Emerging Greeks & Documentary
Simone Baumann
“Simone Baumann has successfully managed the fortunes of German Films since 2019. Under her leadership, the German Films team has launched and overseen new initiatives, organized successful Oscar campaigns and bolstered the international networking activities. The focus has always been on the films, their makers and, in particular, on young talents”, says Philipp Kreuzer. Simone Baumann studied Philosophy in Rostov-Don and worked as a research assistant at the Humboldt University in Berlin. Her career in documentaries began in the early 1990s at MDR in Dresden. In 1997, she became a managing partner for LE Vision Film- und Fernsehproduktion. As a producer, Simone Baumann was responsible for all of LE Vision’s documentary productions, ranging from news reports and TV documentaries through docu-soaps to docu-dramas. LE Vision’s films have also received prestigious awards, such as the Bavarian TV Award, the CIVIS Media Prize, the Hans Klein Media Prize and a Grimme Prize nomination.
Nikos Smpiliris
Nikos Smpiliris (producer, member of the European Film Academy) started his career in film business as an arthouse distributor before turning to film production in 2012, when he collaborated with Athina Rachel Tsangari and Faliro House. Since 2017, he has joined BOO Productions, developing and producing their cinematic projects and international co-productions; while at the same time he works as an independent producer. He has produced titles like the debut film of Christos Nikou Apples and the short film Pigeons are Dying When the City is on Fire by Stavros Markoulakis that were received with critical acclaim and screened in many major festivals. He has also collaborated with established Greek directors Sotiris Goritsas and Renos Haralambidis in their latest feature films, that were both distributed in Greek cinemas. He is currently finishing the debut feature film by renowned Greek visual artist by Stefanos Tsivopoulos Late Shift (a.k.a. Kindness) and developing the debut features by awarded directors Artemis Anastasiadou, Alexandros Chantzis and Thelyia Petraki.
Dr. Martin Blaney
After completing a PhD on the relationship between German cinema and television at the University of Bath (UK), Dr. Martin Blaney moved to live in Germany in 1988. He has been the correspondent for German-speaking countries and Eastern Europe at the British trade magazine Screen International since 1990 and has also written for such publications as German Films Quarterly, Kino – German Film, Blickpunkt:Film, and Europa Cinemas Newsletter. Apart from his journalistic activities, Dr. Blaney has also been a jury member at numerous international film festivals, and served as a moderator for various panels and pitching events throughout Europe, including the Berlinale, MIP TV, Connecting Cottbus, Sofia Meetings, Visions du Réel, Directors Across Borders (Yerevan), Transilvania International Film Festival, Open Doors (Locarno), Europa Cinemas Network Conference, Baltic Event (Tallinn), When East Meets West (Trieste), and Odesa’s Film Industry Office as well as for various MEDIA Programme initiatives.
Short Films
Pierpaolo Festa
Pierpaolo Festa has been a film journalist for over 20 years, contributing to major Italian outlets and collaborating with Kino-Zeit in Germany. Since April 2022, he has established Crew United’s Italian branch, part of the largest European network for audiovisual professionals. This initiative is a key component of Crew United’s expansion into five additional European countries, supported by MEDIA Creative Europe, with the goal of building an active online community of Italian-speaking actors and filmmakers. Fueled by a lifelong passion for cinema, Pierpaolo also worked as an International Press Agent at Claudia Tomassini + Associates, managing film campaigns at Europe’s leading festivals. He handled press events, delegations coordination, and logistics. He successfully led EFA and Oscar campaigns, helping feature films, short films, and documentaries secure nominations and awards.
Karen Cifarelli
Karen Cifarelli studied International Relations at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. During that time, she also studied drama with renowned acting coach Eric Morris of the New American Theatre. Karen gleaned her early training in production through working for companies like American Zoetrope and the Jacobsen Company, at the Walt Disney Studios. She then moved to Berlin, continued working in film production and produced with KS12, Underdog Pictures GmbH and Bredok Film Production, to name a few. Since 2009, Ms. Cifarelli is the owner of the Cifarelli Talent Consulting, where she manages international actors and directors for film, TV and theatrical productions. She has often been a juror for the International Emmy Awards, as well as many other festivals around the world. Wanting to share her knowledge with creative minds, Karen has lectured at the drama department of the Macromedia University / Cours Florent as well as at the Goethe Institute.
Marios Gavrilis
Marios is an actor born and raised in Germany to Greek parents. He lives in Berlin. After studying acting at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, Marios became a member of the ensemble at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg from 2010 to 2011, where he worked until 2013. Further productions took him to the National Theaters of Frankfurt, Mainz and Jena in Germany. From 2016-2020, he lived in Los Angeles, where he continued his acting training under renowned acting teachers. Marios has appeared in front of the camera for various TV and film productions, such as Oskar Roehler’s feature film Bad Director, Morgen musst Du sterben (ARD), Ein Fall für zwei (ZDF), Der Staatsanwalt (ZDF) and Alarm für Cobra 11 (RTL). In 2018, he played the lead role in and produced the short film Shots Fired, which deals with police violence. Since the time of his studies, he has also worked as a voice actor for film and TV productions, as well as for video games, and he has been known to a wide audience on social media for roles, such as Denver in House of Money, Donkey Kong in Super Mario Bros, Batman in Gotham Knights, Alexios in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Venom in Spider-Man 2. On December 9th, 2024, he celebrated his biggest success to date with the release of the computer game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, as part of the original cast. In the game, Marios plays the main antagonist Emmerich Voss, which was produced and filmed using the motion capture process, and Marios was also the face model for the character.
