FILZ Filmische Initiative Leipzig

Emerson Culurgioni, Florian Fischer, Anna Friedrich, Juliane Jaschnow, Jana Keuchel, Kathrin Lemcke, Jonas Matauschek, Andrea Rüthel, Stefanie Schroeder, Ginan Seidl, Nick Teplov, Clara Wieck, Katharina Wittmann 2020 15 min

19.10.2023–1.11.2023

Once we were pitmen @ 47. Mostra IFF (São Paulo)

Screening

15.10.–31.12.2023

Scholarships for Ukrainian artists

FILZ supports

13.10.2023

PARASOUND with Jacob Kirkegaard

PARADOKS, Performance

15.10.2023

Coming off the Real Time, for a While in der Ausstellung Der Welpe schmeckt den Kindern nicht

Exhibition, Screening, Talk

5.—22.10.2023

.mpeg presents: disarming by Emanuel Gollob

.mpeg, PARADOKS, Exhibition, Screening

Video Installation, Documentary

Rekapitulieren

Juliane Jaschnow 2019 15 min

5.–22.10.2023

PARADOKS – at the edges of documentary

PARADOKS, Exhibition, FILZ collective

8.9.—6.10.2023

.mpeg presents: SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE by Neozoon

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

6.9.2023

Hic Hunt Dracones and The Effect of Cannonry on Thunderclouds @ Ars Electronica 2023

Exhibition

2.9.2023

Coming off the real time, for a while & Echo @ LAND IN SICHT

Screening

21. - 29.7.2023

Safari(Browser)_The_Nature_ofmy_Computer.mov @ 19th Lago Film Fest

Screening

Experimental, Documentary

LA DUNA

Emerson Culurgioni & Stefanie Schroeder 2024 93 min

15.3.—15.4.2023

.mpeg presents the plant based double Organic Techno and Power Plant

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

15.3.—15.4.2023

.mpeg presents: Das narzisstische Publikum by Mara Genschel

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

4.5.2023

Once we were pitmen @ Dokfest München

Screening, Premiere

1.5.2023

To Show or not to Show feiert TV Premiere bei ZDF Kleines Fernsehspiel

Premiere, TV, Online

15.3.—15.4.2023

.mpeg presents: halb leer | half empty by Mark Hornbogen

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

Documentary

The Vagabond's Garden

Anna Friedrich 2024 86 min

1.—15.2.2023

.mpeg presents: untitled (wind turbines) by Mark Hornbogen

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

14.1.2023

It is a knife because – Film und experimental discussion @ KV Leipzig

Screening, Talk, FILZ collective

28.11.–16.12.2022

.mpeg presents: Коли старі жінки співають, їх голоси лунають у Всесвіті by Dmytro Starusiev

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

5.–7.12.2022

Umbruch im Film – Industry Meeting, Symposium and Film Programme

Screening, Talk

28.11.–16.12.2022

.mpeg presents: Tuj طج by Khaled Abdulwahed

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

Video Installation, Documentary

BOY//Bacha Posh

Yalda Afsah & Ginan Seidl 2015 30 min

24.11.2022

Artist Talk with Arina Adju at .mpeg

.mpeg, Screening, Talk

13.–17.11.2022

Safari(Browser)_The_Nature_ofmy_Computer.mov @ microscope Gallery New York

Screening, Online

Collective Creativity – 13 Attempts to Hold Your Breath @ unicato

Screening, TV, Online, FILZ collective

5.11.2022

Hands On – analogue film workshop with Matti Sutcliff

Workshop, FILZ recommends, FILZ collective

4.11.2022

Dreaming Film @ KV Leipzig

Screening, Talk, FILZ collective

Documentary

Coming off the real time, for a while

Anna Friedrich 2019 62 min

3.9. – 8.10.2022

.mpeg presents: All roads lead to Afrin von Arina Adju

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

22.10.2022

Sound performance by Anna Korsun & Sergey Khismatov at .mpeg

.mpeg, Performance, Screening

3.9. – 8.10.2022

.mpeg presents: Rotonda by Sergey Khismatov

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

23.9.2022–8.1.2023

Rekapitulieren at Fotograf Festival #12

Exhibition, Talk

Experimental, Animation

a|c|g|t

Nick Teplov 2017 7 min

8.–18.9.2022

GEGENkino #8

FILZ recommends

3.9. – 8.10.2022

.mpeg presents: Untitled Sequence of Gaps by Vika Kirchenbauer

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

12.8.2022

Echo at Bewegliche Bilder

Screening

10.6.–8.7.2022

.mpeg presents: China Not China by Richard Tuohy & Dianna Barrie

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

2.7.2022

Kurzsüchtig Leipzig: Special Mention and Audience Award for 13 attempts to hold your breath

