CIRCLE 2024 Mentors & Experts
Heidi Fleischer
Producer
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Heidi Fleisher is an American documentary film consultant and producer based in Paris, with over 15 years of experience and a broad view of the industry. Heidi handled international acquisitions for France Television’s feature doc strand 25 Shades of Docs, worked as a development executive for Synthesis films in LA and was head of sales & acquisitions for Arte Sales. She often works as a mentor and expert for industry labs, festivals and events. Her producing work focuses on creative documentaries that blend the emotional depth of the human experience with a unique artistic vision. Producing credits include THE CASTLE by Martin Benchimol (Berlin 2023), WAKE UP ON MARS by Dea Gjinovci (Tribeca 2020), DON'T BREATHE Nino Kirtadze (TIFF 2014) and the ongoing short doc collection ELEMENTAL produced with Sandbox Films, USA.
Diana El Jeiroudi
Director
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Diana El Jeiroudi is a seasoned, award-winning documentary filmmaker whose cinematic journey extends beyond the big screen. Her films are personal narratives navigating the intricacies of socio-political realities that resonate beyond their time. Her latest film, "REPUBLIC OF SILENCE," premiered at La Biennale di Venezia in 2021 and was released in cinemas to critical acclaim. Over two decades, Diana has also produced and co-produced notable films including "5 SEASONS OF REVOLUTION'' (Sundance), "NOTTURNO" (Venice), "EAU ARGENTÉE" (Cannes).
Alongside her partner Diana co-founded DOX BOX as an international film festival and campus back in Syria in 2002. Later, she reimagined DOX BOX as a support association in Germany where she relocated. During her tenure as DOX BOX director she spearheaded initiatives, dynamic film labs, an online academy, and inaugurated the Documentary Convention advocating for fair international co-production practices. Her contribution to cinema culture and nurturing talent have earned her prestigious accolades.
Devoted to the creative process, Diana's a returning mentor at Berlinale Talents, The Circle, Ex-Oriente, Docs by the Sea among other film labs. She's a lifelong member of esteemed international film academies (AMPAS, Deutsche Filmakademie, IDA, DAE, APSA).
Diana is a CEO of No Nation Films and heads an innovative international and equitable co-production model.
Brigid O'Shea
Documentary Association of Europe (DAE)
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Brigid O’Shea is an Australian native who has worked for European film festivals and documentary organisations since 2008. Holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts obtained in Melbourne and Berlin, she started as an intern at the Berlinale Talent Campus. She worked for various Berlinale departments as a freelancer until 2014, including the EFMand also Co-Production Market, until taking a more focused approach on creative documentary. This came from coordinating the DOK Industry Programme from 2009-2015, which allowed her to also freelance for the Institute of Documentary Film in Prague, for Documentary Campus Masterschool, and Berlin-based production companies. She was appointed Head of DOK Industry Programme in January 2015. She regulary tutors on topics like European co-financing, cultural management and festival strategies in places like North America and East Europe. In February 2020 she co-launched the Documentary Association of Europe.
Joanna Solecka
Marketing Expert, Alphapanda
Film Marketing, Social Media & Audience Design strategist with extensive experience of working for film producers and cultural institutions. Lecturer, mentor and speaker at the international training workshops for fiction and documentary filmmakers such as CIRCLE – Women Doc Accelerator, Impakt, Torino Film Lab, Moving Docs, DOC.Incubator. Member of the Advisory Board of DAE - Documentary Association of Europe. Between 2004 - 2015 Joanna worked as Head of PR, Festivals and Sales at Wajda Studio & School, Warsaw, Poland. Since 2015 Joanna has been working for Alphapanda, a European film marketing agency based in Berlin, Geneva and Warsaw, founded in 2011. Alphapanda specializes in the development of marketing strategies and the implementation of social media campaigns for the film industry. Alphapanda’s clients list includes the European Film Awards, Warner Bros, Under the Milky Way as well as many European sales agents, distributors, VOD platforms and production companies. As a mother of three daughters, Joanna especially enjoys working on young audience and women empowering stories. Among recent titles Joanna handled campaigns for are films like: THE SCARS OF ALI BOUALA (Tribeca ’21), STOP-ZEMLIA (Berlinale ’21), NINJABABY (Berlinale & SXSW ’21), THE WALL OF SHADOWS (Hot Docs ’20), BEWARE OF CHILDREN (Venice ’19), ANOTHER DAY OF LIFE (Cannes ’18).
Dana Bunescu
Editor and Sound Designer
Dana Bunescu is a Romanian editor and sound designer. She co-directed with Mona Nicoară the feature documentary The Distance Between Me and Me (2018). Dana is a winner of the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution at the 2017 Berlinale for Călin Peter Netzer’s film Ana, mon amour. She has been working in the field since 2000. Known for editing The Death of Mr Lazarescu directed by Cristi Puiu (awarded the “Un certain Regard” prize in Cannes 2006), Cristian Mungiu’s films 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (Palme d’Or, Cannes, 2007), Andrei Ujica’s documentary The Autobiography of Nicolae CeauÈ™escu (for which she also did the sound design), screened at Cannes in 2010. She is also known for the sound design and editing of Child’s Pose by Călin Peter Netzer, winner of Golden Bear for Best Film at Berlinale 2013, as well as for the sound design of Aferim, I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians and Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn by Radu Jude. She edited and did the sound-design of numerous documentaries. Bunescu was nominated and won several Gopo Awards for Best Editing and Sound Design.
