INTERFILM 39 International Short Film Festival Berlin
14 - 19 November 2023

Detailed search

Viewing & Curation 2023

We are expecting 3000 film submissions again this year. They will be screened and evaluated in teams and then selected by curators for the different sections in a lively exchange. Here are the heroines of the screening and curation 2023 - the curators are also part of the viewing team:

Viewing team

Greta Calaciura joins the interfilm viewing team for the first time this year! She recently moved to Berlin to work in a film service production, and is currently settling in by attending every film event she possibly can. Her favorite part of the film experiences is sharing it with others (possibly in a cinema during a festival) and discussing it afterwards, so being part of the viewing team is a great way to have those conversations.
Ilana Glizer came to interfilm through an internship. Since then she somehow can't get away from the films. Views and co-curates Queer Fever. She is in charge of the festival website at achtung berlin and at the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival she is involved in the program and guest management. She is currently learning the business of livestreaming in a video production.
Laura Wiesinger joined interfilm last year for the first time as an editorial assistant and venue manager for the festival. Since this year she is also working in distribution and is part of the interfilm screening team for the first time. She studied something about culture in her bachelor's degree and is currently doing her master's degree in something about media, film and culture. But Laura loves watching films the most.
Maliek Buz studies film and theater science at FU right now. Usually Maliek likes to be in front of the camera as well as on stage though and dances ballet since dey are four years old. In her free time, she loves being creative or fight for the rights of TIN* people as a member of the organization team of Trans Pride Berlin. Interfilm was the first short film festival Maliek has ever worked for and since that she can’t get enough of them!
María Cristina Hervás a passionate cineaste, studied film and theater studies and switched to the Film Academy to study directing. As early as 2001, she was a member of the international jury at INTERFILM. Several times she was a member of the Script Pitch Jury and since 2018 she is screening short films for the festival program. She lives as a freelance writer in Berlin.
Matti Swiec started at Kuki in 2018 and moved to interfilm the next year, where he has been co-responsible for venues, shipping and sponsorship over the years, and since last year also sound & vision. The actor and speaker is also involved in the supporting program of the Performing Arts Festival Berlin and speaks for the Grandparents for Future podcast "Oma, Opa erzählt mal!".
Moritz Mehnert started as an intern at interfilm in 2018 and since then has been ensuring the smooth running of the events in the various locations every year as venue manager. He studied art history and film studies in Jena, as well as media studies in Weimar, once ran a small short film festival himself and is currently initiating film events in his adopted hometown of Jena. Animations, documentaries and slow storytelling are somehow his thing and he melts away with analog film images.
Petra Palmer studied theatre-film and media studies and philosophy in Frankfurt a. Main and Berlin. Since 2020 she has been a member of the artistic direction collective of Berlin Critics’ Week. She was on the selection committee of the Japanese film festival Nippon Connection. In addition to various retrospectives for Nippon Connection and for the goEast film festival, she curated the retrospective La Factoría Querejeta - Elías Querejeta and Spanish Cinema 1963-1998 at Zeughauskino, Berlin. In 2019/20 she was the head of the festival office of the German Film and Television Academy (DFFB).
Thomas Zandegiacomo Del Bel has been screening for interfilm since 2012. He studied German and Romance languages and literature as well as media and communication studies. After his time at the ZKM | Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, he went to the Deutsche Kinemathek in 2009. Since 2006 he has been the artistic director of the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival.

