine Nase läuft” at Theater Drachengasse in Vienna. She performs at various theaters and works in different constellations and functions in municipal theaters, in the independent scene and in film and television. Her major successes include the feature film “Futur Drei” (dir: Faraz Shariat, 2020), which received numerous international nominations and awards and for which Hourmazdi was awarded the First Steps Award 2019 - Götz George Young Talent Award as part of the Best Ensemble. Most recently, she appeared in the feature film projects “Ein Fest fürs Leben” (D: Richard Huber, 2022), "Klandestin" (D: Angelina Maccarone, 2023) and "Kein Tier. So wild" (2023) directed by Burhan Qurbani.

Filme: Klandestin, Kein Tier. So wild. (cast)

Anna Koch & Julia Lemke graduated from the German Film and Television Academy Berlin in 2016 with their documentary SCHULTERSIEG, a coming-of-age drama set in the professional female wrestling scene in East Germany. SCHULTERSIEG won the prize for best documentary film at the Hof Film Festival and was shown at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and South by Southwest, among others. Since then, Anna and Julia have been working together as the directing duo BADABUM. Their debut GLITZER&STAUB premiered at the Max Ophüls Filmfestival in January 2020 and screened at many festivals including the Krakow Film Festival, the Zlin IFF and the Goldener Spatz. Her new film ZIRKUSKIND is the first documentary to be made as part of the special children's film initiative.

Film: Zirkuskind (directors)

Mathias Reitz Zausinger works as a filmmaker, producer and author and lives with his family in Berlin and Munich. He studied philosophy with a focus on postcolonial studies and the history of ideas in the early modern period, as well as fine arts in Berlin and Munich.

Film: Boalândia (director)

Michael Schwarz worked for Bavaria Film and Neue Münchner Fernsehproduktion as an assistant director and script supervisor. He then studied Film and Theater studies in Mainz, followed by studies at the film class of the Mainz University of the Arts. In 2011/12 he was a master student of Prof. Dr. Harald Schleicher. Since then, Michael Schwarz has worked as a freelance director, author and producer (nachtschwärmerfilm). His films have been screened at over 200 national and international film festivals and have won several awards, with seven productions receiving awards from the German Film and Media Rating. Michael Schwarz also works as a cultural consultant for the state capital Mainz (Focus on Cinema/Film) and is involved as a lecturer and juror.

Film: Der Tod ist ein Arschloch (director, author, producer)

Hermann Vaske is a director, writer and producer. He has worked with Dennis Hopper, Harvey Keitel and John Cleese, Nelson Mandela, Stephen Hawking, Marina Abramović and many more. His films have been shown in Cannes and Venice and have won numerous awards. In 2024 he was nominated for the SXSW Innovation Award. The Art Directors Club for Germany awarded him the Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award. He also published the book “The Dialectic of Creativity” with Hatje Cantz Verlag. His new film “Creativo Paradiso” with the masters of ceremony Lilith Stangenberg and Blixa Bargeld is released in 2025. In the same year, Vaske presents his Why Are You Creative exhibition at the Goethe-Institut Paris and the Kunsthaus Wiesbaden.

Film: Creativo Paradiso (Regisseur)

Joey Arand, born in 1990, works at the interface between contemporary art and film. Her works deal with social issues such as identity and physical constraints. She always develops her power and poetry from a research movement, from actual experience and from documentary material.

Her films have been screened at many festivals, such as PÖFF Tallinn, Interfilm Berlin, the Uppsala Kortfilmfestival and the Max Ophüls Prize, and have won numerous awards, including the regional short film prize at the Lichterfilmfest Frankfurt, two prizes at the Kurzsüchtig Festival Leipzig and the Golden Hercules at the DokFest Kassel. Her 60-minute graduation film ‘Gebär_mütter’ was shown by HR.
2018 - 2023 she worked as a teacher at the Kunsthochschule Kassel.

Film: Keine Nudeln für Courbet

Hannah Deger, born in Hanau in 1998, discovered her passion for art and animation at a very early age. After graduating from high school, she went to Kassel to study political science and sociology, soon adding visual communication. She specialised primarily in 2D animation, but is now looking forward to trying out other methods during her studies. In addition to animation, she also creates illustrations for postcards and books and other products.

Film: Bakobi

Elisa Grehl,24, is a Frankfurt-born filmmaker who grew up in South Africa and is now studying for her Master's degree at Goethe University Frankfurt. Her first film funded by HessenFilm und Medien, the short film Dora, was a black and white feature film.