Charline Branger
Editor
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After completing a Master's degree in Visual Arts and Contemporary Art Theory in London, I pursued film studies at IAD in Belgium, specializing in editing (with a focus on production direction). I learned the craft under the mentorship of Marie-Hélène Dozo during the editing of the film Le Silence de Lorna by the Dardenne brothers. I then became an assistant editor and later an editor. After spending 24 years abroad, I returned to France in 2022.
Additional activities include post-production direction, supervising editing projects in film schools, guest lectures at universities and training programs, and artistic direction at CATLIKE Movie Trailers Studio since 2017.
Guest experts
Kumjana Novakova
Chief curator and film director
Kumjana Novakova, originally born in Macedonia, Yugoslavia, has worked in the field of film and arts since 2006. In 2006 she co-founded the Pravo Ljudski Film Festival in Sarajevo and acts as its chief curator and director. She was leading the Film Department of the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Skopje as a Film Curator for 3 years. She is currently an associated professor at the Non-fiction department of ESCAC, Barcelona, Spain, and has formerly taught at the Béla Tarr's film.factory in Sarajevo. As an author, her research lays between cinema and contemporary video art, often exploring how moving images address identities, memories and the collective self. Kumjana currently lives between Sarajevo and Skopje, North Macedonia.
Mara Gourd-Mercado
Head of CPH:DOX Industry
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​Mara Gourd-Mercado is an Argentinean-Canadian arts manager, specializing in film, television and digital media. For a decade, she used her expertise and energy to promote films from around the world as a publicist. In 2011, she entered the advertising industry and created the communications manager position at one of Canada’s leading agencies. In 2014, she joined the RIDM team as communications director and was then Executive Director from 2015 to 2020 where she significantly raised the profile of the festival and grew its industry event from 3 to 5 full days. She was also instrumental in bringing the festival to the international stage and attracting top talent to the event and its programs. Over the years, she has been a mentor for different labs and programs, has sat on many juries and has acted as a moderator. She was Executive Director of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television - Quebec section from 2021 to 2023. Mara is now Head of Industry & Training at CPH:DOX.
Lana Bastašic
Writer
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​Lana Bastašić is a Yugoslav-born writer. She has published fiction, poetry, essays and plays. Her short stories have received numerous regional awards in the Balkans, including the Ulaznica and Zija Dizdarevic.
Her first novel, Catch the Rabbit, won the European Union Prize in Literature and the International Latisana Prize in Italy. The book was shortlisted for the Dutch European Award and longlisted for the Dublin International Literary Award. It has been translated into more than 20 languages. She also published a collection of short stories, Milk Teeth, and a diary titled The Red Suitcase. Bastašić is one of the founders of Escola Bloom literary school in Barcelona.
Rebecca Day
Psychotherapist, Film in Mind
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​Rebecca Day is a qualified psychotherapist and founder of Film In Mind. She combines her therapeutic skills with over a decade of documentary production experience to offer consultancies, workshops and therapeutic support to filmmakers working in difficult situations and with vulnerable people.
She is also a co-founder of DocuMentality, an international research and advocacy project, working towards a more psychologically safe industry. She has been invited as a guest speaker and mentor on panels and at workshops internationally, including Berlinale, CIRCLE, CPH:DOX, IDFA, IDA, WIFTV, and Sheffield DocFest.
Yael Bitton
Editor
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Yaël Bitton is a highly accomplished documentary film editor, writer, story consultant, and director with over 25 years of experience in the industry. She has collaborated with filmmakers worldwide and served as a mentor and consultant for numerous prestigious film programs.
She is a member of the Oscars Academy.
Yaël has won several awards for her editing work, including the Sima Editing Award for Radio Silence and the Dok Fest Adobe 2024 Editing Award for KIX. In addition to her editing career, she has directed feature-length documentaries and teaches editing at HEAD/Cinéma du Réel in Geneva. Currently based in Paris, Yaël continues to influence the documentary film landscape through her extensive expertise and creative vision.
Alyx Ayn Arumpac
Director and Producer
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Alyx Ayn Arumpac is a documentary filmmaker and producer from the Philippines. Her film ‘Aswang’ received the critics prize at IDFA, the grand prizes at Montreal International Documentary Festival, DMZ Documentary Festival in South Korea, and Film Festival Dokumenter Yogyakarta, the Amnesty International award at Thessaloniki, the Camera Obscura Artistic Excellence award, and more. It is the first documentary to be awarded Best Film in Gawad Urian and FAMAS, where it also won Best Director, Documentary, Editing, and Cinematography. Her work has been supported by the IDFA Bertha Fund, Aide aux cinémas du monde, Sundance Institute, Berlinale World Cinema Fund, Doha Film Institute, Purin Pictures, SGIFF Southeast Asian Documentary Grant, and more. Alyx is an alumna of Docnomads, the UP Film Institute and the Philippine High School for the Arts. She participated at Berlinale Talents Docstation, IDFAcademy, Talents Tokyo, and Docs by the Sea. Alongside her independent work, she also directs and produces documentaries for broadcast.
