FFFB 2023 - Digital Programme

FEMALE FILMMAKERS FESTIVAL BERLIN 2023

FFFB 5

Celebrate our 5th anniversary edition with us at Germany’s oldest cinema: Kino Moviemento.

Join us for 5 festival days full of handpicked, curated film programmes with unique films from around the world, as well as insightful panels and Q&A’s with filmmakers and industry experts.

ABOUT US

The“FemaleFilmmakersFestivalBerlin”providesa platformtosupportandamplifydiversifiedvoicesof womeninfilmfromacrosstheglobeinorderto enablefemalestoshareandbeawardedfortheir filmmakingtalents.

PROGRAMME

WOLF & DOG

ão Miguel, an igion and een Luis, her best resses as much as nd Cloé from with her the uth, Ana embarks with new desires. he enchanting ode er community glow crosses the Ocean.

S Y N O P S I S

n selected by prestigious ocarno, eel, Cinema nd Art of the ong many

CLÁUDIA VAREJÃO

mmaker, she a guest Catholic work, graphy, ives from her ayed.

ONCE UPON THE TIME IN THE FUTURE: 2121

Turkey/Turkish with English subtitles/92 min/ Sci-Fi

DIRECTOR

Serpil Altın began her career as an assistant director and producer, worked in many national and international production. Her short films “The Holiday Gift (2014)” and “Learning How to Swim (2017)” have been screened and awarded prizes at many national and international film festivals. In 2016, she founded her own company which is named Serpil Altın Film. Her first feature film which is in the genre of science fiction and drama, is “Once Upon a time in the Future: 2121 (2022)”

o When a peach wards t the riends to her w ill

UNTIL BRANCHES BEND

SOPHIE JARVIS

Sophie Jarvis studied at Simon the “Fraser University” where she made her short film T”he Worst Day Ever”, which premiered at TIFF in 2012. Since then, Sophie has gone on to direct primarily live action shorts, including Medical Drama (Clermont Ferrand 2019) and Come to your senses (co-directed with Alicia Eisen for NFB’s The Curve series, 2020). Her background as a production designer informs her practice as a director. Sophie’s feature debut Until Branches Bend premiered at TIFF.

he home front, 15n the verge of until her warts her selfour with a lifeline: at-risk kids”. Murra ced, but she soon Kylie, uptight ky Elvis, and camp do and Michelle on s trip to the , the teens learn p and first he forces of re the bubble of

SWEET AS

JUB CLERC

Jub has directed over fifteen mini docs for Indigenous Community Stories and written/directed short films and docs. home. Since 2010 Jub has been performing as a Soprano in the world’s first Aboriginal Opera, Pecan Summer, and will go on to become Associate Director for their 10 year anniversary production.

In 2019 Jub directed her first TV credit on two episodes of ABC TV series The Heights - Season 2.

AMA GLORIA

France/French with English subtitles/84 min/

MARIE AMACHOUKELI

A French director and writer of Georgian descent, born in Paris in 1979. She made her writing debut in 2005 with the short film Tantalus. Among her most famous films C'est gratuit pour les filles (2009), Raw (2016) and Savage (2018). She won the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Festival in 2014.

ALLER RETOUR

DOROTHÉE VAN DEN BERGHE

Dorothée van den Berghe studied at the Hogeschool Sint-Lukas in Brussels. She was an actress in the Belgian film Kiekeboe: The White Blood (1992, Herman Fabri & Johan Thiels).

Since 1995 she has worked as a scriptwriter and director. She made her film debut with Girl (2002).

WHY CHICKENS DON’T FLY

Germany/German with English subtitles/77 min

Coming Of Age Drama

NAIRA CAVERO ORIHUEL

Naira Cavero Orihuel discovered her love for the Theater early on, which lead her to study Directing at the HFF Munich and the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires in 2011. In addition to shooting numerous short films, she received commercial film awards from the Bavarian State Ministry and the New York Film Festival. In 2022 she completed her studies with her debute feature film “Why Chickens Don’t Fly”.