She is now focussing on documentary films, such as her film on a Frankfurt drag queen or a South African oceanographer. She recently made her first experimental film as part of her studies. She is particularly interested in socially relevant and feminist topics.

Film: Portals to Elsewhere

Geeske Janßen studied Media Art at the HGB Leipzig & the KHK Kassel, Performing Arts at the HBK Braunschweig, Fine Arts at the UPV Valencia. She received travel grants from the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony and GCAC (USA), Goethe Institute Thessaloniki, FUNDAZION NAIRS, Switzerland, 2020 working grant from Stiftung Kunstfonds, 2021 VG Bildkunst. Her works have been shown at festivals such as ALFIM Festival, Kasseler Dokfest, Flensburger Kurzfilmtage or in various exhibitions.

Film: Monika

Bianca Böhm, Faten Bouderbala, Mika Hoppe, Melina Behnert und Diana Frank are studying animation at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. For their project, they have joined forces with the aim of creating a colourful and fun work of art - and reminiscing about crazy times long gone together with the audience.

Film: Pink Ink - Famous

Smilla Siebenschock (*1999) has been studying Visual Communication with a focus on animation at the Kunsthochschule Kassel since 2020. Her work mainly consists of colourful stylised 2D animations and drawings as well as short comics. In her works, she takes up seemingly ‘everyday’ observations of everyday life in order to combine them with our to make them more durable, document and reflect on our fast-paced life routines.

Film: Bakobi

Mika Hoppe, Maximilian Köhnlein and Bianca Böhm are studying Animation at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. Their film was created out of a shared interest in tinkering and experimenting - and having fun laughing together!

Film: Beyond Bagel

After dropping out of a journalism degree programme, Paul Galli began studying motion pictures at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. He cannot decide between documentary and scenic film. In his films, he tries to find unusual answers to everyday questions, drawing on his own experiences. He has already had the honour of showing his work at various German film festivals.

Film: Menschen unter Wasser

Malin Ronja Gutschank, born in Hanau in 1999, is studying Visual Communication at the Kunsthochschule Kassel, specialising in animation and illustration. She also works part-time as a graphic designer.

Film: Ozeanologie

Sharmin Khan is an architect from Bangladesh who became an animated filmmaker and moved to Germany to do her Masters in Animation. The animated short film A.Mi.Kuk is her directorial debut. She is particularly interested in horror stories and the portrayal of historical and current socio-political issues through the lens of horror. After completing her studies, she would like to gain experience in the animation industry and concentrate on developing independent animated films.

Film: A.Mi.Kuk

Thomas Range is studying for a Master's degree in time-based media, focussing primarily on stop-motion, motion design and mixed media. His film ‘Das Salzsäckchen’ is his first festival award-winning film and has already screened at the Hamburg Short Film Festival and the FilMZ Festival in Mainz in 2024.

Filme: Das Salzsäckchen & Forgive us our Sin and Cos

Ron Vodovozov was born in Mannheim and has been an amateur actor at the young Mannheim Citizens' Theatre since childhood. He later studied Media at the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences: Conception & Production. His short films ‘Family Ties’ and especially ‘My Happy Place’, which he made as part of his studies, were shown at national film festivals - including FiSH Rostock and the Flensburg Short Film Festival.

Film: Naims Esel

Dani Rose Cortés was born in 1999 in Valdivia, Chile, and grew up near Munich. After graduating from high school, she completed a directing internship at the international feature film PLAN A. She wrote and directed several projects (Diana's Poem, Flügge, Pornwitch) and was also involved in various productions as script continuity and assistant director. She will complete her studies in Motion Pictures at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences in March 2025.

Film: Diana's Poem

Nicolas Gebbe was born in London in 1986. He currently lives and works in Frankfurt am Main as a 3D artist, filmmaker and sound designer. In 2018, he completed his studies in art at the Offenbach University of Art and Design, specialising in film. His focus is on experimental 3D animation and hybrid film formats. His animated short films have been shown at various festivals such as the Locarno Film Festival, Festival du Nouveau Cinèma Montreal and Ann Arbor Film Festival.

In 2022, his hybrid project The Sunset Special won the Hessian Film Award, and his VR short film Lockdown Dreamscape VR won the VR Storytelling Award at LICHTER Filmfest Frankfurt International.