FILZ collective, Further Recognition, Screening

26.6.2022

Hand and Machine: Experimental 16mm films by Richard Tuohy & Dianna Barrie

Screening, Talk, Workshop

Experimental, Documentary

Palatka

Clara Wieck 2015 8 min

10.6.–8.7.2022

.mpeg presents: Palatka by Clara Wieck

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

17.3.–14.4.2022

.mpeg presents: Notes from Underground by Uli Golub

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

19.4.2022

Kino in Bewegung: Benefit for filmmakers from Ukraine

FILZ recommends

8.4.2022

Safari(Browser)_The_Nature_ofmy_Computer.mov at Go Short Nijmegen

Screening, Premiere

Experimental, Documentary

rotation

Ginan Seidl & Clara Wieck 2013 8 min

1.4.2022

Films that heal: The Effect of Cannonry on Thunderclouds at Frauen Film Fest

Screening

17.3.–14.4.2022

.mpeg presents: Sisters by Anna Scherbyna & Valentina Petrova

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

10.3.2022

Open Letter – Leipzig Initiative for Solidarity and Open Culture LISTOK

FILZ supports, FILZ collective

26.2.–17.3.2022

paradoks @ WRO Art Center in Wrocław

PARADOKS, Exhibition, FILZ collective

16.2.–15.3.2022

.mpeg presents: Gaze by Kinshuk Surjan

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

24.1.2022

FILZ presents a Short Film Program at Soundwatch @ Vorspiel transmediale/CTM in Berlin

FILZ collective, Screening

Documentary, Experimental

She works hard

Kathrin Lemcke 2017 54 min

18.1.–15.2.2022

.mpeg presents: Here by Sandra Barth & Katharina Knust

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

17.12.2021–14.1.2022

.mpeg presents: Arrangements*A by Elena Friedrich

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

18.11.–16.12.2021

.mpeg presents: Chepu by Nicolás Rupcich

.mpeg, Screening, Exhibition

3.11.2021

paradoks presents: short films WRO ON TOUR: INTERSPACES

PARADOKS, Screening

1.11.2021

paradoks presents: Forensickness & Bottled Songs 1 + 2

PARADOKS, Screening

Documentary, Experimental

[ˈdʊŋkl̩ ˌdɔi ʧlant]

Juliane Jaschnow & Stefanie Schroeder 2015 13 min

28.10.2021

paradoks presents: Purple Sea & Shipwreck at the treshold of Europe, Lesvos, Aegean Sea: 28 October 2015

PARADOKS, Screening, Talk

24.–25.10.2021

paradoks – Artist Talks

PARADOKS, Talk

23.10.–14.11.2021

paradoks – at the edges of documentary

PARADOKS, Exhibition, FILZ collective

02.10-03.10.2021

Performance Dead Angle Defect at IDEAL Art Space Leipzig

Performance

Experimental

Susanna Berivan & Andrea Rüthel 2017 5 min

02.10-03.10.2021

.mpeg opening

.mpeg, Premiere, Screening, Exhibition, FILZ collective

Kiosk Nonfiktional - current positions in documentary film art

Exhibition, Screening

Ausbeutung, oder wie man die Oberfläche durchbricht at LE PRINTEMPS DE SEPTEMBRE in Toulouse

Exhibition, Screening

11.9.2021

Krawall im All and Friends in Hamburg

Exhibition, Screening

25.9.2021

parasound III

PARADOKS, Screening

Rekapitulieren at Kulturhaus Nitzschka

Exhibition, Screening

Documentary

LEUNA

Emerson Culurgioni & Jonas Matauschek 2014 14 min

She Works Hard at The End of the Fucking Work in Berlin

Exhibition, Screening

8. – 28.4.2021

13 Attempts to Hold Your Breath and A | C | G | T screened online at Cinématèque Leipzig

Online, Screening, FILZ collective

7.3.2021

Online Screening She Works Hard at Frauen*streik Augsburg

Screening, Online

4.3.2021

[ˈdʊŋkl̩ ˌdɔɪ̯ ʧlant] in the film programm "Malgré les trous de mémoires", curated by Maya Schweizer