IN CASE YOU’RE STILL AROUND

Israel/Hebrew with English subtitles/63 min/

Talia (Tulik) Galon, graduate of both film and psychology, she works as D.P in both documentary and fiction films. Among her works as a cinematographer, “A.K.A- Nadia”,

“Beautiful Valley” (feature films, candidate for the Israeli Academy Prize for cinematography 2011, 2015), the documentaries “The Flat”, “The Hebrews”. She won the cinematography prize, DocAviv 2005. It’s her first film as director.

DASHA BOUGH

SHORTS & MUSICVIDEOS

ned taxi

uming a dramatic not rs. dramedy, oir urban

VEGAS

ANNA WHEELER

A B O U T A N N A

Anna is a multi-disaplinary artist from the east coast of Canada whos passions lie in developing emotionally- character driven narratives. The recipient of the 2022 Michelle Jackson RBC Emerging Filmmakers Award, works include Vegas, Melody, Face It (writer director producer) and Grown in Darkness, La Veille, The Seventh Skin ( producer). She is an alum of the 2022 WIDC (Women in the Director's Chair) in collaboration with the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival and a graduate of Ryerson Universities Acting Program.

er falling asleep during a therapy sion, Helen struggles to compose self as she prepares for Cate, her t patient, who despite her bility proves to be more llenging than Helen expected.

YOU NEVER TALK ABOUT YOUR DREAMS

Canada/English/12 min

Sarah is a narrative filmmaker, academic and entertainment writer, and cultural worker based in Montréal, Québec. The common threads across her professional experiences are critical thinking and engaging content.

SARAH FOULKES

With a Masters in Film Studies from Concordia University, Sarah has a well-rounded knowledge of North American film industry, film history, and contemporary cinema trends.

FIFTYFOUR DAYS

CAT WHITE & PHOEBE TORRANCE

A B O U T C A T

Cat White is an actor, writer, filmmaker, gender advisor to the UN and founder of the award-winning Kusini Productions, a company established to champion the voices of Black women. She has been honoured as a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2022, longlisted for AllBright’s ‘Innovative Trailblazer Award’, is an alumni of We Are Parable/Channel 4’s Momentum programme and is a BAFTA connect member.

S Y N O P S I S

A woman decides to step out of her modern life and journeys to a remote monastery in the Bach Ma mountains of Vietnam, where she lives alongside a group of stoic monks.

BACH MA

Her silent struggle to adapt to the peculiar setting leads her to a wholehearted search for something worth believing in.

Canada/English/ 20 min

Darlene Huynh is a full circle creative, driven by curiosity, outlandish ideas and abstract concepts. In her search for aesthetics and unique voices she created HUNTCLUB, a studio & gallery that became an incubator for emerging Toronto talent. It also gave Huynh an outlet for multidisciplinary projects ranging from fine art to film and performance art.

DARLENE HUYNH

Huynh received a BA in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson University and later studied meditation and zen philosophy at Truc Lam

REMEMBER ME

Sweden/Swedish with English subtitles// 14 min

AILA STEFANSDOTT ER-FRANCK & LINNÉA DURAN & ELIN ÖRNEHOLM

We are Elin Örneholm (dancer and choreographer), Linnéa Duran (music producer and artist), and Aila Stefansdotter-Franck (writer and poet).

We decided to use our fields of expertise and combine our artistic expressions to tell this story of grief and hope. This is our first short film and it's made by an all female film crew based in Sweden and Norway.

A LITTLE VACATION

S Y N O P S I S

After a suicide attempt, a young woman is admitted to a psych ward where she finds reprieve from the real world only to be released without a tangible way to move forward.

Canada/English/ 17 min

Eva Tavares is a Canadian singer, dancer, actor, director, and coach. Most recently starring as Christine Daaé in the North American Tour of Phantom of the Opera, Tavares is a graduate of the UBC Opera Program, the LAMDA Shakespeare Short Course and the Banff/Citadel Theatre Professional Training Program.

