ALFREDO CASTRO ORTIGOZA
FILM EDITOR (BFS)
RIEFENSTAHL
Documentary | 116 Min | Germany | 2024
Synopsis: Leni Riefenstahl is considered one of the most controversial women of the 20th century as an artist and a Nazi propagandist. Her films TRIUMPH OF THE WILL and OLYMPIA stand for perfectly staged body worship and the celebration of the superior and victorious. At the same time, these images project contempt for the imperfect and weak. Riefenstahl’s aesthetics are more present than ever today - but is that also true for their implied message? The film examines this question using documents from Riefenstahl's estate, including private films, photos, recordings and letters. It uncovers fragments of her biography and places them in an extended historical context. How could Riefenstahl become the Reich's preeminent filmmaker and keep denying any closer ties to Hitler and Goebbels? During her long life after the fall of Nazism, she remained unapologetic, managing to control and shape her legacy. In personal documents, she mourns her "murdered ideals". Riefenstahl represents many postwar Germans who, in letters and recorded telephone calls from her estate, dream of an organizing hand that will finally clean up the "shit-hole state". Then, her work would also experience a renaissance, in a generation or two this time could come - what if they are right?
Production: Vincent Productions. In coproduction with WDR, SWR, NDR, BR, RBB. With support from
Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, FFA, BKM, DFFF.
Director: Andres Veiel
Producer: Sandra Maischberger
Editors: Stephan Krumbiegel, Olaf Voigtländer, Alfredo Castro
* 81st Venice International Film Festival. Out of Competition - Non Fiction
* 51st Telluride Film Festival, Colorado, USA
* 20th CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival, Ungarn
* 14 Festival 2 Valenciennes, Frankreich
* 20th Zürich Film Festival, Schweiz
* Film Festival Cologne
* Mumbai Film Festival, Indien
* Festival AUGENBLICK, Frankreich
* 49. Hong Kong International Film Festival
AWARDS & Nominations
* Jury Preis. 49. Hong Kong International Film Festival.
* Deutscher Filmpreis 2025. Nominiert als bester Dokumentarfilm
* Bester Film, Cinema & Arts Award, Venedig
* Favorit der Jugendjury 2024, Filmkunsmesse Leipzig 2024
* CineDocs Prize, CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival, Ungarn
* Bester Dokumentarfilm 2024, Gilde Filmpreis der AG Kino-Gilde
THE HUMAN COST
Documentary | Feature | Mexico | 20245| In Post
Synopsis: In the coffee-growing region of southern Chiapas, Mexico, indigenous migrant coffee pickers and indebted producers struggle against a ruthless economic system where the profits from coffee are concentrated in the hands of large international consortiums. This reality is marked by exploitation, severe inequality and colonialism.
Between Guatemala and México, right in the middle of that imaginary line we call "border", in a small town called La Mesilla, migrant families arrive each year to be temporarily hired in the coffee plantations during the harvest season. It is here where the families of Efrain and Alfonso embark on their long and dangerous annual journey to the neighbor land to work hard on the coffee farms to save enough money to survive until the next harvest. They arrive at Finca La Victoria, owned by Martiniano, who also struggles with the low coffee prices and rising debts. He is willing to do anything not to lose his farm, but the reality of the coffee trade is not encouraging.
Production: Duality Films
Director: Alex Noppel
Co-writer: Alfredo Castro
Editor: Alfredo Castro
CORRIDORS OF POWER
Documentary | 130 Min | France, Germany, Israel | 2022
Synopsis: The Corridors of Power is a riveting examination of how American leaders have responded to reports of genocide and mass killing of civilians since the fall of the Soviet Union. From Kuwait to Bosnia, from Rwanda to Kosovo, and recently, in Libya and Syria, we hear leaders and advisers reflect on their decisions.
After The Gatekeepers (Best Documentary Feature nominee at the 85th Academy Awards in 2013) and The Human Factor (Best Documentary Fipa Doc 2020), Dror Moreh pursues his investigation of the corridors of power, and tries to understand America and the UN's failures in preventing genocidal crimes in the course of various conflicts during the post-Cold War period.
