Team

Dr. Maxa Zoller is the artistic director of the International Women’s Film Fest Dortmund+Cologne.

Maxa grew up in the rural Ahr Valley in West-Germany. After graduating from high school she worked in Paris and Rome. Her international career began in London in 1999, where she received her M.A. in Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art thanks to a DAAD scholarship. In 2008 she completed her doctorate on the exhibition history of experimental film under the supervision of Ian Christie and Laura Mulvey at Birkbeck College (»Places of Projection: Re-contextualising the European Experimental Film Canon«). Her interest in the interrelationship between art and cinema has marked her academic career. She worked as a freelance film curator in London; from 2011-2013 she was Associate Curator of the London non-for-profit experimental film space no.w.here and organised various film programmes for Tate Modern, South London Gallery, BFI Southbank and FACT Liverpool. In 2014 she curated Anthony McCall’s solo exhibition at the EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. From 2014 to 2018 she was responsible for the film programme at Art Basel in Basel. As a lecturer, she taught transdisciplinary art and film history and theory at London’s Goldsmiths College and Sotheby’s Institute of Art, as well as at the American University Cairo in Cairo, where she lived from 2013-2018. Maxa’s academic expertise lies primarily in the areas of feminist film history and epistomology, experimental film, expanded cinema, film and the body, the cinema of the MENA-region and film theory. In her publications with MIT, IB Tauris, JRP-Ringier and Hatje Verlag, she covers topics ranging from geopolitical context analysis of Western avant-garde and experimental film, its contexts of exhibition and historiography.
Texts and interviews are available here: independent.acadmia.edu/Maxa Zoller

Her understanding of »expanded cinema« also informs her work as director of the IFFF Dortmund+Köln, where she initiated artist residencies and book publications. Under her leadership, the film programme became more international. The relaunch of the festival in 2021 presented a restructuring of the entire programme and the new sections Spot on, NRW! and IFFF Revisited. Maxa expanded the annual program with regular monthly events that are based on different collaborations. She is on the board of the Netzwerk Filmkultur NRW e.V. and spokesperson for the independent film scene Dortmund, which led her to initiate the Freie Szene Film Dortmund network.

Maxa lives in Dortmund with her two sons.

Christina Essenberger, M. A., is the Managing Director of Internationales Frauen Film Fest Dortmund+Köln. During her studies of Literature and Art History at Bielefeld University she was active in the local independent art scene where she was to become the first DJane in a youth culture centre. She also worked at the Lichtwerk Cinema where she programmed classic Hollywood cinema of the 1930s and ’40s and films by female directors as well as arthouse and experimental film. For many years she was a board member of the Filmhaus Bielefeld e. V. Christina became the manager of several international dance and theatre festivals at the Theaterlabor Bielefeld before moving on to IFFF Dortmund+Köln  in 2007. Christina is co-founder of Netzwerk Filmkultur e.V. and board member of KINOaktiv of the independent film scene Cologne.

Christian Liemke is responsible for IFFF Dortmund+Köln film bookings and is on the festival’s organisational team. A film and cinema fan since childhood, he ran a successful blog about film, DVDs and Blu-ray discs for 12 years. After moving from OWL to Dortmund, in 2011 he got to know the film festival for the first time while attending, and later got a taste of the work behind the scenes during an internship while studying. He has been on the permanent staff at IFFF as our film booker since 2017.
He is also on the curator team for the Dortmunder Tresen-Filmfestival.

Conny Beißler studied film and cinematography at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts. After graduating she began training young artists, and since 2009 has taught cinematography and lighting at various universities in Germany and internationally. She produces documentary and stage projects, music videos as well as web and online formats. Since 2013 she has worked at IFFF Dortmund+Köln in various capacities.

Jules Bieber (they/them) studied political science and cultural studies at the universities of Düsseldorf, Lima, Frankfurt and London, focusing on queer studies as well as critical race and postcolonial studies. Jules is interested in queer and intersectional cultures of remembrance. Since 2017, Jules has been involved in the self-organised Lesbenarchiv und queere Sammlung Frankfurt (LUQS) and works as a consultant, freelance author and curator. At the IFFF, Jules is responsible for the section for queer Film: desired!

Claudia Butterly is a translator for English with a legal background and, additionally, she holds a qualification as an intercultural language mediator. Her passion for interpreting brought her to IFFF Dortmund+Köln, where she joined the team of translators. When working on multilingual film productions, her French and Spanish language skills also come in handy.