EVA TAVARES

NOW I’M OLD AND DO NOT NEED THE MOON

Dasha Bough is an animation director and documentary filmmaker. Her most recent film, “The Conspiracy,” a feature length animated documentary about conspiracy theory and antisemitism, is set to debut in January of 2023.

DASHA BOUGH

THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE FIRST FULL MOON

When London-based DJ Egle returns to native Lithuania for an Easter celebration, she finds herself facing more than just the music.

Lithuania/Lithuanian with English subtitles// 15 min

Greta Griniute is a writer and director with a passion for comedy. Born in Lithuania, Greta spread her wings after high school when she moved to the UK to study physical theatre and acting.

GRETA GRINIŪTĖ

THE OTHER ROAD

USA/English// 16 min

JENNIFER STEINMAN STERNIN

Jennifer is an award-winning Director, Producer and Editor with over 20 years of experience in television and documentary filmmaking. Her documentary feature film credits include HI, I'M NANCY RUBIN (Director) which was commissioned by the Magnolia Network and is now streaming on HBOMAX and DISCOVERY+; TIME FOR ILHAN (Producer), which premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and garnered multiple awards including a 2019 Emmy® Award and a NAACP Image Award Nomination world premiere and won an Audience Award at SXSW in 2009.

Lia is a 47-year-old single woman who has a symbiotic relationship with her mother. The nearing death of Natasha, her beloved old dog, causes Lia to become anxious about her future life without Natasha and without any children of her own.

CLINGING

Israel/Hebrew with English subtitles/19:28 min

LIAT GLICK

A B O U T L I A T

Born in Tel Aviv in 1972, Liat Glick graduated in 1995 from the prestigious Nissan Nativ Acting Studio. During her acting studies, she won several scholarships. And has since acted in film & theatre and been nominated for Film Academy and Theatre Academy Awards for her work. In 2011 she graduated with honors from the Minshar School of Art Film Department and finished her graduation film “Layla Bahir”. In 2020 she directed “Sugar Crash” which was accepted to St. Louis Film Festival and others.

TWO ONE TWO

SHIRA AVNI

A B O U T S H I R A

Shira Avni is an animation filmmaker and Associate Professor of Film Animation at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Her animated documentary films (John and Michael, Tying Your Own Shoes, and Petra's Poem), produced in partnership with the National Film Board of Canada, have garnered over 30 international awards, including the prestigious DOK Leipzig Golden Dove and the NHK Japan Prize, and have screened in over 120 festivals worldwide. Her newest film, Two One Two, has won 4 international awards to date, including the Special Jury Prize at the Sommets du Cinéma d'animation.

A mother and daughter take a road trip to an unknown destination. It is winter. The mother is tired and hopeless. The daughter films everything with an old Video8. They go up to the Dolomites leaving behind a pain as white as snow.

NEVE

A B O U T A L E S S I A

Alessia Buiatti, born in 1978, is an Italian filmmaker. She graduates in Communication Sciences and worked as a journalist, teacher, communication manager and creative director. Since 2016, Alessia has dedicated herself exclusively to cinema. Her filmography includes several shorts: “Alone together” (2018), “Aurora” (2019), the award-winning pilot for her feature “Time & Days” (2020), “Neve” (2022) and Ice tea (2022).

ALESSIA BUIATTI

OF CATS & DAUGHTERS

ELDA SORRA

Elda Sorra completed her training as an actress at the "Arturo Acting School" in Cologne from 2000 to 2004. Afterwards she was to be seen on various theatre stages, as well as in different film, cinema and TV productions. In addition, she realized her own artistic projects. She has lived in Berlin since 2007. There she not only worked as an actress but also as an assistant director. 2017 she wrote and directed her first self-produced short film "Pamçka". The film had its premiere at the 64th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen.

YOU ARE EACH SOLITARY MOMENT

A summer afternoon, a mother’s sudden visit triggers some deep buried issues between her and her daughter.

