Emerging Greeks & Documentary
Nikolaj Nikitin
Nikοlaj Nikitin has been “Critics’ Picks” curator and a member of the Official Competition Committee at Tallinn Black Nights, as well as the Artistic Director of Palic. He previously served as a Berlinale delegate for 18 years, covering 35 countries. As CEO and majority stakeholder of Filmplus gUG, he initiated the editing festival FILMPLUS – a.k.a. Edimotion – and was Head of Studies of School of Film Advancement for 12 years. With three decades of experience, he has worked as an international curator for Zurich, Cottbus, GoEast, Lünen, Reykjavík and the Kunstfilm-Biennale, among others. His background includes writing as a film critic for Variety, Blickpunkt:Film and Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, and advising European funding bodies and cultural ministries. He has been an expert for the Goethe-Institut and Institut français. Nikolaj founded and ran the film magazine Schnitt for 15 years and has published several books on film. Based in Berlin, he teaches film distribution and festival strategies in Germany and internationally.
Julia Kuniß
Julia Kuniß is a film curator, festival organizer, and PR consultant. She studied German language and literature, Russian language and literature, and film history in Berlin and Moscow. She has been working in the film and media industry since 1998 and advises film institutions, film productions, and festivals. Since 2008, she has been the artistic director of the Interkultura Kommunikation agency. She was a founding member of the German-Russian Film Academy (2009-2019) as well as co-founder and artistic director of the Russian Cinema Week in Berlin (2005-2019). In 2014, she directed the silent film festival “Between Berlin and Paris”. In addition, she has conceived and realized numerous film series and projects, including the Berlin Film Days in Moscow in 2017 on behalf of the Senate of Berlin. From 2020 to 2021, she initiated and was responsible for the sustainability program “StadtNaturFilm” (CityNatureCinema), and in 2024 she took over the curatorial implementation of the film program “Future Now – Central Asia”. She has curated programs for the International Film Festival for Eastern European Cinema in Cottbus, DOK Leipzig, International Film Festival Go East, and has collaborated with the Deutsche Kinemathek, the Arsenal, the Berlinale, German Films, and Berlin Film Residencies.
Joachim Kurz
Joachim Kurz was born in 1967 and studied film studies, theater studies, art history, and philosophy. In 2003, he founded the online portal Kino-Zeit, which he still runs as editor today. He is a festival curator and organizer, author of various books (as well as editor of a volume on film festivals in Germany), juror at various festivals, and was also jury chairman at the Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden (FBW) for many years.
Short Films
Joanna Kalafatis
Joanna Kalafatis is an actress and producer, currently appearing in the series Maestro in Blue on Netflix. After studying at Stella Adler Studio NYC, she has worked on stage and in cinema in the U.S. and Europe for the past twelve years. Most recently, she was a jury member for the International Emmy Awards. She loves discovering new stories and new filmmakers from all over the world.
Lorenzo Gandolfo
Lorenzo Gandolfo is a French-Austrian filmmaker and producer with 10+ years of experience across 15+ countries. As an alumnus of the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB), he specializes in building international co-productions – aligning partners, financing, and crews across territories – while uniting tough production realities with impeccable artistic craft and form. A polyglot who speaks seven languages (including Wolof, Portuguese, and Spanish), Lorenzo leads multicultural teams with ease and mentors emerging filmmakers. His recent work includes Ungeduld des Herzens (Impatience of the Heart, 104 min, dir. Lauro Cress), winner of the Max Ophüls Prize for Best Film, the Filmkunstfest Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Grand Prize (“Fliegender Ochse”), and Best Feature at the Nysa Film Festival; Philippika – Strangers Need Love Too (feature, dir. Sabrina Mertens), currently in post-production; and Buildings Remember People (documentary, dir. David Shapiro), which is a work-in-progress. Lorenzo’s slate foregrounds character-driven, socially engaged stories designed for international audiences and partners.
Elina Foteinou
Elina Foteinou was born in Thessaloniki in 1986. She studied Political Science and Visual Anthropology. Since 2012, she has worked on a wide range of documentary, fiction, and TV series productions in various roles, including editing, assistant directing, and production coordination. She has also worked in international film festivals, such as the Berlinale and Munich Film Festival, as well as smaller festivals, where she was involved in both programming and organization. For three years, she worked at the production company X Filme Creative Pool as an Assistant and Junior Producer.