Curation team

Alexander Stein co-curates eject - the long night of deviant film, Reality Bites & Virtual Reality meets Fulldome. He studied film, theater, ethnology and journalism in Berlin. After his studies he learned film animation at Kaskeline Filmproduktion and realized his own animated films as well as stage designs and projections for the Schaubühne Berlin, Schauspielhaus Hamburg and for the world exhibition spectacle "Flambee" in Hannover 2000. He joined interfilm in 1998 and took over the role of producer.
Ali Musoke is a highly accomplished and versatile Filmmaker and Artist whose expertise spans different areas of the film industry. He excels as a Director, Cinematographer, and Producer, with a wealth of experience in both fiction and documentary filmmaking. With over a decade of industry experience, Ali's portfolio features over a dozen productions, including critically acclaimed short films, documentaries, and feature films. He founded Stone Age Pictures, an award-winning independent production company, and Film Possible, a non-profit film foundation that provides comprehensive and year-round support to the upcoming generation of African filmmakers. Currently, Ali is curating Spotlight Uganda, A Ugandan Short film program for the INTERFILM 2023.
Andrea Schwemmer studied theater, film studies and acting in Berlin and New York and has appeared on stage, TV and film. She co-curates the IC, plays in the swing band The Toolbox Orchestra, works as a presenter and programs at the Max Ophüls Preis and the Arab Film Festival San Francisco.
Brenda Akele Jorde co-curates the documentary programme and is opening the festival for the third time as a presenter. Previously, she curated and hosted the documentary screenings for children 10+ at KUKI and enjoyed discussing film with children. She is a documentary film director, circus educator, acro yoga teacher and loves movement and dance above all else.
Canan Turan After Canan Turan studied film and documentary in Berlin, Barcelona and London, she directed the short film "Kıymet" (2012) and is the creative producer of the documentary "From Here" (2020). She works as a freelance curator, expert/speaker and moderator focusing on anti-discrimination, representation and empowerment in film. She has been part of the Berlinale Generation selection committee since October 2023. At Interfilm, she co-screens and curates the German Competition as well as the Focus "The *other* German Cinema”.
Cord Dueppe studied film studies and has been part of the interfilm team since 2016, where he does the international distribution of our short films and also co-curates the International Competition.
François Serre is an expert in immersive and interactive technologies and directs the Courant3D film festival in Angoulême. He is a specialist in sound and cinema, directs short films and documentaries, and animates conferences. This expertise allows him to serve as a jury member or curator for numerous festivals. For INTERFILM, he has developed several immersive short film programs together with Alexander Stein, which will be screened at the Zeiss-Großplanetarium in Berlin.
Fredi Klutas is an ultra-long-term student of German philology and something with culture. She has been a permanent part of the KUKI team since 2018, where she organizes, screens, curates, feeds social media, bakes cakes, and co-curates Teenage Riot. And because she likes all weird things, she is also co-curator of eject.
Heinz Hermanns founded interfilm more than 40 years ago and has promoted interfilm internationally through various on-site contacts with filmmakers and institutions. He cross-searches the festival, curates with colleagues the Environmental Film Competition and is a curator and jury member at festivals worldwide.
Leon Baumgartl has been with interfilm since 2013. Starting with an internship at KUKI, he was able to gain insights into almost all departments of the festival over the years. Since 2016 he co-curates and co-produces "eject". He also makes music and likes to play at an interfilm party.
Ludmila Pogodina has been with interfilm since 2009 in many shapes – as a journalist, a DJ at the festival events, a presenter of the “Watch That Man! David Bowie Music Video Retrospective 1969-2013” program in 2014, curated the Special Program – Spotlight: Belarus in 2022 and is now among the viewers. She studied journalism, and is a writer, photographer, DJ, art manager and co-founder of the art collective/community #KeepMinskWeird.
Marion Richter ist Berlinerin. Sie studierte in Manchester (UK) Fernseh- und Radioproduktion und entdeckte dort ihre Liebe zum Kurzfilm. Seit knapp 15 Jahren arbeitet sie für interfilm und KUKI in wechselnden Rollen. Nach vielen Jahren im KUKI Kurationsteam und in der Gästebetreuung co-kuratiert sie Body Talk und sichtet Filme für KUKI. Sie hat eine große Schwäche für alles Schwedische und für Außenseiter im Film.
Matthias Groll has been an interfilmer for over 20 years. He studied sociology and journalism, co-curates the International and Green Film Competition as well as Body Talk. 1998 he published the book "Das Digital" and in summer published "When Shiva rages, the world shakes - Hinduism as an adventure in everyday life in India" - https://www.wennshivawuetetwackeltdiewelt.de/
Monica Koshka-Stein was born in Australia to Chinese-Russian and German immigrants and settled in Berlin in her early twenties in 1993. She has always been involved in music, film, performance and art and has worked at interfilm Berlin since 1998. Monica became Artistic Director of KUKI Young Short Film Festival in 2011, leads KUKI’s film-curation workshops for teenagers, gives talks and curates short film programs for festivals and institutes around the world. In 2021, she joined the short film selection committee at Berlinale-Generation and developed the digital film education platform, Kurzfilm im Klassenraum that was launched in 2022. Her focus lies on the inventive and empathetic potential of the cinematic short form and how film can help young people feel at home in the world and in themselves. For the adult side of interfilm, she researches films and co-curates the genre programs and Teenage Riot.
Nastassja Kreft studied cultural and media studies and works at re:publica Berlin. She discovered her passion for films and festivals at Sehsüchte and is now a board member there. Since 2019 she supports the interfilm team and co-curates the International Competition in 2022.
Moritz Lehr co-curates documentaries, mockumentaries, music videos and everything in between. He has made short films and music videos, but actually comes more from music and is active as a Dj. He studied art, music and media, where he first came into contact with short films: love at first sight.
Rebecca Heiler studied translation/interpreting and Slavic studies and has been involved with interfilm since 2018. She screens, co-curates the German Competition and leads the Script Pitch. Otherwise, she works for the goEast Film Festival, among others.
Ronja Seifert did an internship at Interfilm in 2019 and since then can't get away from short film. Ronja studies Communication in Social and Economic Contexts at the UdK in Berlin, is interested in literature and horror films and writes herself. In 2023 she co-curates "eject - die lange Nacht des abwegigen Films“" for the first time.
Sarah Dombrink is acquisition manager for interfilm Berlin's Short Film Sales & Distribution since 2018. Before that, she worked for the interfilm festival in variety of positions starting as location manager in 2011. In between, she graduated in Media Studies at the Film University Babelsberg. She co-curates the German competition and is a member of the Festival Curatorium, the artistic directorial team.
Tavo Ruiz is a proud queer writer and director, born in Nezahualcóyotl, México. His short films "Line 9" (2016), "Juan Gabriel is dead" (2018) and “Portraits of my mother” (2019) screened at prestigious film festivals such as OutFest Los Angeles, Max Ophüls Film Prize and Morelia Film Festival. His feature film script “Acapulco Magic” was one of three finalists at the Guanajuato Film Festival screenplay competition, with this project he won the feature film in development fund at the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE), was mentored by Mexican filmmaker Fernando Eimbcke thanks to the mentoring program at Filmnetzwerk Berlin DFFB. He took part in the Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund at Los Cabos Film Festival, and also was invited to Gotham film week in New York , and thanks to the program La Fabrique and the French Institute, he got invited to Cannes Film Festival in 2022. He co-curated Queer Fever.
Toma Danilov founded in 2014 a women* community "SHE36 empowering bicycle culture" and organized movie screenings about women* and bicycle culture. Studied psychology, worked as a bicycle messenger in Berlin and used arised GPS routes for her drawings. Loves hard arthouse and documentaries about "little people", in 2023 viewing and curating Bike Shorts special program. - https://www.instagram.com/she36_/