Screening, Online

Video Installation

BLACKOUT

Clara Wieck 2020 16 min

3.3.2021

Once We Were Pitmen (WT) is awarded with Berlinale Kompagnon Fellowship 2021

Further Recognition

28.01.-17.02.2021

Coming off the Real Time, for a While im Online-Kino der Cinémathèque Leipzig

Online, Screening

27.12.2020

Audio Piece Deep South to be aired on Radio Corax

Online, Premiere

30.11.-31.12.2020

Exhibition by Juliane Jaschnow at IDEAL art space

Exhibition

27.10.2020

Girls/Museum by Shelly Silver celebrates its premiere at DOK Leipzig

FILZ recommends

Documentary

The Cameras’ Shadow

Katharina Wittmann 2016 13 min

21.10.2020

parasound II - at the edges of documentary

PARADOKS, Screening

20.9.2020

VISUAL TRUTHS #4 shows Model of Continuation by Lina Selander

FILZ recommends

18.–25.9.2020

LIKE online at Mana Contemporary

Online, Screening

2.–12.9.2020

Once we were pitmen at Venice Gap Financing Market 2020

Screening

8.8.2020

Coming off the Real Time, for a While + Soundperformance at Schauspielhaus Erfurt

Screening

25.7.2020

Kick-off event Kino in Bewegung 2020

FILZ recommends

Video Installation

Ausbeutung, oder wie man die Oberfläche durchbricht

Emerson Culurgioni, Paula Abalos, Charlotte Eifler, Deborah Jeromin, Mikhail Tolmachev, Clemens von Wedemeyer 2020 15 min

12.7.–10.10.2020

Natures/Naturen – Florian Fischer & Johannes Krell

Exhibition

Videoinstallation bei Sächsischer Landesausstellung für Industriekultur

Exhibition, Screening

11.7.2020

VISUAL TRUTHS #3 presents Echo Chamber by Korpys/Löffler at IDEAL open air cinema

FILZ recommends

1.–30.6.2020

werkleitz Videorama shows 13 Attempts To Hold Your Breath throughout June

FILZ collective, Screening

7.5.–31.8.2020

Rekapitulieren at Deichtorhallen Hamburg

Exhibition

Documentary, Experimental

Imaging an image

Stefanie Schroeder 2014 18 min

10.5.2020

The Immortals #co2020 by Paula Ábalos until May 10th at KUB Gallery

FILZ recommends

25.4.2020

13 Attempts To Hold Your Breath premiers on MDR Online

FILZ collective, TV, Online, Screening

25.4.2020

Purple Sea at Vision du Réel - online!

FILZ recommends

23.4.2020

Mihuț e mort at European Media Art Festival

Screening

29.3.2020

BOY online screening

Online, Exhibition

Experimental, Documentary

Echo

Katharina Wittmann 2019 12 min

13.3.2020

BOY presented at the exhibition «Bodies That Matter» at NRW-Forum Duesseldorf

Exhibition

6.3.–8.3.2020

FILZ think tank in the countryside

HABITAT in Mücheln

Klubkinoklub: Katharina Wittmann shows Caché as part of the program «Becoming a Witness»

FILZ recommends

Documentary, Experimental

In the middle of all things

Nick Teplov 2013 10 min

29.12.2019

The Effect of Cannonry on Thunderclouds will be shown at the Chaos Communication Congress in Leipzig

Screening

21.11.2019

Video installation by Juliane Jaschnow at NRW-Forum Duesseldorf

Exhibition

2.11.2019

parasound - audio-visual performance, short movies and club night

Screening

31.10.2019

World Premiere of Coming Off The Real Time, For A While at DOK Leipzig

Screening, Premiere

28.10.–2.11.2019

paradoks – film program

PARADOKS, Screening

27.10.2019

counter fake news – Activism and subversive Strategies in Documentary

PARADOKS, Talk

Video Installation, Experimental

J-N-N / ج- ن- ن

Ginan Seidl 2025 19 min

27.10.–9.11.2019

paradoks – at the edges of documentary

PARADOKS, Exhibition, FILZ collective

22.10.2019

She Works Hard invited to Nuremberg for «Feminism or Barbarism II» film program

Screening

6.10.2019

Screening of Last Year in Utopia marks the beginning of VISUAL TRUTHS event series at IDEAL Leipzig

