Meet the CIRCLE 2024 cohort
Åsne Høgetveit (Norway)
Producer
Åsne Høgetveit (b. 1985) is the latest addition to Koko Film, Tromsø, Norway. In 2019, Åsne earned her PhD in Russian Cinema from UiT The Arctic University of Norway and subsequently continued her career at her alma mater. Initially, she worked at the University Library as a Senior Academic Librarian, and in 2022, she was appointed Head of the Department of Archaeology, History, Religious Studies, and Theology. Despite her academic achievements, in 2023 she embraced a new challenge in the world of documentary filmmaking, inspired by Trude Ottersen. Åsne realized early on that inheriting the family farm was unlikely, prompting her to pursue a different path. What was the alternative? Independent documentary filmmaking. Jokes aside, Åsne's primary motivation is her curiosity, especially in exploring how narratives are constructed and contested. This curiosity led her to academia, but she is now eager to apply her passion for compelling storytelling to the world of documentary filmmaking.
Clara Lopez Rubio (Spain)
Director, writer
Clara López Rubio is a Spanish director. After studying in the Deutsche Film und Fernsehakademie Berlin, López Rubio closely followed the Assange case over the course of several years, leading her to write and direct “Hacking Justice” (“Der Fall Assange: eine Chronik”, 2021). The film has been broadcast on the European television channels WDR (Germany), MDR (Germany), 3Sat (Germany), Canal Sur (Spain), Movistar (Spain), Canal Historia (Spain), RTS (Switzerland) and VRT (Belgium). Clara López is now working on her next documentary project, „Amazonas“.
Fagamou Ndiaye (Senegal)
Director
My name is Fagamou Ndiaye (Fama), a filmmaker and film curator based in Dakar, Senegal. My journey into cinema wasn't a childhood dream but rather a passionate pursuit. While my formal education in documentary filmmaking was limited, I've extensively self-educated through reading, discussions, and hands-on experiences. Transitioning from a successful career in technology, I decided in 2020 to immerse myself in creative documentary filmmaking, dedicating the rest of my career to tell stories I wish I heard growing up. My cinematic odyssey began with film screenings, shaping my creative vision with influences from Korean realism, Japanese dramas, and more. As a black woman, I'm drawn to narratives reflecting my experiences, aiming to challenge stereotypes and inspire change. With fervent passion and deep commitment, I'm determined to explore the limitless potential of documentary cinema, contributing to a deeper understanding of our complex world through authentic storytelling.
Flora Linghwa Huang (Taiwan)
Director, Producer and Writer
Flora Linghwa Huang is trained in Anthropology and Documentary in Taiwan, focusing on the daily practices of immigrants, women, memories, and bodies with cinematic and non-fictional approaches. She is a film director, producer, writer, film critic and programmer.
She believes that people and the environment construct continuously, changing the landscape. She tries to depict the outer world as a map of collective memory and the inner world, believing that exploring the inner world will broaden the boundaries of memory and imagination. Hence, she chooses cinematic narration as her way of expression. Huang is now based in Taiwan, Taipei.
Francesca Bertin (Germany)
Director and Writer
Francesca Bertin (Italy, 1985) is a filmmaker and artist based in Hamburg. Francesca holds a M.A. in Film at the Academy of Fine Art in Hamburg (2021) and a M.A. in Law at the University of Trento (2011). In her artistic practice, she focuses on the themes of identity, memory, and space. Through the documentary approach, she creates observations and audiovisual interpretations of architecture and landscape with which her protagonists connect. Francesca engages in interdisciplinary and collaborative art projects for installations and site-specific art interventions, exhibited in off spaces and galleries. Francesca's films have been shown at international festivals. Her first feature film Tara premiered in 2022 at Vision du Reel and won the international feature award at the Euganea Film festival. Francesca ́s shortfilm L'artificio was awarded in Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival in 2020 with the best short film award.
Ines Tanović (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Director
Director, writer and producer. Founder of the production company Dokument Sarajevo 1991. Graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo. In two mandate she was president of the Association of Film Workers of BiH. Currently, Ines Tanović is CEO of the Film Center Sarajevo. She directed 6 short feature films in the period from 1986 to 2010, as well as many TV shows, children's programs, documentaries, spots and advertising campaigns
Koval Bhatia (India)
Director, producer
Koval Bhatia is a filmmaker and producer based in India. Her feature documentary as producer Against The Tide won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2023, the Grand Jury Prize at Seattle IFF and the Best Feature at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. She was also nominated for the Gotham and IDA Awards. Her short documentary as writer and director, titled She Run The World, was commissioned by Hot Docs Canada and premiered at DCEFF. She has directed & produced media for many non profits and broadcasters, primarily projects created by and about women. Koval has received support from International Documentary Association, IDFA, Sundance Institute, San Francisco Film Fund, IDFA, Catapult Fund, Hot Docs, Doc Society, Eurodoc for her work as a producer. She is the co-founder of Open Door Docs, a platform for Indian women practicing non-fiction. She has worked as a mentor and reviewer for In-Docs, Doc Society, Catapult and IDA. Finding Lewis Sir is her first feature as a director and writer.
Mina Keshavarz (Iran)
Director, producer
MINA KESHAVARZ (b. 1984) is an award-winning Iranian documentary filmmaker and producer. Her films exploring social issues using personal narratives – including Unwelcome in Tehran (2012), Profession: Documentarist (2014), Braving the Waves (2016), The Art of Living in Danger (2020) and Phobos ( 2023) – have premiered in CPH:Dox, IDFA, Thessaloniki, Busan International Film Festival, Sheffield, Tribeca, and London Film Festival. Among over ten international awards, The Art of Living in Danger was awarded Best Documentary Film at the Busan International Film Festival in 2020, and it was longlisted for the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary in 2021. Mina is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents, HotDocs Emerging Docs Accelerator Lab, EsoDoc, Tribeca Film Institute, she is an invited fellow in Nipkow Film Residency in Berlin, Berlin Air Film Residency, Bethanien and ADK Berlin currently resident at Cite Internationale des Arts. Mina is member of EWA and DAE.
Rand Beiruty (Jordan)
Director, producer
Rand Beiruty is a Jordanian writer, director and co-founder of Shaghab Films, a production company based in Amman, Jordan. She holds a practice-based PhD centered on representation and participatory filmmaking from Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. Beiruty is an alumna of Berlinale Talents, Beirut Talents, Rotterdam Lab, Locarno Documentary School, ANIDOX:LAB, Film Leader Incubator Asia, Documentary Campus, Robert Bosch Film Prize and Ji.hlava Academy. She has pitched her projects on international platforms and received awards from Tribeca Film Institute, Mifa Animation du Monde, Arab Cinema Center and European Network of Young Cinema among others. Her debut feature documentary TELL THEM ABOUT US that was awarded best pitch at the Reception of German Film Schools, Haus Am See scholarship and received production grants from AFAC, BKM, Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg and Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film.
Xin Fang, China
Director
Xin Fang (b. 1993) is a Chinese artist and documentary filmmaker. Her practice maps the various ways the personal and race overlap. By charting her own experiences and the community and intertwining them with historical socio-political contexts, she questions individuality and the power of authority. Born and raised in Shenzhen, Xin came to the United States to continue her bachelor's degree in visual journalism and sociology at Boston University (2016). She graduated with the Paula Rhodes Memorial Award from the School of Visual Arts in documentary filmmaking (2019). What does it cost to create, and what kind of world will we create now that we are starting to see the cost of our actions? What can we learn from history, and yet what should we do to continue moving forward? She is currently working as a freelance director as well as producing her first feature-length documentary.