
Festival Management
Birgit Kern-Harasymiw is an international PR manager with many cultural topics. After working in Milan, Munich and Zurich, she now lives and works in Irsee.
For her the management of the festival is a matter of the heart, which she is driving forward in order to put the festival on a firm footing for the future. With professional support and a lot of voluntary commitment, she is consistently expanding the independent Allgäu Authors' Film Festival at several locations.
Tel.: +49 (0) 8341-9615500

Artistic Director
Roman Harasymiw is a freelance artist. He lives in Irsee and works in Kaufbeuren.
As “Spiritus Rector” he started the festival in 2008 together with local filmmakers. For him, film is a total work of art in which many creative trades are involved. New spiritual nourishment for his homeland, offering young filmmakers a forum and a creative exchange with the audience – that is his motivation to this day.

Assistance
Franziska Förstner complements the Filmzeit team at the Kaufbeuren office. The international business economist has changed sides after many years in the IT industry and already has five years of film festival experience. Culture is her hobbyhorse, and apart from film, this includes art and theatre in particular.
She supports the festival organisation and is in charge of guest management.

Graphic design
Ulrike Beck is a graphic designer and was born in Kaufbeuren.
She began her career at the jewellery school in Kaufbeuren-Neugablonz with an apprenticeship as a glass painter. After many years she has returned to her hometown. She has redesigned the entire visual appearance of filmzeit and is now responsible for all print media.

Web design/ Programme committee
Monika Schneiders is responsible for the Internet presence.
The Stuttgart based web designer started her professional career at the jewellery school in Kaufbeuren-Neugablonz with an apprenticeship as a glass painter, too. Since then, she has been connected with this town. Out of enthusiasm for film, she joined the team in 2012 and is now also firmly involved in the programme planning.

Technology
Rainer Schicht, based in Germaringen near Kaufbeuren, studied media design and works as a freelanced designer.
Since 2016 he is responsible for technology and the main contact for filmmakers. With the professional support of the AR and VR expert, the festival is being gradually expanded to other locations. He is supported by an interdisciplinary team and numerous volunteers.

Technical Support/ Programme committee/ Presentation
In real live Hartmut Chodura is developing electric vehicles.
As part of the Stuttgart festival team he is all year round supporting all team members in technical matters. Furthermore the avid film lover is a permanent member of the program committee for all competitions. During the festival weekend in Kaufbeuren he is also active as a presenter.

Programme committee/ Presentation
Since 2020 Ricardo Brunn from Berlin has been the professional addition to our programme planning team.
After studying art history and philosophy, the passionate film critic first worked in the film industry, before he started writing about films. He is the editor-in-chief of the online film magazine Filmgazette.de, member of the viewing committee for the Filmfest Dresden and Interfilm, as well as a presenter at various festivals, including the Filmfest München or the Max Ophüls Prize.
Further Team Members
- Viewing team: active support by Petra Elflein, Kerstin Futschik, Susanne Jehl, Iris Kettner, Beate Römlein, Susanne Sagner, Wolfgang Scharm, Annette Wenzel, Richard Wiedemann.
- Other active supporters, especially during the festival weeks: Pia Günther, Markus Hartmann, Susanne Jehl, Tina Kutter, Gertrud Leschok, Annegret Michler, Susanne Sagner, Ulrich Schuck, Andreas Sräga, Richard Wiedemann
- Finances: Petra Elflein, Winfried Nusser, Harry Vogel
Thanks to our entire great team, that mostly works behind the scenes!