Homosexuality is a subject that would never be brought up between the mother and the daughter. As the daughter keeps questioning her mother, the mother finally speaks up about the secret she hides deep inside.

China/Mandarin with English subtitles / 16 min

Wen Li. Born in Hunan, China. She graduated with a BFA from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts. Her short film Water Ghost won the Gold Prize of CAFA Agnès Varda’s Award, The New Force Prize of Toronto China-West Filmmakers Alliance, the Second Prize for Best Documentary at FICAE Film Festival, and the nominee for Competition Documentary Short Film at Cinquest Film Festival.

WEN LI, KAI GUO

MY MOTHER IS A PROSTITUTE

Nigeria/English/ 23 min

NWAMAKA CHIKEZIE

Nwamaka is an independent filmmaker based in Abuja, Nigeria. Her most recent film as director is HERDSBOY, a documentary film about life as a Fulani herder and what it means to live as a Fulani person in today's Nigeria. As a freelancer, she works as an Assistant Director, Script supervisor and Continuity person for several film projects, Tv shows, Commercials and Documentaries. Chikezie is also engaged with building communities through video partnerships, empowering new and aspiring filmmakers and creatives especially women and girls to tell their own stories.

CONNECTED THROUGH CYPHER

Looking at social conflicts, we observe that people talk more about each other than with each other. A cypher works against this with a circle of changing protagonists in the centre who communicate on equal footing. The film transfers the cypher from the field of dance culture to social questions of living together, offering a form for exchange and togetherness.

LOUBNA DOUDOUH & ARMAN MARVANI

Born and raised as a person of Moroccan descent in the "Ruhrgebiet" in Northrhine-Westphalia, Loubna has always asked questions of identity, belonging and social cohesion. Loubna has a degree in international Relations and first started to work as video- content creator. Since, she has worked in different organizations and conducted awareness video-campaigns and educational work. With "Connected through Cypher" she directed her first experimental / documentary style short film where she shares her deep interest and passion for the HipHop culture.

MICHIKUSA

Nalani is an award winning animator and director based in Los Angeles. She creates an otherworldly aesthetic by meticulously integrating miniature landscapes with stop motion and hand painted animation.

NALANI WILLIAMS

Abstract in context and

expressionistic in style, Nalani makes highly personal and conceptual work that, like a painting, remains open to interpretation.

In a world crushed by pollution, conflicts, eco anxiety, alienation of the individual and fear of the future, a human being is lying down, hopeless and surrounded by shadow.

WE ARE THE EARTH

Yet, anger and refusal of the disaster to come will ignite in him/her - and in us all - a flame of life, carrying the hope of a better tomorrow.

France/Music Video/ 5 min

Zoé Rose studied at the Angoulême

Fine Arts School. After 3 years of study, she obtained her diploma in DNA option animated image. Independent artist, animator and illustrator, she has always been passionate about animation and is interested in all ways of telling stories, from the most obvious to the most experimental.

ZOÉ ROSE

https://www.instagram.com/zou_blbl/

SPIRITS IN THE CITY

Video/3 min

JOANNA VYMERIS

oanna www.joannavymeris.co.uk is a recent graduate from the MA course in producing at the National Film and Television School where she produced 7 films. Since graduating Joanna has been working as a producer at Adventure Pictures where she is producing an upcoming film by Sally Potter. Joanna gained her first class BA hons degree in Art History from Cambridge University where she began directing and producing theatre. On graduating Joanna founded a multi-arts company The Feathers of Daedalus Circus www.featherscircus.uk .

THE BEST LINES

‘The Best Lines’ is a cinematic music video filmed in 16mm. Tells the story of two lovers who see each other after 10 years, bringing back old memories. A bittersweet farewell as she watches love fade.

Claudia Barral Magaz is a young director based in Spain. She developed her artistic education in Fine Arts between Madrid and Paris ended it with a cinematography master’s degree in 2017 at EFTI. Her projects focus on visual art and metaphor, giving rise to a very sensorial and aesthetical work.

