Meet the CIRCLE 2024 cohort
Åsne Høgetveit (Norway)
Producer
Åsne Høgetveit (b. 1985) earned a PhD in Russian Cinema from UiT The Arctic University of Norway and later became Head of the Department of Archaeology, History, Religious Studies, and Theology. In 2023, she transitioned from academia to documentary filmmaking, inspired by Trude Ottersen, and joined Koko Film in Tromsø. Driven by her curiosity about how narratives are constructed, Åsne now focuses on exploring compelling storytelling through independent documentaries.
Clara Lopez Rubio (Spain)
Director and 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
Fagamou Ndiaye (Fama) is a filmmaker and film curator based in Dakar, Senegal, driven by a passionate pursuit of cinema and self-educated through reading, discussions, and hands-on experiences. After transitioning from a successful technology career in 2020, she immersed herself in creative documentary filmmaking, inspired by the stories she wished she had heard while growing up. Influenced by Korean realism and Japanese dramas, she aims to challenge stereotypes and inspire change through authentic storytelling that reflects her experiences as a black woman.
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.
Francesca Bertin (Germany)
Director and writer
Francesca Bertin, a filmmaker and artist based in Hamburg, holds an M.A. in Film from the Academy of Fine Art in Hamburg and an M.A. in Law from the University of Trento. Her artistic practice explores themes of identity, memory, and space, using a documentary approach to create audiovisual interpretations of architecture and landscapes. Francesca's work has been exhibited in off spaces and galleries, with her films shown at international festivals, including her feature film Tara, which premiered in 2022 and won the international feature award at the Euganea Film Festival.
Ines Tanović (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Director, writer and producer
Founder of the production company Dokument Sarajevo 1991. Graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo. In two mandates 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 and producer
Koval Bhatia is an Indian filmmaker and producer whose feature documentary Against The Tide won multiple awards, including the Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2023. She has directed and produced media focused on women, with her short documentary She Run The World premiering at DCEFF. Koval is the co-founder of Open Door Docs, a platform for Indian women in non-fiction, and her first feature as a director and writer is Finding Lewis Sir.
Mina Keshavarz (Iran)
Director and producer
Mina Keshavarz (b. 1984) is an award-winning Iranian documentary filmmaker and producer whose films focus on social issues through personal narratives. Her works, including Unwelcome in Tehran, The Art of Living in Danger (2020), and Phobos, have premiered at prestigious festivals such as CPH:Dox, IDFA, and Tribeca, with The Art of Living in Danger (2020) winning Best Documentary Film at the Busan International Film Festival in 2020. Mina is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents and Tribeca Film Institute, and currently resides at the Cité Internationale des Arts, with memberships in EWA and DAE.
Rand Beiruty (Jordan)
Director and producer
Rand Beiruty is a Jordanian writer, director, and co-founder of Shaghab Films in Amman, holding a practice-based PhD in representation and participatory filmmaking from Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. An alumna of prestigious programs such as Berlinale Talents and Locarno Documentary School, she has pitched her projects internationally, winning awards from Tribeca Film Institute and Arab Cinema Center, among others. Her debut feature documentary, Tell Them About Us, won best pitch at the Reception of German Film Schools and received production grants from AFAC, BKM, Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg and Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film.
Xin Fang, China
Director
Xin Fang, born in 1993, is a Chinese artist and documentary filmmaker whose work explores the intersection of personal experience and race, questioning individuality and authority within historical socio-political contexts. Originally from Shenzhen, she pursued a bachelor's degree in visual journalism and sociology at Boston University and later graduated with the Paula Rhodes Memorial Award in documentary filmmaking from the School of Visual Arts. Currently working as a freelance director, Xin is producing her first feature-length documentary, delving into the costs of creation and the lessons of history.
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