FILZ recommends, Screening

25.9.2019

HABITAT at the Intercultural Week in Merseburg

Screening

Documentary, Experimental

Endlager

Juliane Jaschnow & Stefanie Schroeder 2015 17 min

16.9.2019

Special screening of FILZ films at Khorshid Independent and Experimental Film Festival

Screening, FILZ collective

5.9.2019

Screening of Umbra at the Gallery for Contemporary Art GFZK Leipzig

Screening

1.9.2019

LIKE online

Online

FILZ meeting in Rehmsdorf

FILZ collective

11.7.2019

SPIN and Backyard will be shown at Leipzig Luru Cinema, as part of the «Vergessene Aufklärungen» exhibition

Screening

Documentary, Experimental

The Effect of Cannonry on Thunderclouds

Juliane Jaschnow & Stefanie Schroeder 2017 30 min

13.6.2019

Last Year in Utopia will be presented at the 365 Tage Dokumentarfilm program in Kassel

Kino in Bewegung

She Works Hard by Kathrin Lemcke will be shown at the «Can't Take My Eyes Off You» exhibition in Leipzig

Exhibition, Screening

5.5.2019

FILZ joins the Radical Film Network Meeting in Berlin

FILZ collective, Talk

17.4.2019

Screening of HABITAT marks the opening of «Schicht für Schicht» in Leipzig

Screening

11.4.2019

Fancy a cinematic challenge? GEGENkino#6 starts with a brilliant program!

FILZ recommends

Documentary, Experimental

Contact

Jana Magdalena Keuchel & Holger Reissig 2015 7 min

31.3.2019

The Effect Of Cannonry On Thunderclouds invited to the World Film Festival in Tartu

Screening

17.3.2019

Last year in Utopia will be presented at the Nonfiktionale Festival in Bad Aibling

Screening

5.3.2019

She Works Hard at Luru Cinema, accompanying a discussion about future perspectives of female artists

Screening, Talk

16.2.2019

Umbra by Florian Fischer & Johannes Krell awarded with Golden Bear for Best Short at Berlinale Festival!

Further Recognition

Video Installation, Documentary, Experimental

40h, 2 month max.

Stefanie Schroeder 2017 44 min

12.2.2019

Umbra by Florian Fischer & Johannes Krell premiers at Berlinale International Film Festival

Screening, Premiere

16.1.2019

Filmmaker Katharina Knust provides insight into Last year in Utopia on national radio chanel Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Online, Talk

26.11.2018

Last Year in Utopia wins Basel Film and Media Art Award!

Further Recognition

22.11.2018

The Effect Of Cannonry On Thunderclouds will be part of November Film Festival in London

Screening

23.12.2018

Last Year in Utopia celebrates Germany Premiere at Film Festival Max Ophüls Preis

Screening, Premiere

Experimental, Animation

The Wolf Fearing the Wolf

Juliane Jaschnow 2014 5 min

20.11.2018

GEGENkino – pre-filmfestival

Screening, FILZ collective, Talk

11.10.2018

The 4-channel video installation HABITAT wins G2 Kunsthalle prize for HGB graduates

Further Recognition

8.10.2018

HABITAT is presented as part of the International Competition at Provinziale 2018

Screening

The Effect Of Cannonry On Thunderclouds: Further screenings in september

Screening

18.8.2018

She Works Hard by Kathrin Lemcke will be presented at Long Night of Films Festival Berlin

Screening

Film Essay, Documentary, Experimental

Safari(Browser)_The_Nature_ofmy_Computer.mov

Megan Dieudonné & Andrea Rüthel 2021 17 min

14.7.2018

LEUNA at Kurzfilmwanderung Leipzig

Screening

13.7.2018

[ˈdʊŋkl̩ˌdɔɪ̯ʧlant] by Juliane Jaschnow and Stefanie Schroeder at Syros International Film Festival

Screening

28.6.2018

Rotation at silent green summer cinema in Berlin: the alternative sports film event

Screening

12.6.2018

The Effect of Cannonry on Thunderclouds wins the German Competition at Hamburg International Short Film Festival!

