Jens Schanze – Writer, director and producer

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Jens Schanze was born in Bonn in 1971. In 1987, he spent a year living in the USA. In 1990, he embarked on a degree in Forestry at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and, in 1992, began working in television as an assistant director. In 1994, Schanze spent a year in Bolivia working on a project for Conservation International before he began his studies at the University of Television and Film in Munich in 1995. Through the production company Mascha Film, which he co-founded with Judith Malek-Mahdavi in 2002, he has directed numerous prizewinning documentaries including WINTERKINDER (2005) and PLUG & PRAY (2010). In 2014, he became a Professor of Film and Video Design.

Frank Matter – Co-producer

Frank Matter was born in the Swiss town of Sissach in 1964. He initially worked as a freelance journalist and reporter for several Swiss newspapers. From 1993 onwards, Matter lived and worked in Brooklyn as a sound recordist, production assistant, director, report writer and interviewer. In 2006, he returned to Basel. Frank Matter is founder and owner of the company soap factory GmbH. His productions have been recognised with numerous international awards.

Börres Weiffenbach – Director of Photography

Börres Weiffenbach, born in 1969, studied cinematography at the Konrad Wolf University of Film and Television in Potsdam. In 2002, while still a student, he won the Adolf Grimme Award for an outstanding debut for his cinematography in OTZENRATHER SPRUNG (dir. Jens Schanze). Further successes include, for example, CHILDREN. AS TIME FLIES (dir. Thomas Heise), which won the Silver Dove at DOK Leipzig, and MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE (dir. Marc Bauder), which won the Jury Prize at Locarno International Film Festival and the European Film Award. By working on LA BUENA VIDA – DAS GUTE LEBEN, he’s continuing a 15-year collaboration with Jens Schanze.

Bernd Euscher – Editor

Bernd Euscher was born in 1957 in Wuppertal. He has edited over 40 feature films, television films and feature-length documentaries. In the 1970s, he shot his own films on Super 8 and went on to study documentary film under Krzysztof Kieślowski, among other subjects. Euscher has worked with directors including Andres Veiel, Peter Lichtefeld and Jan Schomburg. The films on which he has worked have won numerous awards.