CLAUDIA BARRAL MAGAZ

rotic scene from the Sun onark, I felt the urge to he drawing, to somehow guilty pleasure of n image so explicit and so a different time and as I poured the water and un to float, a different story unfolded.

BECAUSE I WANTED YOU TO KNOW

IRENE PANTELIS

Irene is a Bolivian-UruguayanAmerican interdisciplinary artist based in the Washington D.C. Derived from her drawing practice and infused in Latin America’s magic realism, her short videos oscillate between representation and abstraction, exploring diverse artifacts, discoveries and natural phenomena, engaging narratives of identity, displacement, memory and ecology. Initially a labor lawyer and self-taught artist, she earned her Bachelors and Masters in Fine Art degrees from the University of Maryland at College Park.

INNOCENCE

"Innocence" is the culmination of a long journey of resilience and survival in the face of violence and trauma

S Y N O P S I S

ANOUCHKA DJURDJEVAC & PAOLA CARDONE

Proksima is an electronic music group whose musical compositions resonate with physical expression, images and writing. These singular languagesmusic, dance and words - meet in video clips, opening up a new expressive dimension.

Collaboration and self-expression are at the heart of Proksima. Paola

Cardone composes the music and colors the group's pieces with her voice. Anouchka Djurdjevac adds to music the dimension of movement and dance that materializes in her music videos.

CORAZON PATIO

AIDA GONZÁLEZ

Aida is a fashion photographer from the south of Spain (Murcia), currently based in Madrid. This year she was awarded with the “Best of the year” in the Internacional Fashion Photography Masters from EFTI School. She filmed her first Fashion Film, produced by the school, last summer and published her editorials in magazines like “Revs” and “Fucking Young”. While her projects are very personal, fashion is always a big part of them,

TANGO HEART

The quartet from Bilbao recovers this song, so important in the musical panorama of northern Spain, with energy, vitality and optimism.

The story tells of a couple of grandparents facing fear, loneliness and the onset of a new disease such as Alzheimer's disease.

Spain/Music Video/ 4.30 min

Ten years ago Bárbara Fdez started in the fashion world publishing editorials in magazines such as Kluid, Elegant or Picton Magazine. Poetry, strength, subtlety, dance, movement, fur, social struggle and human stories are the main sources of inspiration when creating.

BÁRBARA FDEZ

"The Dance of the Starling" (2020), a short film that claims its space in the LGTBIQ+ world. It currently has more than 30 official selections at festivals around the world and was screened at the Sitges Film Festival 2021.

The story of ‘The Call’ is about a woman surviving hard times, but when she sings the melody of the chorus a magical tribe of women+ start dancing and this sisterhood sends power to her. The Call’s music video showcases fantastic visuals that portray the primal strength women+ have when they unite, connected in nature.

THE CALL

LEANNE VINK

Leanne has been working in the film industry since she was 17 years old. Starting out as an editor, she quickly moved her way up and became a director at just 18 years old. She is known for her documentaries for Nike x Patta Running Team and her music video’s for a diverse range of Amsterdam based upcoming artists. Her fascination for culture, sustainability, equality and nature are what drives her to create stories that are down to earth and personal with a unique touch to it. Her goal is to experience different ways to tell stories and use them to produce highend documentaries, short films and music videos.

IDA'S SONG

S Y N O P S I S

The Dehmelhaus in Blankenese serves as the backdrop for a crossgenre music video inspired by contemporary documents by Ida. The electropop artist KUOKO translates the content into her individual musical language, referring to the current topicality. The music video was created in cooperation and with the support of the Dehmelhaus Foundation and promotes the formation of feminine networks as a necessary matter for women in the cultural sector.

BIRGIT KAJTNA & CAROLIN BREMER

Birgit Kajtna works as an opera director, project developer and cultural manager. She studied music theater directing at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and worked as a director, assistant director from 2003 to 2019 at the Staatstheater Mainz, the Schwetzinger Festspiele, the Wuppertaler Bühnen, the Staatstheater Stuttgart, the Burgtheater in Vienna. In 2013, Carolin Bremer founded the Hamburg-based design studio BLACK PONY - black-pony.de She specialises in visual identities, illustration, motion design, creative concepts and art direction.

