Joanna Nelson (VEN/BEL) is a writer, producer, and director from Venezuela with a background in economics and management. She has worked in the audiovisual industry independently since 2012. She has produced and directed four short films using her own screenplays. Her winning pitch for her first feature film in development, HUNGER, took the Post-production Award at the FEST 2018 Pitching Forum. She is a representative for Olffi.com, the world's largest database on public funding for film and television, and currently also works as partnerships manager for FilmarketHub.com, Europe's leading online marketplace for feature films and series in development. Joanna has moderated numerous live events throughout her career, conducted workshops, and participated as a member of the jury at pitching events and festivals. - Foto: Tuki Jencquel
Bianca Oana (ROU) is a writer and producer based in Bucharest, Romania. She dedicates her time to discovering filmmakers with a particular artistic view, regardless of the medium they choose to explore. Her filmography includes Ivana Mladenović's TURN OF THE LIGHTS (Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary and Best Director at the 2012 Zagreb Dox) and TOTO AND HIS SISTERS by Alexander Nanau (Grand Prix at the Angers Film Festival, Golden Eye Award at the Zurich Film Festival, Best Documentary Award at the Warsaw Film Festival, and many others, as well as being nominated for the EFA in 2015). In 2015, she started producing the feature film TOUCH ME NOT by Adina Pintilie, a Romanian-German-Czech-Bulgarian-French co-production, which won the Golden Bear and the GFWW First Feature Award at the 2018 Berlinale, followed by an impressive festival circuit and being acquired for cinema distribution in more than 35 countries. Bianca is now producing Alexander Nanau's upcoming film PROJECT C (working title) and the HBO documentary GOLDEN GILR, co-produced by Edmont Media and Monogram Film, a company founded by Bianca in 2015. She is developing Adina Pintilie's next project DEATH AND THE MAIDEN (working title).
Ansgar Ahlers (DEU) is a creative director, producer, writer, and CEO of forseesense, his own media company (since 1999). He is known for BACH IN BRAZIL (2015), WEDDING DAYDREAM (2004), and COVERED WITH CHOCOLATE (2001). Since 1997 he has gained much experience in different areas of film sets, mostly as an assistant director on international cinema productions, for example, LUTHER (Eric Till) and ENEMY AT THE GATES (Jean-Jacques Annaud). In 2001 he produced and directed his first short film COVERED WITH CHOCOLATE, which was nominated for a Golden Bear Award at the International Film Festival Berlin. He started the international multimedia project DAYDREAMS in 2004, in collaboration with young talents throughout the world (www.WeNeedYourTalent.com). Since 2005 forseesense has focused on developing and producing film projects for science centers and exhibitions as well as non-commercial film projects. He wrote three funded feature film screenplays. His first feature film, BACH IN BRAZIL, a German-Brazilian cinema production, achieved three awards as director and co-producer. Alongside his film work, he's currently the speaker of cultural department of the city of Papenburg, Germany. - Foto: Thiago Vargas Ahlers