Further Recognition

9.6.2018

25 Jahre Werkleitz / 101 Auszeichnungen at Luchs Cinema Halle

FILZ recommends, Screening

Documentary, Experimental

Spin

Ginan Seidl 2017 80 min

5.6.2018

She Works Hard screened at #wessenfreiheit at the Academy of Visual Arts HGB Leipzig

Screening

10.6.2018

Last Year in Utopia at Sheffield Doc/Fest

Screening

40h, 2 months max. by Stefanie Schroeder from May 4th - 27th, 2018 at the Bienne Festival of Photography

Screening

4.5.2018

HABITAT by Emerson Culurgioni & Jonas Matauschek celebrates Germany Premiere at Filmkunstfest MV

Screening, Premiere

25.4.2018

Last Year in Utopia at Crossing Europe Festival Linz

Screening

2.5.2018

Screening of She Works Hard as part of the event series «WORK.Work.work»

Screening

Documentary

ONCE WE WERE PITMEN

Christian Johannes Koch & Jonas Matauschek 2023 108 min

23.4.2018

The Effect Of Cannonry On Thunderclouds will be shown at the International Short Film Festival Hamburg

Screening

27.4.2018

[ˈdʊŋkl̩ˌdɔɪ̯ʧlant] at Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive

Screening

7.4.2018

Two FILZ films selected for Leipzig based Short Film Festival Kurzsuechtig

Screening

20.3.2018

Rotation at Tampere Film Festival

Screening

20.3.2018

World Premiere of Last Year in Utopia at the CPH:DOX Festival – nominated for the main award

Screening, Premiere

Animation

MOUSEION

Clara Wieck 2016 5 min

2.2.2018

The Effect of Cannonry on Thunderclouds will be shown at transmediale Berlin

Screening

8.1.2018

Temporal Disorder – Part #6: Angela Melitopoulos, January 8th, 2018 / GFZK Leipzig

FILZ recommends

3.11.2017

The Effect of Cannonry on Thunderclouds celebrates its World Premiere at DOK Leipzig

Screening, Premiere

31.10.2017

World Premiere at DOK Leipzig: No Sex Please by Florian Fischer

Screening, Premiere

Documentary, Experimental

LAST YEAR IN UTOPIA

Jana Magdalena Keuchel & Katharina Knust 2017 72 min

15.10.2017

She Works Hard by Kathrin Lemcke premiers at Moviemento cinema in Berlin

Screening, Premiere

24.4.2017

World Premiere of HABITAT at Vision du Reél Film Festival in Nyon

Screening, Premiere

The Filmic Initiative Leipzig FILZ is an association of authors, filmmakers and artists. We share a strong interest in the moving image, especially in artistic documentary works.

FILZ creates  films, media art and installations in different constellations and in mutual support.

FILZ curates and organizes film screenings, workshops and talks.

FILZ writes about film and helps shape prevailing discourses.

FILZ seeks cooperation with other participants of the art and cultural scene.

FILZ started out in 2012 as a self-organized, autonomous film seminar at the Academy of Visual Arts (HGB) Leipzig. Founding members were Gottfried Binder, Emerson Culurgioni, Jonas Matauschek, Lena Richter, Nicolas Rossi. Throughout a number of semesters they organized discursive event formats, such as film screenings, lectures and workshops.

Persons

Ginan Seidl

http://ginanseidl.net/en/

Raised in Berlin, she studied sculpture in Halle, Berlin and Mexico City. 2012 she participated in the Professional Media Master Class, 2015/16 at the PMMC Lab by the Werkleitz e. V. In 2018 she attended the Berlinale Talents. She received several awards for her artistic work and residency grants for Istanbul (Turkey), San Luís Potosi (Mexico) and Beirut (Lebanon). She is currently working on two long documentary films funded by MDM and/or BKM. She works in Halle/Saale, Berlin and Mexico City.