THE WEENIES

Philomène and Carolanne are the anti-capitalist feminist punk-rock group « The Weenies ». After a fiery argument both their friendship and their highly (un)anticipated gig are put at risk.

GARANCE CHAGNONGRÉGOIRE

After her studies in film, Garance Chagnon-Grégoire directed her first short film Tequila Grapefruit and codirected Leading the Waves : a biographical documentary about her grandfather André Chagnon. She then directed two short films The Weenies and An Afternoon of Fighting in 2023.

A theatre rehearsal is the canvas for a witty take on the process of finding yourself. Hanna Plass performs in different interacting characters that try to find their way between acting, music, performance and private struggles. Over the course of five songs she celebrates her love for theatre, opera and film and seamlessly melts them into each other.

ON TRACK

Hanna Plass is a director, actress and musician based in Berlin. After studying acting at Otto Falckenberg Schule in Munich, she was part of the ensemble at Staatstheater Stuttgart until she started her freelance career, starring in TV and cinema productions.

HANNAH PLASS

Her work as director, musician and actress has always aimed to combine the different art forms, promoting her to Deutsche Oper Berlin, Thalia Theater Hamburg and musical films as "Der Dreigroschenfilm". In July '22 Hanna

Plass released the EP "On Track" it is her first release as a solo artist.

Ma Lina is a South African drama about grief and the complicated relationship dynamics between two young girls and a domestic worker, in post-apartheid South Africa.

MA LINA

YDALIE TURK

Ydalie Turk is a South African actress and writer who was named screenwriter to Watch in 2022 by MovieMaker Magazine for The Grand Bolero. She graduated with a BFA in acting, and currently resides in Cape Town where she works in Film, Television, and on Stage. acclaimed novelist Keely Shinners.

INFINITE JEST

The family looks happy from afar. But if you look closely, you'll see, that every individual is fighting their own battle.

ALEXANDRA SHEREN

Artist and filmmaker. With a passion for human nature in all its diversities, and magic. Currently working on a series of short movies for an 8 song music album I have finished recording this year.

The mysteries of love and relationships boiled down to 90 seconds.

SLAPS

USA/French with English subtitles/1.30 min

Angela Chen is a director born and raised in the heart of Texas with family roots in Taiwan and China. Her films have won numerous awards and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW, Austin Film Festival, and more.

ANGELA CHEN

Angela’s current narrative feature is the recipient of the Russo Brothers’ AGBO Films and AFI’s Development Grant. She was an Armed with a Camera Fellow at Visual Communications and a recipient of the ITVS Diversity Development Fund.

BRUISE

S Y N O P S I S

From the outside it looks like Heather has it all, but then the cracks begin to show. Heather is dealing with a serious situation of coercive control, domestic and sexual abuse. After a particularly harrowing incident at her house she manages to escape, she runs outside and screams but nothing comes out. She continues her journey and she faces a situation of sexual violence followed by being harassed by a stalker.

Mo (or 'Maureen') O'Connell is an actor & filmmaker from Dublin, Ireland. She is a graduate of RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), London, with a BA in Acting & of Ballyfermot Film School, Dublin with a Diploma in Film Production. She is currently being mentored by Emma Norton of Element Pictures. Mo is the Festival Director of Dublin International Comedy Film Festival. It had a very successful 2nd year in January 2022.

MO O'CONNELL

SECURE

In the powerful short film "seCURE," sexual violence and its aftermath are explored through the captivating perspectives of four survivors. Through expressive dance and poetry, their inner world is unveiled, depicting their search for safety. As they navigate a seemingly comforting yet lifeless environment, the key held between their fingers becomes a guiding symbol. Ultimately, the film conveys the profound journey towards finding safety within their own bodies.