Film: The Sunset Special 2

Clara Jäschke and Daria Pantyukhova lmet while studying Sociology. In 2021, they completed a Master's degree in Theatre, Film and Media Studies at Goethe University. Together they made the short films ‘Nevermind!’, ‘Miami Baby’ and ‘Napoli Beach’. In 2024, the duo founded the company Doppelregie Film eGbR, based in Frankfurt am Main. They are currently in pre-production on their feature film debut ‘Alma Mater’.

Film: Napoli Beach

Paul Mertins *1997 in Braunschweig, Germany) studied film at the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz. Most of his works centre on the exploration of masculinity.

Film: Kabine

Paulina Reineke is studying time-based media at Mainz University of Applied Sciences, where she specialises in animation and illustration. During her studies so far, she has worked on various projects and created smaller animations on her own. These include stop-motion, motion design and motion poetry and frame-by-frame short films. She has mainly worked as a supporting character designer or animator.

Film: Forgive us our Sin and Cos

Paul Haas, 1992*, ist ein bildender Künstler, der sich auf Medienkunst, Skulptur und Film spezialisiert hat. Er studierte Medienkunst an der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar und studierte später Bildende Kunst an der Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. Seine künstlerische Praxis erforscht die Schnittpunkte von Material, Gedächtnis und Körper und verwendet oft sowohl dokumentarische als auch fiktive Techniken in seinen Film- und Videoarbeiten. Haas hat international ausgestellt, mit Gruppenausstellungen an Orten wie dem Museum of Modern Art of Odessa, Ukraine, Transmediale, Berlin und dem Goethe-Institut Dublin. Zu seinen Einzelausstellungen gehören Storema am Nassauischen Kunstverein Wiesbaden, 2020 und Verbogene Zeit am 1822-Forum in Frankfurt, 2024. Er gewann 2023 den Städelschule Rundgang Filmpreis und ist derzeit Artist-in-Residence im Art Hub Copenhagen. Haas lebt und arbeitet in Frankfurt am Main.

Suse Itzel, 1984*, ist eine Künstlerin, Filmemacherin und Autorin. Sie studierte an der Akademie der Schönen Künste Hamburg (HFBK) und schloss ihr Aufbaustudium an der Akademie der Medienkunst Köln (KHM) im Jahr 2024 ab. Itzels künstlerische Praxis umfasst Videoinstallationen und räumliche Konstruktionen, die Themen im Zusammenhang mit Räumen, Gebäuden und menschlichen Lebensumgebungen untersuchen. Durch Literatur setzt sie sich mit autobiografischen Themen wie sexuellem Missbrauch in der Kindheit und Trauma auseinander. Ihr Werk sucht nach einer kreativen Ausdrucksform, um ihre Erfahrungen mit Sprachlosigkeit zu thematisieren. Sie stellte in der Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, am Goldsmith College in London, dem Japanischen Kulturinstitut in Köln, dem Gerhard-Marcks-Haus in Bremen, dem Kunsthaus Hamburg, der Falckenberg-Sammlung in Hamburg, dem Ludwig-Forum in Aachen aus. Sie war Stipendiatin am Literaturzentrum Burg Hülshoff in Münster. Itzel lebt in Köln.

Franz Wanner, 1975*. Wanner’s research-intensive works call into question techniques of power legitimation and place local realities in global contexts: with his work Die Befragung (2018), for example, he examined secret service practices and current notions of citizenship, state welfare and state secrecy; Selected Exhibitions: Helmhaus, Zürich (2025), KINDL – Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst, Berlin (2024), Museum Villa Stuck, München (2024, 2023) Goethe-Institut Paris (2020); Museum of Moscow; Public Art Munich / Münchner Kammerspiele, Magasins Généraux, Paris (2018); Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München (2017, 2016); Kunsthalle München; Platform München; GEDOK Stuttgart (2015); Fotomuseum München, Forum für zeitgenössische Fotografie; GFLK Halle Süd, Galerie für Landschaftskunst Hamburg; basis e.V., Frankfurt am Main (2014); Museum für Photographie Braunschweig; Forum für zeitbasierte Kunst und politische Kultur, Leipzig (2013); Ural Industrial Biennal of Contemporary Art, Ekaterinburg; Spektre Gallery, New York; Noordkaap Gallery, Dordrecht (2010); Today Art Museum Beijing (2008); Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai; General Public Berlin (2007); Haus der Kunst München (2006); Centro Cultural Telemar, Rio de Janeiro (2005) Wanner lives and works in Zurich.

