Team

Born in 1991 in the idyllic Zabergäu (Baden-Württemberg), Karina moved to Braunschweig in 2011. During her studies in Media Studies and English at the Braunschweig University of Fine Arts and the Technical University of Braunschweig, she dedicates herself to the program organization of the university cinema "Studio für Filmkunst e.V.", among other things. From 2014 to 2017, she holds a leading position on the board of the open-air cinema "Sommerkino Braunschweig e.V.". After an internship at the Braunschweig International Film Festival in 2014, Karina was responsible for the guest management of the festival in 2015 and 2016. From February 2017 to April 2019, she worked as a program assistant and assistant to the festival director. From May 2019, she took over the program coordination in a senior position. Since August 2021, Karina Gauerhof is one of the festival directors and head of the program.

Since 2022 she has been part of the jury of Nordmedia's talent development program "mediatalents". She has been a member of the Europäischen Filmakademie since 2026.

Email: gauerhof@filmfest-braunschweig.de

tel: +49 (0)531 702 202 - 11

She grew up in Nordhausen/Thuringia and moved to Ilmenau to study computer science. But after a few internships, she realized that her heart belonged to the cinema. So she changed career paths and worked in various multiplex cinemas (Nordhausen, Garbsen) before landing as theater manager at UNIVERSUM-Filmtheater in Braunschweig in 2012. The next step was then the move to BIFF in August 2021, where she has been the head of the festival organization ever since.

email: hagenbuechner@filmfest-braunschweig.de

tel: +49 (0)531 702 202 - 20

Born in 1983 in South Brandenburg, she moved to Braunschweig after graduating from high school to study sociology and media studies. Already during her studies, she worked at the UNIVERSUM film theater. After graduating with a master's degree, she continued to work at UNIVERSUM, managing the ABSPANN cinema bistro here and freelancing for various educational institutions. In 2016, she joined the Filmfest Association and has since been active in HEIMSPIEL and SOUND ON SCREEN. Since May 2021 she is team assistant in the Orga team.

Email: heinicke@filmfest-braunschweig.de

tel: +49 (0)531 702 202 - 21

Theresa has been living and working in Kassel since 2010, where she studied animation at the Kunsthochschule. She makes her own films and exhibitions & occasionally leads film or puppet making workshops. In 2015, together with six filmmakers, she founded a collective called "Sticky Frames" - with the aim of presenting artistic animated films. Their film events, which take place in bars, galleries or art house cinemas, focus on collegiality, networking and reaching a broad audience, including those from outside the festival. Before coming to the BIFF in Brauschweig, she worked for two film festivals for many years as a program coordinator, in copy scheduling and as a projectionist.

Born and raised in Wolfsburg and relocated to Braunschweig in the noughties, she now approaches the topic of film from a more non-cultural angle: After years of self-employment in online retail and several subsequent jobs in administration and accounting, the trained office administrator has been entrusted with the art of numbers at the film festival since April 2024. She enjoys living out her passion for moving images, and her other passions to this day are the media she grew up with: video games and books.

Email: smolka@filmfest-braunschweig.de
tel.: +49 (0)531 702 202 - 30

Abdallah was born in Cairo and completed his degree in industrial engineering at the Technical University of Braunschweig. He is currently studying for a Master's degree in "Culture of the Technical-Scientific World". In addition to his interest in scientific contexts, cultural exchange has always been important to him. He is particularly enriched by encounters with people and direct, personal exchange. He has been particularly enthusiastic about theater for a long time and is constantly inspired by it. With the desire to gain new cultural perspectives and actively help shape the festival, Abdallah supports the Guest Management at BIFF.

Raised in Vechelde, Chris got his first taste of the festival scene in 2018 as a volunteer and then, after graduating from high school, joined the festival office in 2019/20 as our first FSJ volunteer. Since then, Chris has been part of the team for every edition—this year, he’s once again handling shuttle scheduling in guest management and is also keeping an eye on festival logistics. Outside of BIFF, he completed his apprenticeship as an event manager at Undercover GmbH in 2025 and has since started working part-time as a freelancer. He also co-leads FSJ cultural seminars, serves on the board of the volunteer association Zugabe e.V., and works as a bartender and server.

bierfreund@filmfest-braunschweig.de

Tel.: +49 (0)1516 4449929

Born in Kazakhstan, Julia studied media and art sciences in Braunschweig - and discovered BIFF for herself back then: an internship quickly became a matter close to her heart, which is why she has been part of the team on and off for several years. Not only professionally (e.g. as a social media manager and content creator), she also shoots and edits her own content in her free time and also DJs. Whether film or music - culture inspires her in many facets.

Anne was born and raised in Kassel, where she developed a fascination for events and event planning at an early age. She subsequently completed her training as an event specialist and event manager in 2026 and is overseeing the PopUp Space at the Braunschweig International Film Festival this year.

popupspace@filmfest-braunschweig.de

tel: +49 (0)1520 7843607

When Maja graduated from high school in Braunschweig in 2025 and spent time in New Zealand on a self-organized work-and-travel program, she knew she wanted to continue planning and organizing events on a professional level. Inspired by her love of movies, this decision led her to the Braunschweig International Film Festival, where she has been completing her FSJ Kultur since September 2026.

Email: fsj@filmfest-braunschweig.de

Phone: +49 (0)531 702 202 - 41

He’s from Jordan and is studying sports management at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences. He ended up at BIFF for his required internship. He’s been passionate about theater since he was young—especially everything that happens behind the scenes and makes sure everything comes together in the end. That’s exactly why he finds events, festivals, and the hustle and bustle behind the scenes particularly exciting. At BIFF, he supports the team in planning, organizing, and running the festival—from small tasks to everything that suddenly needs to be taken care of “at the last minute” right before the festival starts.

orga@filmfest-braunschweig.de

tel +49 (0)531702 202 - 43

Born in Russia, Daria moved to Germany in 2024 after spending several years working in the Moscow media industry. While studying media studies at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, she is focusing on the production of immersive and experimental video formats. While still in Russia, she gained extensive experience as a director and editor at the national television station MUZ-TV, where she was responsible for over 40 productions.

In Germany, she organized media art exhibitions at the Museum Schloss Fechenbach and produced the Fulldome short film *ZERO TIME MOMENT*, which was screened at the Jena FullDome Festival in 2026.

She is interested in cinema in all its forms—from broadcast to immersive projection.

programm@filmfest-braunschweig.de

tel: +49 (0)531 702 202-13