Production: Les Films du Poisson, Kathu Studio, Dror Moreh Productions
Director: Dror Moreh
Editors: Oron Adar, Stephan Krumbiegel
Junior Editor: Alfredo Castro
* 49th Telluride Film Festival. Official Selection
* 39th Haifa International Film Festival
* 13th DOC NYC Film Festival
* CPH:DOX Official Selection
* Filmfest Bremen 2024, Winner International Feature Film
* Sidney Filmfestival Official Selection
* FIPADOC 2023, Biarritz, Official Selection
LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX: A CENTURY OF SEX EDUCATION
Documentary TV-Series | 2 Episodes | 90 min / 2x52 min | Germany | 2022
Synopsis: An exciting and insightful journey trough 100 years of sex education
Production: Gebrüder Beetz In co-production with BWP PRODUCTIONS, WDR, NDR, ARTE, OTF
Director: Ina Kessebohm, Nadine Neumann
Editor: Lisa Friedhofen, Marion Pohlschmidt, Alfredo Castro
* Silbersalz Science and Media Award. Best Science Documentary 2023. Nominee.
1/4 ANTE MERIDIEM
Short Film Fiction | 18 Min | Mexico | 2022
Synopsis: Mabel (13 years old) is in love with Ambroz (10 years old), whose mother forbids him to play with her because "she is older than him". The game between them takes place in secret and in a forbidden place. Ambroz's innocence prevents him from deciphering the dark mystery that surrounds Mabel's life.
Production: Parábola / Ozu Media
Director: Alex Noppel
Editor: Alfredo Castro
* 25th Guanajuato International Film Festival. Official Competition.
* 20th Morelia International Film Festival. Official Selection.
* 44th Moscow International Film Festival. Official Competition.
* 45th Havana Film Festival.
* 5th Florence Iberoamerican Film Festival. Entre dos Mundos.
* 28 Openeyes Filmfestival Marburg. Official Competition.
ÖKOZID ECOCIDE
Fiction, TV | 89 Min | Germany | 2020
Synopsis: The year 2034: The consequences of the climate catastrophe are dramatic. Drought and floods destroy the livelihoods of millions of people. After the third storm tide in a row, the headquarters of the International Court of Justice was evacuated. In a provisional interim building in Berlin, the climate change and the ongoing catastrophe becomes the subject of legal proceedings. Two lawyers represent 31 countries of the global South, which are doomed to destruction without the support of the international community. They raise questions of responsibility, demand compensation and a right of nature to integrity in order to ensure their own survival. High-ranking representatives from politics and industry are invited as witnesses. The court must decide whether German policymakers are to be held accountable for their failure to protect the climate and thus set a precedent for climate justice.
Production: zero one film in Coproduction with rbb, NDR, WDR.
Funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, BKM
Director: Andres Veiel
Editors: Stephan Krumbiegel, Olaf Voigtländer
Junior Editor: Alfredo Castro
LUISE
LUISE
Feature | France, Germany | 2022 | In postproduction
Synopsis: Late summer in 1918. In German Alsace, near the French border, the young farmer Luise runs a remote farm. When Hélène, a Frenchwoman, and Hermann, a German deserter hide in her house, her life gets out of control.
Production: Les films de l´étranger, 27 Films, BR-Arte
Director: Matthias Lutthard
Editor: Florian Miosge
On-Set Editor: Alfredo Castro
CORAJE
COURAGE
Documentary | 78 Min | Germany, Mexico | 2018
Synopsis: The lives of three young boys in Mexico City during and after their time in prison struggling to find their place in the outside-world. They don´t only share a history of abuse, violence, poverty and criminality, but also the therapeutic experience of Theater in jail. A experience, they would gladly continue, if they only knew how to make it compatible with the real world they live in the streets of the big town after their release
Production: Freie Universität Berlin, European Research Council, ABO International
Director: Janina Möbius
DoP: Ernesto Pardo, Ricardo del Conde
Editor: Alfredo Castro
* DocsMX 2018, Mexico City International Documentary Film Festival. Official selection
JUST PUSH ABUBA
Web Serie | Ep. 1 Fucklab Honey / EP.5 Greek Style / Ep. 6 Guestlist Terror | Germany | 2018
Synopsis: Three flatmates turn their Berlin flat into an AirBnB hotel. To finance the chaos of their lives.