Laura Klippel ist Produzentin und Mitgründerin von Bandenfilm. Nach Praktika in der Filmbranche studierte sie Veranstaltungstechnik und Eventmanagement (Bachelor of Engineering) und arbeitete als Produktionskoordinatorin. Von 2015 bis 2019 absolvierte sie ein Masterstudium in Film- und Fernsehproduktion an der Filmuniversität Babelsberg, wo ihr Abschlussfilm RÅ 2018 auf der Berlinale Premiere feierte und mehrere Preise gewann.
Ende 2019 gründete sie mit Britta Strampe Bandenfilm in Berlin. Ihr Debüt als Produzentinnen, The Ordinaries, gewann zahlreiche Preise und feierte internationale Premieren. Aktuell produziert Bandenfilm den Dokumentarfilm Im Prinzip Familie, der 2024 bei DOK Leipzig Premiere hatte und im Juni 2025 ins Kino kommt. Laura war Teil der ZFF Academy 2023 und Berlinale Talents 2024. Der Fokus ihrer Firma liegt auf Spielfilmen, Dokumentationen und Serien für den internationalen Markt.

Dascha Petuchow ist eine aufstrebende Filmemacherin und Mitbegründerin der Filmproduktionsfirma Plotlessfilm in Frankfurt am Main. Sie lernte ihre Geschäftspartner während des Studiums an der Hochschule RheinMain kennen. Ihr Abschlussfilm "Kaugummi" wurde beim 17. up-and-coming Internationalen Film Festival Hannover mit dem Deutschen Nachwuchsfilmpreis 2023 ausgezeichnet.

Sarnt Utamachote (ษาณฑ์ อุตมโชติ, they/them) ist südostasiatisch, nicht-binär, macht Filme und kuratiert mit Sitz in Berlin. Utamachote kuratiert viele Filmveranstaltungen und Ausstellungen über postkoloniale Geschichten, südostasiatische Diaspora und Aktivismus. Dazu gehören zum Beispiel die Ausstellungen Young Birds From Strange Mountains (2025) im Schwules Museum, In Nobody's Service (2024) in der Galerie Wedding und Echos of the Brother Countries (2024) im HKW Berlin. Utamachote programmatiert Filme für das Short Film Festival Hamburg, XPOSED Queer Film Festival Berlin (seit 2022) und Sinema Transtopia Berlin (seit 2020). Utamachotes jüngster Kurzfilm I don't want to be just a memory (2022-24) hatte seine Premiere auf dem 74. Berlinale Forum Expanded. Auch ist Utamachote Mitbegründer von un.thai.tled, einem Künstlerkollektiv aus der deutsch-thailändischen Diaspora, und Teil der kollektiven Cruising Curators, deren Projekt Dissident Paths am NGBK Berlin (2025-26) stattfindet.

Louis Savy ist Gründer und Festivalleiter des Londoner Festivals für Science Fiction und fantastischen Film, besser bekannt als SCI-FI-LONDON. Louis setzt sich für Filmschaffende ein, die wissenschaftliche Fakten und Fiktion zu Unterhaltungs- und Bildungszwecken miteinander verbinden. Er sieht das Medium Film als eine einfache und zugängliche Möglichkeit, schwierige wissenschaftliche Konzepte zu vermitteln und mögliche Ergebnisse neuer Entwicklungen zu betrachten. Er hat mehrere Filme produziert und veranstaltet im Rahmen des Festivals einen großen Filmwettbewerb, bei dem die Teilnehmer aufgefordert werden, innerhalb eines Wochenendes originelle Science-Fiction-Filme zu drehen.

Cem Kaya, geboren 1976 in Schweinfurt. Studierte Kommunikationsdesign an der Merz Akademie in Stuttgart. Arbeitete zunächst als Producer, Cutter und Regisseur für Werbefilme und Musikvideos. 2010 und 2014: Erste abendfüllenden Dokumentarfilme über türkische Pop-Kultur: Arabeks (2010) und Remake, Remix, Rip-Off (2014). 2017 Bildgestaltung für den investigativen Film 77sqm_9:26min der Londoner Gruppe Forensic Architecture. Aşk, Mark ve Ölüm / Liebe, D-Mark und Tod (2022) handelt von der Musikkultur türkeistämmiger Arbeitsmigrant:innen in Deutschland. Der Film gewann u.a. den Berlinale Zuschauerpreis 2022 und den Grimme Preis 2024.