Jonas Matauschek

Jonas Matauschek was born in Dresden and studied photography under Peter Piller at HGB - Leipzig as well as at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Naples. In 2013 and 2015/16 he was a participant in PMMC (Werkleitz). Additionally, he worked as a lecturer at the evening academy HGB - Leipzig from 2017 to 2019 and participated in the Berlinale Talent Campus. In autumn 2022, he was a fellow of the German Academy in Rome – Casa Baldi. His film debut ONCE WE WERE PITMEN, co-directed with Christian Johannes Koch, won the Kompagnon Award at the Berlinale in 2021 and was nominated for the German Documentary Film Award as well as the Bild-Kunst Editing Award in 2024. In 2025, he founded the production company PARA Film together with Kathrin Lemcke, Florian Fischer, and Anna Friedrich.

Anna Friedrich

https://vimeo.com/annalysiserror

Documentary filmmaker and author, based in Leipzig and in the surrounding countryside. Self-Education after high school, participance in several Workshops, such as with D.O.P. Diego Romero Suarez Llanos. 2012 Participation in the One Year Documentary Education Programe “Professional Media Masterclass“ in Halle (Saale). 2013 Participation in the One Year Film Programe “TP2 Talentpool“. 2014-2015 Development and Shooting of the Pilot Season for Web Series “Stories from Reality”. 2015-2020 Arabic Studies at Leipzig University. Therein Sejours in Alexandria (Egypt) and Sweden. Annas films take a look at the thin line between fact and fiction, often meandering around questions of identiy construction and the connections between biography and place.

Johannes Krell

After studying philosophy and art history at the MLU Halle, he studied audiovisual media (camera) in Berlin. During his studies he realized various productions in the experimental, music and short film sector. In 2013 he was a participant of the "Professional Media Masterclass" as part of a Werkleitz scholarship. In 2018, he completed his postgraduate studies at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne with his graduation film UMBRA (Fischer/Krell 2019). He currently lives and works in Leipzig.

Kathrin Lemcke

http://filmpassenger.net

Kathrin Lemcke (she/her) *1983 in Baden-Baden, works as a producer and production manager in Leipzig. In 2025, together with Jonas Matauschek, Anna Friedrich and Florian Fischer, she founded PARA Film GbR, a production company for artistic film and video art. She is a founding member of PARADOKS - Videoartfestival at the edges of documentary and a member of the Filmische Initiative Leipzig (FILZ), an association of filmmakers in the domain of documentary and experimental film. She is a graduate of Media Art at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, the Bezalel Academy of Fine Arts in Jerusalem and the Professional Media Master Class (PMMC) of the werkleitz Gesellschaft in Halle.

Juliane Jaschnow

http://julianejaschnow.de

Juliane Jaschnow is an artist and filmmaker. Her work focuses on contemporary and historical image politics as well as collective narratives, memory processes and their identity-forming dimension. She studied visual arts specializing in expanded cinema and photography at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts. Juliane Jaschnow is a graduate of the Professional Media Master Class PMMC for artistic documentary film and the PMMC Lab at the werkleitz Center for Media Arts Halle (S.). Her work has been shown at international festivals and exhibitions such as transmediale Berlin, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, National Gallery Prague, silent green Berlin, DOK Leipzig and steirischer herbst Graz. She is a member of the Filmic Initiative Leipzig FILZ, co-founder and curator of .mpeg art space and a member of
Initiative Kino in Bewegung.

Florian Fischer

http://flofischer.de

Florian Fischer studied Communication Design, Photography and Image Science. In 2011 he participated in the Professional Media Master Class (PMMC) of the Werkleitz Gesellschaft and in 2015-2017 in the PMMC Lab. His artistic works include photography and film. Fischer was a fellow of Villa Aurora in Los Angeles and lives currently in Leipzig.

Nick Teplov

http://www.nickteplov.com

Born and raised in St.Petersburg. Studied graphic arts at Burg Giebichenstein Art School Halle. Works as a freelance designer for publishers and cultural institutions. Engages in analog photography and makes experimental films. Graduate of the Werkleitz Professional Media Master Class 2013 and PMMC Lab 2018/19.

Stefanie Schroeder

http://schroederstefanie.de

Stefanie Schroeder works with photography and film. She tries to combine a documentary approach with strategies of conceptual art and is interested in the use of photography, the concept of work, (mental) landscape transformations, East Germany, ghost images and spam mails. Stefanie Schroeder studied artistic photography at the HGB Leipzig, participated in the PMMC Masterclass/Lab of werkleitz e.V. and in the MDM Pilot Program for Artistic Film. She is a member of the Filmic Initiative Leipzig and co-founder of the art space .mpeg. Her works have been shown at transmediale, Ars Electronica and Visions du Reel Nyon. She has won the Bremen Video Art Award, the gute aussichten Grant and the Aenne Biermann Award.

