Monika Grassl

Monika Grassl was born in 1981 in Austria. From 2000 to 2005 she studied journalism in Austria. She graduated in 2005 by writing a thesis about "The nature of documentary filmmaking". In 2007, she worked for the film production companies WILDart Film and DocuZone.

From 2008 to 2015 she studied documentary filmmaking at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Germany. During her studies she worked as a researcher for the House of Documentary Film in Stuttgart, Germany. From 2007 to 2014, she also assisted on various projects by documentary film director Hubert Sauper.

Since 2016 she has been working as a freelance filmmaker in Paris, France. She has already realised three feature-length documentaries: In 2012 she directed her first documentary WHERE TIME STOPS. Her second film GIRLS DON'T FLY, about Ghanaian girls who face a cultural clash at an aviation school led by a British instructor, had its world premiere at Hot Docs and won the Max Ophüls Prize for Best Documentary.

In her latest documentary SCARS OF GROWTH she sheds light on the paradox that mining is set to increase in Europe in the name of the green transition and is threatening people who lead a sustainable life.

FILMOGRAPHY

• 2024 SCARS OF GROWTH – documentary, ARTE/SWR/ORF, 90 min
• 2018 THE RESIDENCY, artist documentary, 60 min
• 2016 GIRLS DON'T FLY, documentary, 90 min, Best documentary Max Ophüls Prize and FIFFS Morocco. World premiere: Hot Docs International Film festival. Cinema release: January 2017. TV premiere: BR (Germany, December 2017)
• 2015 AMREF – HANDS, commercial for the NGO AMREF, 30 seconds
• 2015 RANA and SLAWA, short TV documentaries, WDR
• 2013 BE FREE, TV documentary (WDR Germany), 29 min, WDR
• 2012 WHERE TIME STOPS, documentary, 75 min
• 2011 SABA - RUST, short experimental documentary, 25 min
• 2010 MY MISTER ALFONS, short documentary, 24 min
• 2009 CHECKMATE OR GROUND MEAT: short documentary, 11 min
• 2007 NO CHICKEN IN THE BUS: documentary, 52 min

Linda Osusky

Linda is a freelance investigative journalist, photographer and filmmaker with a focus on social and environmental topics. She holds a Master's degree in Cultural and Social Anthropology from the University of Vienna (Austria). Ever since Cultural and Social Anthropology shapes her approach in storytelling: observe, listen, participate.

In 2025 she accomplished her first feature length documentary „Scars of Growth“.

FILMOGRAPHY

• 2024 Scars of Growth, documentary, 90 min, Dor Film, Arte/SWR/ORF
• 2014 Smart Fetishism, documentary, 25 min
• 2008 Voyez l'ouïe, documentary, 16 min
• 2004 Tsigamania - Être gitans et français, documentary, 12 min