Photo by Sophia Wallace

Born in Seattle, USA on a commune, then raised as part of a Greek Orthodox Community, Christina grew up in both non-traditional and traditional settings. Compelled by a love for making art and a heart for social change, Christina became an activist at a young age and moved 3,000 miles to New York City for education. Her scholarships included generous support from New School University and the “Fight for Your Rights” scholarship from MTV and SHiNE. She earned two degrees with honors from the New School: a BFA in Fine Arts and Video/Parsons School of Design, and a BA in Sociology and Political Science/Eugene Lang College. The film “with Wings and Roots” originally began as Christina’s thesis work but is actually a product of years of self-reflection and exploration. She traveled to Berlin as a Humanity in Action Fellow, interning for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Berlin quickly revealed itself to be the perfect place for filming “with Wings and Roots.” Christina aspires to continue making creative interventions towards crafting more just and humane societies through her artistic and activist work.

joroni film
co-producer

JORONI FILM was founded in March 2007 by three producers: Jonas Knudsen, Roman Avianus, and Nina Hüskes. After 10 years of experience in film industry and combined backgrounds in production, technical support, and script development, they decided to bring their knowledge together under one company. Located in the center of Berlin, Joroni Film is a subsidiary company of 25p *cine support, GmbH a rental house for digital film equipment, with an HD editing suite and small cinema. Joroni Film focuses on the development and production of high quality feature films and documentaries. www.joroni.de

Born in Seattle, Washington to Vietnam War Refugees, Amanda’s second-generation experience has fueled her passion for social change and creativity by any means. Amanda finished her BA from the Evergreen State College with emphasis on independent media production and Community Development. She relocated to New York City to work with American Documentary/Point of View (POV) on PBS and currently works in the Community Engagement and Outreach department. As an artist and community organizer, her work has drawn from her social identity and interactions with the world, as a young person, woman, Vietnamese-American, and an “other”.

Jacqueline was born in Erfurt, Germany in 1964. After finishing highschool, she studied German Literature, and later Visual Communication at the Hochschule der Künste (HdK). During her studies at HdK, she directed her first film “Der Streit” (1996) about children in a Berlin refugee home, produced for NDR, a German television station. In 1999 she co-directed her second film together with Michael Hammon “Hilbrow Kids” (1999) an award-winning documentary about the street children in Johannesburg, South Africa. In the next years completed several films including: “Finden Sie ein Bild für das, was mit Ihnen ist” (2001) and “Schlangen im Feuer” (2002). In 2003 she received a scholarship to participate as a junior author in the “Step by Step” Master School where she developed the screenplay the “Price of Freedom.” Currently, Jacqueline is also working on the documentary film “Tanz mit der Angst” and is developing a treatment for a feature film: “Polacci Pomodor.”

Cano was born in Keşan/ Turkey, and grew up in Berlin-Kreuzberg/Germany. Her father’s family immigrated to Germany in the 1970’s for political reasons. Cano’s interest in challenging visual representations of ethnicity finds an echo in her academic and practical work. Since 2006, she has studied film studies, cultural anthropology and Turkish studies at the Free University in Berlin and Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, supported by a scholarship from the Rosa Luxemberg Foundation. Cano has worked as assistant director on several documentaries, including “Crime:Berlin” by Jeremy Xido. Currently her is finishing her first documentary film: „Keşanlı”, a self-reflexive work dealing with the discrimination of Roma people in the place of her birth, and through this frame, reflecting on her own cultural identity.

cesar naranjo
web and new media team

Born in Colombia and raised in Brooklyn, César’s interests have always revolved around technology and exploring different cultures. César received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2003. Since university he has worked in the technology sector, currently as a freelance computer programmer concentrating on web, mathematical, and Iphone applications under his boutique company OrangeMico. Previously, César worked for 7 years at a top-tier hedge fund implementing advance risk models in structured credit. In addition, César is active in a variety of community projects. He is a board member of Community Works, a non-profit arts and education organization that forges links between diverse cultures and communities, serving over 100,000 students annually through performances, workshops, screenings, and mentoring. César is a passionate traveler and linguiphile, and has begun adding Portugese, and German to his Spanish and English skills.