Isi Daude is studying sports journalism at the German Sport University Cologne. Since her school days, she has developed a keen interest in film, feminist perspectives, and how sports policy and cultural content can be communicated and made visible to the public. She gained her first practical experience in the cultural and film sector through a school project on documentary film, a seminar in collaboration with the Queer Film Festival Weimar & Leipzig, and volunteering at the Short Film Festival in Cologne. This year, at the IFFF Dortmund+Cologne, Isi is supporting the team as an intern in the areas of public relations, marketing, and social media.

Nika Fateh completed her bachelor’s degree in Media and Cultural Studies and is currently studying Communication Design with a focus on video and image. She developed an enthusiasm for film during her school years and, throughout her first degree, focused on film studies seminars and wrote her thesis on the representation of women roles in Iranian cinema. She is particularly interested in the representation of diverse, especially marginalized, realities and perspectives that are artistically made visible through film.

She gained her first in-depth insight into the film festival sector as Head of the Design Team at Filmfest Düsseldorf. This was followed by work in press and public relations, including at the Sammlung Philara in Düsseldorf, as well as further positions as an artistic assistant in the field of performance art.

As part of her design studies, she has also produced several video projects exploring feminist themes. At IFFF Dortmund+Köln 2026, Nika Fateh supports the team as an intern in the areas of public relations, marketing, and social media.

Marius Frederking’s passion for film culture was sparked in 2022 during a semester abroad in Angers in western France, where he visited the Premiers Plans Festival and came to enjoy the collective film experience and the very special festival atmosphere. Back in Dortmund, the Éric Rohmer fan began working at festivals himself alongside his studies in Applied Literary and Cultural Studies; in 2023 as a temporary assistant at the IFFF Dortmund+Cologne and since 2025 as an intern in film scheduling. His current academic film interests include transgressive films by Gaspar Noé and the body horror genre.

Lilian-Astrid Geese, conference interpreter (aiic) and translator for English, French and Spanish in Berlin, has worked for many years as freelancer for arts and culture, theaters, centers of literature, museums, galleries and publishing houses in Germany and abroad. She is a consultant interpreter for festivals and competitions, including IFFF Dortmund+Köln, Berlin Biennale, documenta, and Europan. More and pics at www.comunicada.de

Katharina Gismann studied cultural management in the master’s program and focused on the medium of film and the festival sector early on. Her first formative entry into the film festival world finally took place right here, at the IFFF Dortmund+Köln. While she remained connected to the festival, further stations followed, such as the Berlinale and the Film Festival Cologne. Already in her student days, she was also interested in the question of how to inspire people for visiting cultural events and how to attract attention. She finally wrote her thesis on the marketing strategies of film festivals to attract visitors, based on her previous work experience. Since 2023 she is part of the festival team and takes care of the marketing of the IFFF Dortmund+Köln.

Pavlos pursues a master’s degree in Gender and Media Studies at Ruhr University Bochum. He completed his bachelor’s degree at TU Dortmund in Applied Literary and Cultural Studies, with sociology and philosophy as minors. He has always been passionate about film and has been active in the cultural sector in a variety of roles.
He has been part of the IFFF Dortmund+Cologne team since 2023; initially as an intern in the field of organisation and film disposition, and subsequently as a student worker supporting social media management, website maintenance, film disposition, and cooperations with universities. He continues to be responsible for the latter.

Gained an MA in theatre, film and television, media and communication studies, and economics from the Ruhr University Bochum, while working as a dramaturge at the Komödie Düsseldorf theatre. Since 1999 has been a freelance film curator, press officer and journalist for IFFF Dortmund+Köln, Maren Kroymann, KROYMANN/Radio Bremen, Kinofest Lünen, dokumentarfilminitiative (the documentary film forum in North Rhine-Westphalia), FIDENA, Gütesiegel Kultur, bobiennale, Deutsche Kinemathek museum for film and television, Kino@Gefängnis, the International Filmfest Emden-Norderney, Bundesverband Kommunale Kinos (German association for municipal cinemas), nachtfrequenz, German Short Film Awards, Flying Broom Ankara, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, German Film Week Kabul, the Goethe-Instituts in Ankara and Kabul. Publications for: filmdienst, the catholic German online portal for cinema and film; the NZZ newspaper; Der Freitag a weekly newspaper; German broadcaster WDR, among others.

Always enthusiastic about film and festivals, Mara has helped out with a wide variety of projects and events, whether behind the bar, at the entrance or, at the last IFFF in Cologne, as a driver – the main thing is to be surrounded by art and inspiring people. Mara is in the final stages of her bachelor’s degree in social sciences and is helping out this year as an intern in guest management.

