is an accomplished filmmaker and artist with expertise in directing, cinematography, and producing. With over a decade of experience, his portfolio includes acclaimed short films, documentaries, and feature films. He's the founder of Stone Age Pictures, an award-winning production company in Uganda, and Film Possible, a non-profit supporting African filmmakers. He curated the SPOTLIGHT: UGANDA; Ugandan Short Film program for Interfilm's 39th Edition.
festival organizer and programmer, grew up in Dresden, Germany before she moved to England in 2002 and later studied Film in Wales. Upon returning to her home town, she experienced all of the stages in film production at the Dresden-based production company filoufilm. Since then, she has worked as a production assistant and production manager on numerous short film projects. She joint FILMFEST DRESDEN - International Short Film Festival in 2013 as part of the International Selection Committee, counts responsible for the coordination of the festival as well as the forum Visegrád in Short(s) and became the festival's co-director in July 2020. In 2021 she became a member of the Pardi di domani Selection Committee at Locarno Film Festival. She is also one of the initiators of Talking Shorts, an online platform that focuses on short film criticism, and a member of the European Film Academy.
started out as a production assistant for features and commercials in Amsterdam. In 1994, he founded the international boutique sales agency SND Films, selling award winning international short films, TV-movies and (feature) documentaries. Sydney has been on the Dutch Film Fund shorts commission from 2001-2010 and on the board of directors of the International Short Film Festival Go Short! in Nijmegen until 2011 and continued to be on the board of advisory. People call him Mr. Shorts now. He’s been on (shorts) juries, like Berlin, Dresden, Sundance, Palm Springs, Tel Aviv International Student Festival, Rio Short Film Fest etc.
is an author and director. His films explore contemporary Asian-German perspectives, as well as life in the diaspora, with a focus on intergenerational questions related to war, trauma and cultural heritage. He is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents and a member of Berlin Asian Film Network (BAFNET), which advocates for nuanced representations of Asian-German existence. His film "Hao Are You" won this year's First Steps Award in the documentary film category.
is a cultural worker and film programmer based in Berlin. At the Berlin International Film Festival, she heads the Short Form Station of Berlinale Talents and is a member of the Berlinale Shorts selection committee. She co-founded shorts/salon, a series of curated short film programmes and talks, is a film screener for New York Times Op-Docs, and a team member of Pictoplasma, a platform for contemporary character design and art.
(b. 1984, The Netherlands) is a filmmaker and visual artist, operating in a mixture of video, animation and VFX. His projects range from short films and documentaries to video installations and theatre performances. His work regularly explores the deconstruction of visual scenes as part of the narrative. He moves freely and playfully in a meta-area he has hammered out on his own, a narrative style that crosses the traditional boundaries between documentary and fiction, essay and experiment. His films have been screened at film festivals around the world and won numerous awards.
is a Cameroonian-German filmmaker currently also employed as a creative executive for German series at Netflix. Prior to her role at Netflix, she worked as a development producer at Panthertainment and was involved in the Disney+ series "Sam, A Saxon", among other projects. Through her experience as a director of short films and music videos, her background as a programmer and her international experience in Japan and Brazil, she is able to infuse her work with a uniquely well-rounded perspective that underlines her deeply rooted passion for storytelling.
(they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and researcher who explores the relationship between the deeply personal and the deeply connected. They spent the last decade working in the field of education and forced migration with a focus on gender and sexuality. In 2016 they were awarded the prestigious German Chancellor’s Fellowship and served under mentorship of Office Chancellor Angela Merkel. In 2021 their debut short film “DogFriend” which they created and produced was awarded funding by the German Ministry of Arts and Culture. “DogFriend '' had its world premiere at the British Film Institute, was featured at the Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for the German LOLA in 2022. Collectively their works and writing have been featured in the NYTimes, Die Zeit, The Schwules Museum, Gropius Bau, Urania Berlin, LiteraturHaus Berlin, DADDY Magazine, GALDEM, Volksbühne Berlin, among many others.
has been working in programming at the Montreal Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC) since 2017. She is head of short film and feature film programmer. She is also a member of the preselection committee at Busan International Short Film Festival as well as an independent curator, moderator and writer. Poirier holds a B.A in political science (international relations) and a certificate in art history.
is a Sudanese visual artist, photographer and filmmaker. In her work, she strives to reveal her perception of the world through visual content and narrative and to use the arts of film and photography as tools for awareness and change. As an artist and human rights activist, the focus of her films and photography lies on being a voice for women and the LGBTQI+ community, especially in Sudan. She strongly believes that art is a powerful weapon and that one picture can make a big difference in society. She also works as an activist for LGBTQI+ community rights with different organizations in the Middle East, has participated in many solo and group exhibitions globally and is the winner of the 2021 Madame Figaro Award at Arles International Photography Festival.