Production: LUPA Film GmbH, ZDF
Director: Benjamin Cantu, Dieu Hao Do, Joya Thome.
Editors: Katja Dringenberg, Alfredo Castro.
JOHN BERGER oder Die Kunst des Sehens
JOHN BERGER OR THE ART OF LOOKING
Documentary | 55 Min | Germany | 2016
Synopsis: Art, politics and motorcycles: on the occasion of his 90th birthday JOHN BERGER OR THE ART OF LOOKING is an intimate portrait of the writer and art-critic whose ground-breaking work on seeing has shaped our understanding for over five decades
Production: Ma.ja.de Filmproduktion. In co-production with BBC and ZDF in association with ARTE, SRF and SVT
Director: Cordelia Dvorák
DoP: Piotr Rosolowski
Editor: Alfredo Castro
* Guadalajara International Film Festival
* Animation & Contemporary Art FF Olomouc 2016 Thessaloniki IDF 2017
* Art FIFA Montréal 2017
* DOK.fest Munich 2017
AUßEN FRIEDEN, INNEN KRIEG
OUTSIDE PEACE, INSIDE WAR
Documentary | 29 Min | Germany | 2017
Synopsis: More than 70 years after the end of WW2, Hilde and her surviving sister speak about their experiences of sexual and physical violence perpetrated against them and their sisters by soldiers during the war. This film speaks about and to the violence and trauma perpetrated against women and girls in war and crisis zones around the world, both past and present, and its impact on women’s lives.
Production: KaMaBe
Director: Katja Berls
Editor: Alfredo Castro
* 12th MONACO CHARITY FILM FESTIVAL (Official Selection). Monaco, 2017
* 2nd FICII - INCA IMPERIAL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Official Selection). Peru, 2017
* 5th LONDON FEMINIST FILM FESTIVAL (Official Selection).. London, 2017
* 12th SHORTS MEXICO – INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILMS FESTIVAL (International Documentary Competition). Mexico, 2017
* 2nd SAN JOSE INTERNATIONAL FILM AWARDS (Documentary Short Film Category). Costa Rica, 2017 BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY AWARD
* 1st BLUE DANUBE FILM FESTIVAL (Official Selection). Austria, 2017
* NORTH CAROLINA FILM AWARD (Competition). USA, 2017
* STEAM HOUSE ENTERTAINMENT INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS (Official Selection). USA, 2017
* 4th LEBANON INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILMS FESTIVAL (Official Selection). Lebanon, 2017
* 5th SUDAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL (SIFF)(Official Selection). Sudan, 2018
* 13th THE MYRTLE BEACH INT'L FILM FESTIVAL (Official Selection) USA, 2018
DIE BOMBENLEGERIN
THE BOMB- LAYING GIRL
Fiction | 20 Min | Germany | 2015
Synopsis: Mathilda, 16 years old, struggles with the challenges of growing up. Unsatisfied with the world that surrounds her, she tries to revolt. She doesn't want to dance along with all the others, but resistance is not that easy. In her dimmed room, she builds bombs, but she doesn‘t know yet, where to place her anger.
Production: Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF
Director: Bernadette Kolonko
DoP: Omri Aloni
Editor: Alfredo Castro
* Sehsüchte - Internationales Studenten Filmfestival. Potsdam 2016
* 12. Achtung Berlin-The new Berlin film award
* Made in Berlin-Brandenburg - Bester Kurzfilm
DER KRIMINELLE
THE CRIMINAL
Fiction | 30 Min | Germany | 2014
Synopsis: Johannes, fresh released from prison, hit a lot of snags by trying to readapt a normal life in his old environment.
