Team
Karina Gauerhof - Festival Director | Program Director
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 2020, 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".
Email: gauerhof@filmfest-braunschweig.de
tel: +49 (0)531 702 202 - 11
Anke Hagenbüchner-Sobiech - Festival Management | Head of Festival Organization
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
Daniela Heinicke – Team Assistance
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
Andrea Smolka – Financial management
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
Marc Beinling – Technical Coordination & Program Support
Born in 1996 in Gifhorn, Marc is studying Media Studies and German Studies with a focus on Film Studies at the Hochschule für Bildenden Künste and the TU Braunschweig. Since his first semester he is a member of the student collective Daumenkino at the HBK, which also curates the Cinemathek series at the Universum Filmtheater with its media focus. Since this year Marc is also a member of the Braunschweig Summer Cinema. As a permanent guest of the festival since 2016, visits to the Berlinale, Leipzig Film Art Fair, Nippon Connection and the Fantasy Filmfest, the internship in the program of the BIFF was the only logical thing to do to support and shape the cineastic landscape around the Lion City.
Theresa Grysczok – Assistance in program
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.
Isabella Stechel-Marceddu - Intern Program
Isabella is studying scenic arts with film as a major at the University of Hildesheim. She makes both documentary and fictional short films for her studies and on the side. Her current focus is on autobiographical material. She has been active in the Junge Presse Niedersachen since 2018 and is mainly involved in the "Jugendmediencamp Nordwest" media festival as the main person responsible for the program. She came into contact with festivals at an early age and since volunteering at the Bari International Gender Festival 2021/22, they have captured her heart.
Artemis Krull - Guest Management
Born in Braunschweig in 1998, Artemis moved to Berlin after graduating from high school to pursue her passion for visual design. There she completed a degree in Film & Motion Design and then gained valuable professional experience as an assistant producer in international advertising film production. As an assistant producer, she traveled the world and was able to gain valuable insights into the many facets of the film industry.
This year, Artemis returned to her hometown of Braunschweig and is delighted to be working as Guest Manager at the 38th Braunschweig International Film Festival. She brings her extensive experience in the film industry to her work in order to provide the best possible service to the festival's international guests.
Ingrid Falk-Pedersen - Guest Management Assistance
Ingrid comes from Oslo, Norway and has lived in Germany for nine years, where she studied psychology in Dresden and then cultural studies and aesthetic practice in Hildesheim. After various internships in cultural and festival work, including for the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, she will be assisting with guest management for the 38th edition of BIFF.
guests@filmfest-braunschweig.de
Juliane Hantke - Ticketing Management
During her studies in literature and history at Humboldt University in Berlin and in Prague, the Berlin resident continued to pursue her great passion for film. In 2017, she completed an internship at the Braunschweig Film Festival and has since remained loyal to BIFF. Since 2018, she has been responsible for the guest management, and since 2022, she has also taken charge of the ticketing for the film festival. Additionally, she occasionally works for other festivals such as the Berlinale.
This year, she will also be in charge of the ticketing for the BIFF.
Amelie Buerhop -Coordination for Press and public relations
Was born in Hanover in 1999. After her school years in the Pied Piper town of Hameln, she moved to Braunschweig to study art and German language and literature at the Technical University and University of Fine Arts. She studied with video artist Corinna Schnitt and participated in group exhibitions and screenings throughout Germany, including two video works at BIFF. From 2019 to 2024, she has been volunteering with "Das Andere Kino Lehrte e.V." After an internship at the Museum für Photographie Braunschweig and one in the cinema editorial department of Arte GEIE in Strasbourg, she is assisting with the festival's press and public relations this year.
buerhop@filmfest-braunschweig.de
Lilli Kraemer - FSJ Culture
Lilli graduated from high school in Cottbus in 2024. She then moved to Braunschweig to complete her voluntary social year at the Braunschweig International Film Festival in 2024/25.
The Film Festival Association
Together with the film festival team, the association organizes the largest public festival in northern Germany every year. Up to forty members of the association work year-round on a voluntary basis for film culture in Braunschweig. This is unique in Germany. Catalog texts with their own handwriting, personal guest services and individual introductions to film screenings give the festival its unique position in the European festival landscape. As members of the association, we have been committed to the festival for many years and have matured with it. In order to be able to continue to represent the Braunschweig audience in its entirety in the association, we look forward to motivated new blood.
(Kopie 1)
Board of the International Filmfest Braunschweig e.V.
Thorsten Rinke (Chairman), Florence Houdin (Chairwoman), Clemens Williges (Secretary), Frank Beyer (Treasurer), Dr. Andreas Richter (Assessor), Haddijatou Jow (Assessor), Edgar Merkel (Honorary Chairman)
PROGRAM DESIGN
DIE EUROPA - The European Drama Award: Karina Gauerhof, Frank Beyer, Evelyn Drewes, Edgar Merkel
Main competition THE HEINRICH and VOLKSWAGEN FINANCIAL SERVICES FILM PRIZE: Beate Siegmann, Marie Dann, Ina Fricke, Claudia Grossek, Florence Houdin, Haddijatou Jow, Volker Kuz, Katrin Mosel, Beate Neigenfind, Thorsten Rinke, Katja Rossignol, Kirsten Schult, Cora Stumpe, Sigrid Weitemeyer
New International Cinema: Frank Beyer, Dr. Andreas Richter, Torge Anders, Sabine Auschra, Daniela Baier, Franklyn Cardenas, Fabien Diffé Kamga, Evelyn Drewes, Petra Hoffmann, Florence Houdin, Haddijatou Jow, Katrin Mosel, Anne Müller, Jamie Pavlovskiy, Katja Rossignol, Kirsten Schult, Birgit Sobiech, Marit Vahjen, Heinz Wilke, Mathis Worthmann
New German-language films: Thorsten Rinke, Frank Beyer, Evelyn Drewes, Sabine Fleck-Bandmann, Katja Heimanns, Petra Hoffmann, Jana Krug, Faro Lienert, Dagmar Schumacher, Marit Vahjen
Home game: Daniela Heinicke, Bianca Apmann, Katja Heimanns, Thorsten Rinke, Birgit Sobiech
German-French Youth Award KINEMA: Florence Houdin, Johannes Wilts (Kinema e.V.)
Film concerts: Karina Gauerhof, Daniela Heinicke, Florence Houdin, Thorsten Rinke, Verena Rast (Braunschweig State Orchestra), Clemens Williges
International documentaries: Marit Vahjen, Edgar Merkel, Dietmar Reinhold-Bijl
Sound on Screen: Rayk Fenske, Daniela Heinicke, Tabea Keymling, Clemens Williges
Green Horizons: Marc Aurel Jensen, Matthias Fricke, Ina Lüsse, Rosa Shahnazari, Dr. Ralf Utermöhlen, Dr. Stefan Vockrodt
At Midnight: Clemens Williges, Jamie Pavlovskiy, Mathis Worthmann
Sàmi Cinema - Stories from the North: Karina Gauerhof, Beate Siegmann, Sigrid Weitemeyer
Children's and youth films: Karina Gauerhof, Margrit Lang, Carola Schmidt
Short film programs: Daniela Baier, Margrit Lang, Torge Anders, Karl Gehrke, Margareta Hellbernd, Martina Meiritz, Elke Niederstraßer, Carola Schmidt, Hinnerk Stradtmann, Peter Wentzler
ECHT Prize: Birgit Sobiech, Oliver Bley, Leo Goebel, Christian Hoppe-Manegold, Markus Manegold, Alistair Matthiesen, Mario Puchner, Anton Umland, Natascha Vogl