born in 1984, is an Iraqi/German screenwriter and director. In 2011 he graduated as theater director from the Academy of Fine Arts, Baghdad University, Iraq. Afterward, he came to Germany as a DAAD scholarship student. In 2016 he completed his master "Choreography and Performance" at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies at Gießen University. His first short film HASSAN IN WONDERLAND has been screened on many film festivals all around the world. In 2017 Ali released his last short film ABRAHAM. The film was screened at Odense Film Festival, and many other prestigious festivals. Ali Kareem works as a film advisor and in selection committees of film festivals for example for the Arab Film Festival San Francisco. He also works as a script consultant for Saudi Film Festival in Dammam. Ali was a jury member at Atlanta Film Festival in USA 2020 (Oscar qualifying) and Slemani Film Festival 2019. In 2023 Ali was selected as a director and screenwriter for Berlinale Talents program in Berlin.
has been working in Myanmar as a freelance filmmaker (director, producer, editor and sound engineer) since 2006, after studying at the Yangon Film School (Myanmar) and at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy (Germany) as well as at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHDK) Advance Studies Arts and International Cooperation (artasfoundationforpeace). The documentary Midwives is her feature film debut. The film premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and won the Excellence in Verité Filmmaking World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award and was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award, among other awards. Due to the political situation in her home country and for security reasons, Snow lives and works in Berlin.
studied International Politics and Communication in Zurich and Munich. Waltraud wrote and directed her debut 'Katzenjammer Kids', shown in Film Festival Hof and Berlinale and aired on German TV. 1985, Waltraud co-founded relief-film, which produced feature films and documentaries in India, South Korea, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritius, Madagascar and in the South Pacific. 1995-2015 Waltraud focused on writing popular TV-shows and TV-movies for German and Swiss TV. 2017-2022 trainer, showrunner and executive producer of 'Country Queen', the first Kenyan series on Netflix and on Arte TV.
is a curator, programmer and lecturer*researcher. Nastaran focuses on political issues such as intersectional queer feminism, social justice and anti-discriminatory practice, as well as queer issues in film and art. As a moderator, Nastaran has been working for the Berlinale in the Panorama section since 2011, since 2013 part of the XPOSED QUEER Film Festival in various positions and also curates short film programmes internationally (Kortfilm Festivalen Grimstad, Oslo Fusion). With Büro für vielfältiges Erzählen, Nastaran is currently planning and designing a further qualification for people at the intersection of anti-discrimination in filmmaking.
born 1993 in Cologne, is a writer and director. She completed her directing studies at the HfS Ernst Busch. She writes poetry, essays and screenplays. Most recently she wrote for "WIR" (ZDF) and "Schwarze Früchte" (ARD).
is a filmmaker, cinematographer, and photographer with 20 years of experience in the industry. He studied cinematography at the Beuth University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. Holger has worked as a cinematographer for documentaries, commercials, music videos, and short films. As a photographer, he specializes in capturing the essence of classical concerts, and he also has a passion for street photography. His work in short films has earned him nominations at prestigious film festivals such as the Max Ophüls Prize, Achtung Berlin, and the Stuttgart Short Film Festival (KuFiFe). He has also won awards at Berlin36 and the Munich Film School Festival. From 2007 to 2016, Holger shared his knowledge as a lecturer in sustainable communication, teaching at institutions including the Universidad Internacional Santiago de Chile. Since 2016, he has been part of the management team at 25p *cine support, where he initially handled store management and has now transitioned to business development.
is a freelance director and screenwriter. She studied cultural sciences and aesthetic practice at the University of Hildesheim, with a focus on photography and theatre, and film directing at the Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg. Her critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning debut fiction feature "We Might As Well Be Dead", co-written with Viktor Gallandi, celebrated its world premiere at the 2022 Berlinale, where it was the opening film for the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section. Sinelnikova's debut was featured at numerous international film festivals, including in Tribeca Film Festival's International Competition section, and received nominations for the German Film Critics Award in the categories of best feature debut and best screenplay. She is currently developing her next feature film and working on a series project.
is a multidisciplinary video director based in Berlin, Germany. He treats video like a choreography; composing and arranging images in a rhythmic manner that complements the music and sound. Drawn to the experimental and unconventional, he uses a variety of techniques in his work, combining abstract animation and mixed media with live action footage. Honoured with numerous awards including the Cinedans Dioraphte Jury Award and the Promax Award in Gold and a nomination at the Deutsche Kamerapreis, his films are renowned for their picturesque style and musicality. In his free time Boris enjoys playing music, going to the movies and taking photos, as well as being able to share those experiences with his daughters.