Renowned German Artist, Actor, Writer and Activist, Katja made her directorial debut with her portrait of ReFOCUS-"And “Here We Are…A Film School in Moria” , which premiered at Human Rights Film Festival Berlin, and was nationally broadcast in France and Germany on ARTE.

Katja has been a steadfast ambassador for our ReFOCUS community, and we've been blessed to have her run acting workshops on Lesvos.

Her dedication to ReFOCUS includes supporting our “Shorts That Matter” productions, and focusing two chapters on ReFOCUS in her most recent novel “Zeit der Zäune: Orte der Flucht” (Time of Fences: Places of Escape).

Learn more about Katja's immense body of work on IMDB, and follow her Insta-@katjariemann

An award-winning documentary filmmaker and producer, Margje de Koning made all sorts of documentaries for many different broadcasting companies for 12 years. In 2004 Margje taught at the Culture & Media studies at the University of Amsterdam, and became Commissioning Editor for a documentary slot of 52’ docs. Since January 2005 Margje de Koning was responsible for the Television Department of IKON and in 2012 she became Head of TV, Radio and New Media programming at IKON now EO Docs.

Since 2019, Margje was honoured to become the artistic director of the illustrious Movies That Matter film festival in The Hague, and the festival has grown in stature and calibre ever since.

Thanks to Margje's guidance and support, ReFOCUS has developed a strong relationship with Movies That Matter festival, having the world premiere of our first feature film “Even After Death", and numerous short films we have produced have also had their premiere at the festival. Margje has also been tireless in her support for our "Stories That Matter” film series in collaboration with Buddy Film Foundation.

Having already achieved the highest successes in the film industry, including the Gouden Kalf award in The `Netherlands, Mijke has been deeply committed to our community since 2018 when she visited our program on Lesvos.

Since then she has run directing workshops, served as our ambassador in The Netherlands, and directed the feature film “Along The Way”, which stars and tells the real-life story of our students Maliheh and Ñahid Rezaie. Many of our alumni worked on the film, both in front f and behind the camera, and Ahmad Ebrahimi served as Assistant Director.

Check out her body of work on IMDB

Anna is the director of The Good Media Network, and Dokumentale Film Festival . She is convinced that films and in particular documentaries can be a beautiful and very powerful vehicle to raise awareness and inspire people to act.

After studying art history, Anna started her professional career at the Austrian-based film distribution POOOL Filmverleih in 2006 as impact producer. After five years in the Austrian film business, she moved to Berlin and started working as a freelance PR and impact consultant.

From 2019 to 2024, she served as the director of the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin, where she was instrumental in its foundational growth. IN this capacity Anna and ReFOCUS bonded during the tough times of keeping the festival alive during the pandemic. With her guidance and support we were able to premiere our first feature film “Even After Death” and curate our "Trapped in the Playground” multimedia exhibition.

Learn more about The Good Media Network- Germany's first Impact Producing entity, and Dokumentale FIlm Festival

A writer, director, casting director, actor in the Netherlands. Dennis has played lead roles in various (comedy) series and films. He has written and directed television series, short films, and commercials, and for the past few years, he has also been making music videos.

Dennis is also co-founder of the Buddy Film Foundation, which helps filmmakers with refugee backgrounds connect with Dutch film professionals, and guides them towards paid work in their field.

Dennis connected with our cofounder at IDFA 2019 in Amsterdam, and has been a dedicated ambassador and friend ever since. ReFOCUS and BUDDY have collaborated for the past 5 years on the "Stories That Matter” project, which provides new creators in both communities to pitch new ideas for short films to be produced and showcased at the Movies That Matter festival in The Hague.

Check out his work on his site-
https://www.dennisovereem.com/work

and follow him on Insta-@dennis_overeem

Danish photojournalist and commercial photographer, Lars has worked with ReFOCUS on Lesvos, leading practical photography workshops. Ever since Lars has remained an eager ambassador for our community.

In 2023 served a judge/mentor in our first Photo Challenge on the manipulation of "Light & Shadow”, and many of the images produced were included in our international “Art Under Pressure” traveling Arts Festival, with shows in Athens, Lucerne, Valencia, Berlin,. New York and London.

Check out his impressive work on his site- https://www.schmidtaps.com and follow his insta- @larsschmidtphotographer

A National Geographic Explorer, research fellow, and award-winning photojournalist, Hailey's photojournalism explores themes of trauma, memory, and identity.

Also a cofounder of  The Home Collective, a global collaborative of academics, scientists, community leaders, and new generation storytellers, creating multidisciplinary research and visual projects exploring the intersection of home with geopolitical issues from conflict to climate.

She also serves as a Global Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. Hailey came into the ReFOCUS family, teaching photography/storytelling workshops, speaking as a featured guest on our Fractured Podcast, and most recently served as a judge/mentor for our 5th Photo Challenge on the theme of "home".

Explore her work with The Home Collective, and follow on Insta- @haileycsadler @thehomecollective

An Afghan photographer from Herat, Sayed has a similar background to our students, having started his relationship with photography in his teenage years.

Since humble beginnings, and A LOT of studies under great professors, Sayed has become a successful independent photographer with work featured in National Geographic, and Vogue magazines.

We were extremely humbled and excited when Sayed joined our community as a judge,/mentor for our Photo Challenge on Street Photography. He is an inspiration for our students, and provided amazing master classes on visual storytelling, connecting with us from Afghanistan.

You can check out Sayed’s profile and work on VOGUE and follow his feed on Instagram @sayedhabib.bidell

A seasoned multimedia photojournalist focusing on refugee and social-political issues throughout the MENA region (Middle East, North Africa).

Jordan’s passion has taken her Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur, Sudan, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and her work has appeared in multiple international publications and exhibitions. Jordan was a special guest on our Fractured Podcast (S03E19) to help us unpack Sudan's Invisible War.

We've been lucky to have Jordan serve as a judge/mentor in our Photo Challenge series, where students worked on developing cutting edge portraits for inclusion in our “Art Under Pressure” Arts festival, which travels internationally with show sin Athens, Lucerne, Valencia, Berlin., New York and London.

Check out Jordan’s photojournalism on her site below, and follow her on Instagram- @jordansiegels_photography

A German multidisciplinary photographer and visual artist based in Krakow. Melchior's own words help understand why ReFOCUS is lucky to have him in our community-

“my creative ‘journey’ started with an early musical education in playing piano and pencil drawings. After some years of creative absence and "Selbstfindung" I rediscovered my love for visual arts in the form of acrylic paintings. I bought a DSLR to "scan" those canvases and document my life. That's how I ended up with my first camera. Photography as a medium became an addiction shortly after. I like the accessibility and freedom it provides.”

We came to know Melchior and his work just before the pandemic, so we’re excited to finally have found a way to bring him into our community. as a judge/mentor for our photo challenge on the creative use of color.

Check out his impressive work on his site- https://infrontofstrangers.com/and follow him on Instagram- @infrontofstrangers

A vivid career of forty years in secondary education in The Netherlands. With dedicated teams he “built” two innovative high schools and pioneered innovation in the learning process. He was Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Languages and Director of North American Programs .for nore than two decades harry has been a member of the European Association of Geographers (EURO GEO).

Shortly before the pandemic Harry and our cofounder connected at the IDFA festival in Amsterdam, and every since Harry has been a strong ambassador for ReFOCUS and our mission to develop an international network of media labs,