Geboren am 4. Juli 1974 in Ulm, absolvierte Brigitte Maria Bertele zunächst ein Schauspielstudium an der Akademie für darstellende Kunst in Ulm. Anschließend studierte sie Regie an der Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg. Seitdem hat sie zahlreiche Filme und Fernsehproduktionen realisiert, darunter mehrere "Tatort"-Episoden und den preisgekrönten Dokumentarfilm "Roaming Around".

Jakob Sturm, geboren 1966, ist Künstler, Raumaktivist und Autor. Er studierte Soziologie, Philosophie und Kunst in München, Frankfurt und Offenbach. Die Transformation und Produktion von Räumen begreift er als politische und gleichermaßen Teil seiner raumbezogenen, installativen künstlerischen Arbeit.Jakob Sturm war Mitbegründer von raumpool-Rhein-Main e.V. (2002), einer nomadischen Plattform zur kulturellen und künstlerischen Aktivierung von Leerständen, ist Mitbegründer und künstlerischer Leiter der Produktions- und Ausstellungsplattform basis e.V. (ab 2005) in Frankfurt, wo er auch die Leerstandsagentur RADAR (ab 2011) aufbaute und entwickelte. Ab 2016 war er als Berater für die Entwicklung von Immobilien für kreative Prozesse im Auftrag des Landes Hessen tätig. Seit 2020 sind drei Bände eines autobiografischen Textprojekts („Orte möglichen Wohnens“, „Abschied vom Vater“ und „Die geteilte Zeit“) im Axel Dielmann Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, erschienen.

Volker Beller gründete 2014 Randfilm und agierte zwischen 2020 und 2022 als Vorsitzender des gleichnamigen Vereins zur Förderung abseitiger Filmkultur. Nach seinem Studium der Kunstwissenschaften konzipierte und etablierte er das studentische Kulturzentrum K19 an der Universität Kassel.
Als Kulturreferent entwickelte er verschiedene Formen der Kulturvermittlung und -aneignung. Seither organisiert er (Kultur-) Veranstaltungen aller Art an unzähligen und ungewöhnlichen Orten in Kassel und leitete seit 2005 die Künstler- und Veranstaltungsagentur antistars. Mit der Gründung des Vereins Randfilm im Jahr 2016 fokussiert er sich auf seine dortigen Aufgaben. Seit 2021 ist er zudem Festivalleiter des jährlich stattfindenden Randfilmfestes, derzeit auch wieder Vorsitzender des Randfilm e.V. und Mitglied im Kulturbeirat der Stadt Kassel.

Jakob Zapf ist ein deutscher Regisseur, Autor und Produzent mit Sitz in Frankfurt am Main. Er studierte Theater-, Film- und Medienwissenschaften an der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt und absolvierte ein Erasmus-Programm im Fach "Master Cinéma" an der Université Paris X/Nanterre. Im Jahr 2014 gründete er gemeinsam mit Tonio Kellner die Produktionsfirma Neopol Film.

Sein Langfilmdebüt "Eine Handvoll Wasser" mit Jürgen Prochnow in der Hauptrolle erschien 2021 und ist derzeit als Video-on-Demand verfügbar.

Neben seiner Tätigkeit als freier Regisseur und Autor ist Zapf Produzent bei Neopol Film und Mitglied im Bundesverband Regie sowie im Produzentenverband, wo er als Delegierter für die Region Hessen fungiert.

Addie Reiss, C³PO


Cinematographer & Volumetric Capture Pioneer, innovates AI-driven 4D Gaussian Splats.

Als Chief Content Creation Products Officer bei DNE leitet er bahnbrechende volumetrische Aufnahmesysteme, die Kinematografie mit Tiefensensorik für hyperrealistische holografische Erlebnisse verbinden. Reiss ist der Pionier der KI-gestützten 4DGS, die emotionale Nuancen im Submillimeterbereich als immersive Bewegungshologramme einfängt.

Reiss' Verschmelzung von kinematografischer Intuition und technischer Meisterleistung positioniert ihn an der Spitze der volumetrischen Medien, die Unterhaltung und Bildung durch emotional resonante, dimensional fließende Erzählungen transformieren. Seine Projekte umfassen Filme, Dokumentarfilme, kulturelles Erbe und immersive Medien, angetrieben von dem Ethos: „Wir zeichnen die Wahrheit auf - nicht Annäherungen - und verwenden Photonen, keine maschinellen Halluzinationen.“