Milena Tipaldo

Italy

Milena Tipaldo studied Fine Arts in Genoa and then graduated at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia of Turin.
She worked as an animator on the feature film ‘Psiconautas‘ by Alberto Vazquez and Pedro Rivero and has since worked on other short films such as ‘Beer‘ by Nerdo based on a poem by Charles Bukowski, ‘Quentin Blake’s CLOWN‘ by Channel 4 or ‘Tufo‘ by Victoria Musci. In 2017, together with Alessandra Atzori, she founded the MIRA collective, which uses different techniques of the moving image as a tool for revising and communicating cultural content, combining research, art and advertising.
Her first independent short film is called ‘Ode to Anxiety‘ (nominated for the 3rd Weimar Poetry Film Award 2017), the second was ‘A Body‘ (winner of the 7th Weimar Poetry Film Award 2022). Both are based on her own poems.

Photo: Private

Ulrike Almut Sandig

Germany

Ulrike Almut Sandig grew up in rural Saxony and has published numerous volumes with poems and stories, music albums, and radio plays. Her novel “Monsters Like Us” (2020) was celebrated in the feuilleton.
She is the front woman of the poetry collectiv Landschaft and performs her poetry in close collaboration with artists from all over the world. Most recently she was awarded the Erich Loest Prize (2021). A critic writes about her current poetry collection “Leuchtende Schafe“ in the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine: “Ulrike Almut San-dig’s poetry gives freedom to her readers.”
She translates current Ukrainian poetry into German. In autumn 2023 will appear her translation of “Funkhaus“, a book by the New Zealand poet with Maori roots, Hinemoana Baker. Sandig lives with her family in Berlin.

Photo by Estafania & Sascha Conrad

Christian Schunke

Germany

Christian Schunke Is co-initia-tor and director of the ‘Monstra-le‘ film festival in Halle, the one and only international short film festival in Saxony-Anhalt. As a venue for special short films, the festival is primarily committed to the first presentation of artistic works and also grants an unbiased view of the absurd moments of short film.
Christian Schunke studied graphic design and media sciences in Dessau and Halle, and adopted Halle as his home. Since 2006 he has been working as a sound designer in the film industry. He works on documentaries and animated films, but prefers animated films because they offer an infinite range of possible sound worlds.
In the animated film ‘Saka sy Vorona – Cat and Bird‘ (director: Franka Sachse. Germany 2021), for example, he created the sound world entirely out of paper.
He is currently working as a project coordinator at the Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle.

Photo Yvonne-Most