Lisa C. Heldmann is a freelance filmmaker. She discovered her love for film during her bachelor’s degree in communication design at HSD Düsseldorf and went on to study at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, specialising in directing and cinematography. During her studies and afterwards she worked as a director of short films and various music videos, as well as in the lighting and camera department for various film productions. She has also been producing live concert broadcasts online since 2020. She works as a freelance lecturer and musician. In 2024 she joined the team of the IFFF Dortmund+Köln.

Samuel studied English, Dutch and Philosophy in Cologne and worked for several years as an actor, writer and director in Cologne’s independent theatre scene (Port in Air, studiobühneköln, Theatergemeinde Köln). He is a musician (guitar, vocals, composition) and performs in various groups as well as a solo artist. He has authored several music education programmes in cooperation with pianist Laia Genc. In 2014, he set up his own business as a freelance editor, now working mainly for film festivals. Since becoming a father in 2018, Samuel has been working part-time. He lives in Cologne with his wife, Romance linguistics professor Anke Grutschus, and their son.

samuelhorn.de

Jennifer studied Art History & Voice (BA) at Juniata College, USA, Cultural Studies & Feminist Art Theory (MA) at the University of Leeds, UK and Classical Voice (Diplom) at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. She has worked in the (film) cultural sector since 1998, curating the Cologne Short Film Festival since 2009 (competition and special programmes), EMAF Osnabrück (competition 2011), feminale (programme and co-direction 2000 to 2005), and collaborating on film and lecture series, workshops and retrospectives on Albert & David Maysles (with a master class), Lynn Hershman Leeson, Maya Deren, Lech Kowalski, Tony Buba, Jennet Thomas, Nelly Kaplan, »Groupies in Film«, among others. She has managed projects for the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, goEast Film Festival, Creative Europe MEDIA, and has been a jury member at the One World Festival Prague, Sarajevo Film Festival, Seoul International Women’s Film Festival. Since 2013, she has worked in public relations for international arthouse documentary and feature films. She is head of press communications at KERN DES GANZEN Agency für Filmkommunikation in Cologne, and lectures at the institutes for media and cultural studies at the Universities of Düsseldorf and Cologne.

Max is studying media and theatre studies at Ruhr University Bochum and is about to complete his bachelor’s degree. He discovered his interest in films and arthouse cinemas before he started his studies. What particularly appeals to him is the opportunity to immerse himself in new worlds and think critically about his own position and social structures. He is particularly fascinated by visual aesthetics and sound design.

While still at school, Max worked as a temporary employee at a cultural institution in his hometown near Bielefeld. The insights he gained into organisational structures and cultural institutional processes sparked his interest in event management, which is why he completed an internship at the IFFF Doermund+Köln in 2024. After gaining further experience in the coordination and planning of film sets, conferences and events, he is now returning to the IFFF Dortmund+Köln to once again support the event management team.

Born in Dortmund, she spent much of her past on the move. She studied politics and media in Bochum, Scandinavian studies in Gothenburg and film production and cinematography in Lisbon. In 2018, she completed her media studies degree with the thesis »Diversity in NRW film funding – an assessment against the backdrop of a digitalising film industry«. At the same time, she was accepted by Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts onto its Film & Sound programme and has since finally been able to make films in Dortmund. 2017-2018 she was in charge of the doxs! school section at doxs! – the documentary film festival for children and young people.
Since 2017 she has been closely involved with Internationales Frauenfilmfestival Dortmund+Köln, firstly through her collaboration on its School Film Programme and, since 2019, she has coordinated the management of IFFF Dortmund+Köln’s guest contributors.

Grew up in the Ruhr. Spent a year in the cinemas of Paris and discovered her love for film. Studied film, television and theatre, Romance languages & literature and social psychology at the Ruhr University in Bochum. Worked on the Ruhr University’s student-run International Video Festival, and subsequently has worked for various film festivals (incl. the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, the Dok & Videofest Kassel) as well as a freelance curator and translator.

Barbara Marcel is a visual artist, filmmaker, curator, and since 2025 Visiting Professor of Time-Based Media at HBK Braunschweig. Based in Berlin, she works across film and installation, investigating colonial infrastructures, extractivist imaginaries, and socio-environmental justice from decolonial feminist perspectives. She studied Film Theory and Practice in Rio de Janeiro and holds an MA from the Art in Context Institute at Universität der Künste Berlin. Marcel pursued a PhD in Artistic Research at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar as a fellow of the Heinrich Böll Foundation (2017–2021). She is the director and producer of more than fifteen audiovisual works, including Marlene (Visions du Réel, 2022) and Suraras (CineBH, 2024). In 2023, she co-curated Beyond Equality: Feminisms Reclaiming Life at HAU Hebbel am Ufer. Her work has been presented at venues including HKW Berlin, SAVVY Contemporary, ZKM Karlsruhe, Cinemateca Brasileira, Berlinische Galerie, and the Athens Biennale.