ZOÉ KUGLER& JANA DÜNNER

oé Kugler is a Swiss filmmaker and graphic designer, studies film at Zurich University of the Arts, focusing on documentary, essayistic, and experimental films. Social justice and climate change inspire her artistic work, combining social commitment with creative expression.

Jana Dünner is a dancer from Switzerland, studied contemporary and street dance at Tanzwerk 101 in Zurich. She has performed in productions by choreographers including Miller Denobili and Muhammed Kaltuk.

SILENCE KILLS

In a world where communication is prized, Maya's silence becomes her prison. But when she ventures into a world of extroverts, her emotions breach the boundaries of reality, revealing a realm where silence can wield a deadly power.

MARIAM HARUTYUNYAN

A B O U T M A R I A M

"Mariam Harutyunyan seamlessly blends theater and cinema in her work. Her directorial debut, 'Shakespeare Trilogy,' won recognition at the 2021 Shakespeare International Theater Festival in Yerevan, earning the top prize in the “Fest Off” program. Following this achievement, she unveiled her second production, 'King Lear,' in 2022. Mariam incorporates elements of physical theater, surrealism, modernism, and absurdity into her style. Continuously captivating audiences, she intertwines cinematic elements with her theatrical background.

Nina has been clean for a year and wants to make amends to her sister Lisa, who has always been by her side. Lisa lives alone with her daughter, after having been left by her partner.

THE VISIT

Nina wants to apologise for endangering the child, but Lisa struggles to forgive her. What we come to find out that the daughter is actually Nina's and the danger an unspeakable crime.

After having starred in numerous independent films and co-starred on TV-shows as an actress, Katharina realised that in order to truly be part of the films she cares about, she has to write them. Better yet, direct them.

KATHARINA SPORRER

After being part of the screen writing program at the Drehbuchwerkstatt at the HFF film school in Munich and getting nominated for the TankredDorst Preis for her first feature length script, she decided to write and direct her first short THE VISIT.

THE ELUSIVE PURPUREA VULPAVIS

S Y N O P S I S

A supposedly eco-friendly tour company is guiding tourists through a wooded area with the hopes of glimpsing an elusive, critically endangered animal.

Michèle Kaye is an actor, director, producer, and musician based in Tkaronto. In much of her work as a director, Michèle has explored denial, gender, trauma, and desire through an anti-capitalist, anti-patriarchal lens.

MICHÈLE KAYE

Her first film, a multi award-winning one minute micro-short entitled “He & Me,” is a critique of heteronormative relationships in which men have been replaced by household appliances. Her most recent film “A Dinner Party”

is a surreal satirical thriller which takes on climate change denial and has been acquired by CBC.

MOTHER OF THE FOREST

The Mother of the Forest ~ Curupira ~ is the story of a powerful Amazonian goddess told through the voices of the Borarí people from the heart of the forest in Pará, Brazil.

A B O U T L E A

Lea is a documentary filmmaker with a focus on films with impactful environmental messages. She has worked on a range of projects ranging from the docu-drama filmatisation of Isabella Tree’s ‘Wilding’ book (2023) by Passion Pictures, and National Geographic, Disney + original series ‘Welcome to Earth’ featuring Will Smith (2021).

LEA HEJN

She has a passion for the protection of forests and both her début shorts tell the stories of the frontline defenders of these ecosystems in Brazil.

SENTIENT SOUVENIRS

S Y N O P S I S

An educational, short documentary that explores tourist-shop hermit crabs and how detrimental, widespread and unregulated the hermit crab industry really is.

PEARL ELIZABETH MARLEY

Pearl is an animal and environmental advocation filmmaker who uses her work to bring awareness of human impact on animal species and the natural world. She received her B.A. in Film Studies in 2020 from UNCW. Her first niche film was a short detailing the beauty of the Outer Banks, NC, titled Islands (2021). She won second place at RiverRun PitchFest in 2022 for her pitch of Sentient Souvenirs. She has also worked on various student films, including a short called Loveseat (2019) that screened in New York.