Production: Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln
Director: Christos Netsos
DoP: Miriam Kolesnyk
Editor: Alfredo Castro
* 7. Empfang der Filmhochschulen
* 21. Auteur Film Festival Belgrad
* 57. Thessαloniki Internationαl Film Festivαl. Agora Film Market
DER LETZTE BUS
The Last Bus
Fiction | 15 Min | Germany | 2014
Synopsis: Miso misses her bus to Paris. Luckily, George is around doing slow- motion dance.
Production: Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF
Director: Dieu Hao Do
DoP: Martin Gasch
Editor: Alfredo Castro
* Camerimage Film Festival / Panorama, Poland
BUBENÍČEK
16 mm | Documentary | 17 Min | Germany | 2013
Synopsis: “Bubeníček” is a personal portrait of the amazing Czech twins Jiří and Otto Bubeníček, world-class classical and contemporary ballet dancers. When you see someone dance, you can see his soul.
Production: Filmuniversität Babelsberg „Konrad Wolf“
Director: Dieu Hao Do
Cinematography: Omri Aloni
Editor: Alfredo Castro
*Tel Aviv 16th International Student Film Festival 2014
*San Francisco Dance Film Festival 2014
*Open Eyes Filmfest, 2014, Marburg, Germany. Best Documentary
MÄDCHENFLÜGEL
GIRL’S WINGS
Documentary | 80 Min | Germany | 2014
Synopsis: During an International Youth Dance Exchange Program, the lives of two young women come together: Hiba (17 years old) from Sheikh Dannoon, a Muslim village in Israel, and Laura (18 years old) from Berlin. Soon it becomes evident that the two girls are united by a strong spiritual rapport.
Production: Filmuniversität Babelsberg „Konrad Wolf“
Director: Hanna Salzer
Cinematography: Omri Aloni
Editor: Alfredo Castro
PUEBLOS UNIDOS
THE FARMS
Documentary | 60 Min | Mexico | 2009
Synopsis: In 1994, the U.S. transnational company Granjas Carroll began operations in the valley of Cofre de Perote, in Veracruz. At the beginning, the farmers thought the Company would benefit the community with the pig farm, but as time went on they realized they had been deceived: the farm contaminated the air, the land and the water. The farmers got organized to protest, but the inevitable effects would develop into a terrible Swine Flu in 2009: it began in the village La Gloria and spreads throughout the world.
Director: Felipe Casanova, Miguel Díaz
Agraviados Films
*7. International Film Festival Morelia, Mexico, 2009.
*DOCSDF 4. International Documentary Film Festival Mexico City, 2009.
* Latin American Film Festival Itinéraires. Brussels, Belgium, 2009.
*18. Latin American Film Festival, Biarritz France, 2009.
*Havana Film Festival Cuba, 2009.
LOS AGRAVIADOS
THE AFFECTED
Documentary | 50 Min | Mexico | 2007
Synopsis: 2006 was a decisive year in Mexico‘s modern history. The extreme violent repressions against the peasants in Atenco, the teacher’s movement against the Governor Ulises Ruiz in Oaxaca and the citizen movement against the fraudulent presidential election illustrate a devastating panorama of the social and political crisis in Mexico.
Production: Agraviados Films
Director: Felipe Casanova, Miguel Díaz
*Festival de la Memoria Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico, 2007
SENSOPERCEPCIÓN
Video Installation | 8 Min | Mexico | 2007
Synopsis: Video Installation for three video channels on the theme of audiovisual perception of time and space.
Production: FONCA-CONACULTA
Director and Editor: Alfredo Castro
EPITAFIO
EPITAPH
Video art | 3 Min | Mexico | 2001
Synopsis: Life, dreams and survival in parallel realities.
Production: CAAV Centro de Arte Audiovisual, Guadalajara, Mexico.
Director and Editor: Alfredo Castro
* CHROMA 03. International Festival for Audiovisual Arts. Guadalajara, Mexico, 2001. Winner of the People's Choice Award.
* V.A.I.A Videoart Filmfestival Alcocer, Spanien, 2004