The word curate derives from »curare« – to care for. If we also understand curatorial intuition as something that takes responsibility for the work it presents, the question arises: what actually defines queer-feminist curating? This panel discusses the historical foundations of feminist film history and offers insights into festival practice – from premiere politics and distribution structures to audience-oriented programming.
Curating from a feminist perspective means shifting the viewpoint – writing film history beyond the official canon, from an emancipatory and power-critical position. But how do we find these films when knowledge and training opportunities are scarce, and when films by women and queer and non-binary filmmakers remain generally less visible? Archival work shapes programming just as much as an openness to non-linear narratives – and to the question of what we can learn through »embodied knowledge«.
Ultimately, the curator also works within a precarious professional environment. How can we support the next generation when career opportunities are so rare and competition increasingly fierce?

Panelists:

María Zafra Cortés
María Zafra Cortés has worked as documentary filmmaker and editor. As a film curator she held the position of head of programme of the feature film competition at L’Alternativa Barcelona Independent Film Festival from 2006 to 2011. Since 2022 she is the director of the Barcelona International Women’s Film Festival. Her films include the experimental short films Memorias, norias y fábricas de lejía (2011) and El recolector de recuerdos (2011). Her documentary feature film Arreta (2016) looks at a trans protagonist recovering from cancer treatment. María is part of the research archive project Fils Feministes, which focuses on the Catalan feminist movement. She was also a founding member of Cooptècniques, a queer-feminist project about audiovisual media and new technology.

Annouchka de Andrade
Annouchka de Andrade is the founder of the Association of Friends of Sarah Maldoror & Mario de Andrade and curates her mother Sarah Maldoror’s film legacy. She has directed the Amiens International Film Festival and has been working for 30 years as an expert on decoloniality and transculturality in various cultural projects. This year, Annouchka de Andrade is also a member of the jury for the International Feature Film Competition at the IFFF Dortmund+Köln 2026.

Vivien Buchhorn
Vivien Buchhorn is the curatorial director of the documentary film section Panorama and the artistic director of the Flensburger Kurzfilmtage

Betty Schiel
Betty Schiel is the curatorial director of the Focus section and a freelance cultural creative.

Presented by: Maxa Zoller, Artistic Director IFFF Dortmund+Köln

The discussion takes place in English.

In cooperation with Netzwerk Filmkultur NRW

Following the panel discussion at 1 pm, we will be screening the experimental film Fia Fabula by Alice Dalgalarrondo at the Filmhaus Köln. Information and tickets