Born in England, I fell in love with sport and languages at an early age. I studied French and German at Nottingham University, completing my degree later with the Open University. I have lived near Montpellier, in Sheffield and Bedford, worked in Paris and London, and landed in Cologne in 2006. In Paris, when not teaching, I was mostly to be found in art cinemas or reading ›Sight and Sound‹. In Cologne I was firstly an English Trainer for various companies. I switched to translation full time in 2010. Along with my colleague Sue Pickett, I co-translate the IFFF Dortmund+Köln festival catalogue every year.

Karin Michalski works as a film and video art curator, artist and lecturer. She studied film directing and production at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb). Her curatorial work includes the contribution to the Rhizome Film History of the DFF (Deutsches Filminstitut Filmmuseum) Queer Cinema – “counter-narratives” and cinematic experiments, as well as the ongoing exhibition project An Unhappy Archive and the queer-feminist film and video art program series clipclub (in collaboration with Renate Lorenz, among others). She curates screenings and events such as “I Must Go. Tomorrow” with Ming Wong (Neuer Berliner Kunstverein), STILL IN TOUCH on queer friendships and poetic ways of resistance (district, Berlin), FEELING BAD for the Swiss Pavilion at the 54th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia and the symposium House of Memories. Queer and Postcolonial Approaches to the Past (Academy of Media Arts Cologne).
She has participated in numerous festivals and exhibitions with her film and video works, including The Alphabet of Feeling Bad (a collaboration with theorist Ann Cvetkovich), Working On It, Monika M., Pashke and Sofia and women videoletters – a second text on war and globalization. Her collaborative projects include the artists’ edition An Unhappy Archive (Edition Fink, Zurich) and the book I is for Impasse. Affective Queer Connections in Theory_Activism_Art (bbooks, Berlin).

Curator, media scientist and education enthusiast. She discovered her passion for engaging with film during a school year abroad in England, where even back then (2001) film studies was available as an A-Levels subject. After studying media studies in Bonn, she completed a traineeship at the Deutsches Filminstitut/Filmmuseum (DFF) in Frankfurt am Main. Here she was involved in the redesign of the permanent exhibition. She then worked as a curator and project manager for various exhibitions and education projects at the DFF, including the exhibitions FILM NOIR, FILM&GAMES and the redesign of the center for film education. During a detour into science at the TH Köln, Institut für Medienforschung und Medienpädagogik, she realized that, for her, film education is part of a good life. She is in charge of the program for kids and young adults at the IFFF Dortmund+Köln.

Film and film culture have always been part of Sarahs life. IFFF Dortmund+Köln allows her to combine her fascination for the moving image with her passion for event management.
Sarah started as an intern at IFFF Dortmund+Cologne during her studies. In 2023, she became Head of Organization/Event Management. In addition to her work at IFFF Dortmund+Cologne, Sarah works as a freelance production manager for various event formats.

Born in England but based in Cologne for many years, Sue Pickett took a degree in German Area Studies with a minor in Film Studies at the University of East Anglia, UK and Philipps-Universität Marburg. She has worked as a freelance translator for over 30 years, and specialises in the areas of media, culture and education. She has translated for IFFF Dortmund+Köln since 2015.
www.suepickett.de

Biene Pilavci is a German-Turkish filmmaker, author and curator, well known for her directing work such as the autobiographical documentary film Alleine Tanzen (2012) and Chronik einer Revolte – Ein Jahr Istanbul (2015) together with Ayla Gottschlich (Kleines Fernsehspiel ZDF/ARTE). She has co-curated several film programmes, including the supplementary programme at the Berlinale Forum FIKTIONSBESCHEINIGUNG and GRENZEN IN DER MITTE. She is co-founder of the film policy initiative NichtMeinTatort, the political film network Neue deutsche Filmemacher*innen (New German Filmmakers), was made a fellow of the Berlin Senate for Art and Europe in 2021 and was granted a scholarship by the Tarabya Cultural Academy in Istanbul in 2024. She has been a member of the European Film Academy since 2024.

Nicole Rebmann studied social pedagogy at Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Comparative Social Studies at Maastricht University of Applied Sciences and at the University of North London, and did further education in cultural management in Cologne which led her to work at film festivals.

She worked with the Feminale from 2006 in various organisational and programming capacities, she also continued to work for Internationales Frauen Film Fest Dortmund+Köln (Focus and Panorama sections). Since 2022 she coordinates the competition for women DoPs. Alongside her work as a curator and as a programme and guest services coordinator for various film festivals (Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Berlinale) and member of the selection committee of KFFK Short Film Festival Cologne, she is the office manager of WDR AKTIV.

