About

Mika Hotakainen graduated as a fiction film director from Helsinki Polytechnic University, Arts and Media in 2004. Ever since he made his career mainly focusing on fiction and documentary directing. Mika’s international breakthrough film as a Director in 2010 was the feature documentary film, Steam Of Life (Miesten Vuoro - co-directed with Joonas Berghäll) which won several prizes in film festivals worldwide. The film went on to reach a global audience through cinema and TV distribution. Mika was also co-founder of the film production company, Oktober ltd. Now, Mika has continued his career working as a freelance Director/Writer for fiction, documentary, and TV series formats for several award-winning productions.

Wolfgang Ettlich is an award-winning German documentary filmmaker  specializing in long-term observation. In 1985, Ettlich founded Mediengruppe Schwabing (MGS). In 1995, he received the Grimme-Preis for his film “Ausgerechnet Bananen” (1991), and in 1999 he received a nomination for the German Film Award for his film “Wir machen weiter”. In 2017, he was the first documentary director to receive the prestigious film award from the City of Hof. He is also known for We'll be Keeping On (1999), & Venedig - als hätten wir geträumt.

Sasha Kulak’s portfolio includes a variety of independent cultural projects made in collaboration with young talents across the globe. Her films have taken her across the world, recently Sasha presented a feature film ‘A Hawk as Big as a Horse’ at DokLeipzig 2022 (2022 special mention), which was produced with the support of Arte France, CNC, and a grant recipient from the Sundance Institute. The film Mara (2022) premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam - it is a hybrid documentary video essay about Belarusian protests in the summer of 2020.

Alina Rudnitskaya is an award winning film director and producer. She is a 2001 graduate of St. Petersburg University for Arts and Culture, Department of Film Directing, where she started her career in the St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio.  Rudnitskaya's films have been shown worldwide and received critical acclaim and prizes in festivals in Leipzig, Madrid, Oberhausen, Zagreb, Berlin, Belgrade, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. Rudnitskaya's films always have a characteristic original perspective; she is interested not only in depicting the facts of life but also in exploring the internal worlds of her characters. She succeeds in painting a vivid image of modern society while maintaining a very personal and humanistic approach to each one of her stories.

Tokyo-native director/cinematographer/editor Kaoru Ima studied the arts in New York and applied his love of visual art, music, and storytelling into filmmaking. He is fluent in English and Japanese. Kaoru Imafuku is the Founder of Exhibit Films, a production company based in Tokyo. He produces commercials, narrative films, documentary, and music videos that are emotionally driven, story-focused, and globally minded. From Hollywood studios to local independent artists, the clients Imafuku’s work exhibits the truest sense of humanity.

As an independent producer, director, fixer, photographer and writer, Michiko Zentoh has more than 20 years of experience managing & coordinating multiple travel and research-intensive projects for various global clients in industries including private and public broadcasters, universities, corporations, and government entities.

Michiko has specialized in Japanese traditional culture in relation to modern global society.  She has completed many projects on food & culture aspects of the world, started with field producing for programs for Mr. Anthony Bourdain.

The Turkey episode is both produced and directed by Tuba Guvelioglu.

Guvelioglu is an Executive Producer with the production company, Motion Films Istanbul. 

Her credits include Netflix's "Chef's Table," "Expedition Unknown," and "The Martha Stewart Show."

Robin Hansen-Tangen has been a producer at Monster Entertainment AS in Oslo, Norway since 2018.

He produced the 2013 film, Å Begrave en Hund, was a Camera Operator for 10 episodes of the TV series, Meglerne, and Production Coordinator for the TV series Nattskiftet.

Doug Pray has directed a number of highly acclaimed feature-length documentary films about subcultures and maverick characters. His work includes, “ART & COPY” which won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Arts and Culture Programming and “SURFWISE” about legendary surfer and health guru, Dr. Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz. Doug’s other films include the critically acclaimed and internationally distributed “HYPE!” “SCRATCH,” “BIG RIG,” “INFAMY,” and “LEVITATED MASS.” Doug won his first Emmy Award for an HIV-AIDS awareness campaign he shot and directed in El Salvador for Viacom. In 2012, he won international awards for “WAKE UP THE TOWN,” a series of shorts for Phillips filmed in the world’s northernmost village. He has directed a Spike TV program for Dr. Martens called “VEER,” and “FEEL YOUR HEART RACE” for ESPN about auto racing. Clients include Google, Budweiser, IBM, Samsung, Ford, PBS, Microsoft, Mobil, Kodak, Adidas, Nike, Sprite, Guinness, and the Canadian Government. He is currently executive producing, writing/editing a 4-episode docu-series for HBO called “THE DEFIANT ONES.”