Clara Wieck

http://www.clarawieck.de

Clara Wieck studied media art at the HGB Leipzig following her studies in ethnology and indology. She also participated in the Werkleitz Professional Media Master Class, the PMMC Lab and the Berlinale Talents. At the intersection of science and art, the documentary and subjective viewpoint meet in her works. Free in form, her films and installations are experiments in which she attempts to speak about the world using the means of montage and image design, far removed from the grammar of commercial media. In particular, she is interested in the relationship between narrative and representation as well as the role of fiction and poetry in every kind of storytelling - even in the supposedly "documentary" formats.

Andrea Rüthel

Andrea Rüthel (she/her) is a filmmaker and media artist. In her multidisciplinary practice, she explores accessible and feminist approaches to technology, media history, and visual culture through interventionist forms—experimental documentary, desktop essays, tutorials, digital publications, and workshops—from a queer-feminist and chronically ill experience. Her work has been presented at international festivals and exhibitions (Int. Short Film Festival Nijmegen, Filmfest Dresden, EMAF, Lago Film Festival, Microscope Gallery NYC, Beijing Int. Short Film Festival, Mana Contemporary Chicago, Shedhalle Forum für zeitgenössische Künste, among others). In 2022, her work was shortlisted for The Best Video Essay by Sight & Sound/ The British Film Institute.
In 2019, she co-founded Kante Film, an all-female working group dedicated to moving image services. Since 2022, she has been an educator for an inclusive TV production where people with and without disabilities work collaboratively. She also co-initiated Brave Technology Tutorials, a collaborative campaign promoting diversity in online knowledge-sharing, and is a co-curator of .mpeg, a video art platform run by FILZ.
Andrea Rüthel studied Media Studies, Media Arts and Design at Leipzig University and Bauhaus University Weimar, with study and work stays in Saint Petersburg, Almaty and Bucharest. In 2014, she completed the Professional Media Master Class at the Werkleitz Centre for Media Art in Halle (S.). In 2025, she was a fellow of the German Federal Cultural Foundation in the pik Programme for Inclusive Artistic Practice.

Jana Keuchel

Jana Magdalena Keuchel (she/her) works as a freelance filmmaker and lecturer. Her work has been shown at festivals and exhibitions worldwide (CPH:DOX, Sheffield Doc/fest, Max Ophüls Prize, Dresden State Art Collection, and many more). In 2020, she received the Basel Film Prize for her experimental documentary film «Last Year in Utopia», which deals with power structures in a reality TV format. In 2023, the film «To Show or Not to Show» celebrated its TV premiere on ZDF / Kleines Fernsehspiel.

She studied at the Bauhaus University Weimar and completed the Werkleitz Masterclass in 2014 and 2015-2016. In 2018, she participated in Berlinale Talents. Since 2021, Jana Keuchel has been working as an artistic assistant at the HfBK Dresden and has lectured at the Liberia Film Institute, PMMC Werkleitz, the Bauhaus University Weimar, the University of Basel, and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

Katharina Wittmann

https://vimeo.com/kathiwittmann

Filmmaker. Graduated in Media Art at Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig und in Cultural Studies at University Hildesheim. Semester abroad in Finland. Graduate of the werkleitz Professional Media Master Class for documentary film 2014. Lives and works in Leipzig.

Emerson Culurgioni

Emerson Culurgioni studied art in Bolzano and Leipzig, travelled in Europe and the USA for his research. He is co-founder of the Filmische Initiative Leipzig, 2012. In 2013 and 2015/17 he participated in the Professional Media Masterclass Program for artistic documentary-film at the werkleitz Gesellschaft in Halle. In 2018 he completed his title of Meisterschüler in Clemens von Wedemeyer’s Ex-Cinema class. Since April 2019, together with Stefanie Schroeder, he’s a participant in the MDM Pilot-Program with the feature-documentary film LA DUNA. He lives and works in Leipzig and hopes at some point to reconcile his film and art practice with his desire to be more politically active.

Network

Initiative Kino in Bewegung

Kante Film

Shelly Silver

Klasse Expanded Cinema Clemens von Wedemeyer

ROSENPICTURES