Sandra Riedmair works as a filmmaker, curator and moderator. She studied social sciences and cultural and media theory in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Vienna and Nantes. Since 2018, she has been attending the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, with a stay in Vienna at the Film Academy under Jessica Hausner and Kathrin Resetarits. There she learned about storytelling beyond linear structures, which she continues to develop in her own work. Together with Carla Gesthuisen, she is writing an anthology series about work and friendship, which they developed in the mentoring programme Into The Wild. Between 2016 and 2019, she was involved in setting up the Cologne cultural association Niehler Freiheit, where she initiated film events. This DIY approach shaped the following years, during which she implemented various projects in Cologne’s independent cultural scene. In 2021, she and two friends took over the auftakt festival for young literature, which they continue to co-direct as artistic directors. For many years, she has been moderating for the Short Film Festival Cologne, Film Festival Cologne, Junges Filmfestival Köln, Achtung Berlin and Institut Français, among others. She is currently writing her feature film debut, faule frauen (lazy women).

Studied theatre, film and television as well as Romance and German literature (gaining an MA) at the Ruhr University Bochum, the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Glasgow. Since 1996, she has worked as a freelance film curator. She devises programmes, workshops, talks and ideas for various festivals and symposia in film and theatre, since 1996 mainly for femme totale / Internationales Frauen Film Fest Dortmund+Köln.
She works in film and theatre as dramaturge, researcher, production manager and organiser. She hosts events, does press relations work, manages projects for the Nacht der Jugenkultur (youth culture event in North Rhine-Westphalia), and publishes work on radio and in print media. She also sits on international jury panels, including in Tel Aviv, Yerivan, Innsbruck, Prishtina, Seoul, Bozen, Taipei, Lessinia. As a regular member of the Transnationales Ensemble labsa in Dortmund, she has spent recent years looking more closely at the issue of attributions of identity. She has completed collaborative film projects and workshops, including I speak so you don’t speak for me. In 2018, she curated the film programme About Germany in order to reflect on how certain forms of exclusion and racism have built up in the realms of politics and media. This also includes looking into the past in order to frame the phenomenon of migration historically. In this context, a new perspective of East-West German history also emerged. Selected current programmes: Kultur@Gefängnis since 2015 in Germany’s Ruhr region | About Germany (IFFF 2018) | Wahnsinn. Widerstand.Wut – Ein fiebrig-feministisches Filmprogramm in drei Akten (Schillertage Mannheim2019 film festival) | In This Together (Women Make Waves Film Festival, Taipei)

Mareike Theile studied Media and Theatre Studies (Master of Arts) at the Ruhr University Bochum and discovered a passion for festival work during her studies. Since 2020, she has been working freelance in press and public relations, including for the Duisburger Filmwoche, the FAVORITEN Festival, the Filmbüro NW and others. She also supports and advises artists and collectives in the independent theatre scene and in contemporary dance as a freelance dramaturge and production manager. She shares her passion for working with texts in creative writing workshops. Since 2025 she is part of the press and social media team at the IFFF Dortmund+Köln.

Fatoş [Fatma] Tuna was born in Berlin and moved to Cologne at the age of 19, where she studied Islamic cultural studies and German language and literature. She is currently doing her doctorate at the University of Cologne on masculinity(ies) in contemporary German-language post-migrant literature. In addition to her academic work, she works as a cultural mediator, presenter and education consultant. She is particularly interested in pop culture, gender relations and (anti-)racism.
She came into contact with the IFFF through the festival itself, where she works in cinema management. Since then, she has frequently presented the World Views programme and, since 2025, has supported Stefanie Görtz and Jennifer Jones as a screening assistant for the Feature Film Competition. Three things are particularly important in her work: showing attitude, creating access and laughing a lot.

Drawing on a range of festival experience, including as Guest Coordinator at the Uppsala Short Film Festival and as volunteer at the Short Film Festival Cologne and the Blonde Cobra, Sina Wenz is supporting this year’s IFFF Dortmund+Köln with its programme Films for Kids and Teens.
Sina is completing a two-subject master’s degree in Media Culture Studies & Intermedia at the University of Cologne, where they focus on queer-feminist film theory, in particular queer ways of seeing, as well as issues of representation and approaches to media education and film literacy.

I came to IFFF Dortmund+Köln through my owner Sarah. I always get lots of cuddles in the office and the long corridor is great for playing and running around. As an office dog, I feel right at home here.