Mersiha Husagić
Mersiha is a Bosnian-born filmmaker and actress who moved to Germany as a child due to the Bosnian war and now lives and works in Paris.
She began her career acting in German TV shows at the age of 16 and later pursued film studies at the University of Art in Hamburg, where she discovered her passion for directing. Mersiha continued acting while writing screenplays and directing short films. Her perseverance led to her winning an Honorable Mention for Best Production Design at the RED Movie Awards for her work on Cherry Juice, the opening film of this year's BIHLAFF.
Cherry Juice, inspired by her family’s experience during the Bosnian war, is a deeply personal film blending fiction, drawings, archival footage, and music to create a surrealistic narrative. Despite its low budget, Mersiha's resourcefulness brought the story to life, showcasing the trauma and resilience of its characters. The film’s unique production design and emotional depth have been widely praised.
Maja Zećo
Maja Zećo (she/her) is a Bosnian-German actress specializing in theater work and has received numerous awards and recognitions for her contributions. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Acting from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo and has worked with various theaters in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As part of the project "Inclusion of Children with Special Needs," she developed the play "The Wolf Falls in Love," which brought together children from different ethnic backgrounds. She currently lives and works in Berlin.
In October 2021, the immersive theater production "What We Laughed About" premiered as a co-production with the Deutsches Theater Berlin. She was responsible for the artistic direction of this play along with an international team and also took on the role of Nina. Maja has appeared in numerous television and film productions, most recently in "Tatort Ludwigshafen: Lena’s Aunt" by Tom Lass, where she played the role of nurse Simona Ferizaj. Currently, she is working with Grips Theater, Theater Morgenstern, and is featured at Theater unterm Dach in the play "T4. Ophelia’s Garden" as Gertrud, as well as in the play "Germany: Loner, Isolated Incident" in the roles of Marwa El Sherbini and Alex W. Starting in October, you can see her at the Mecklenburg State Theater in the role of the witch in the Brothers Grimm’s New Year’s Story.
Maja is also involved in theater pedagogy and is currently conducting workshops for children in Berlin and Bosnia and Herzegovina. With the project "Libera Me," which she developed together with Russian musician and composer Roman Stolyar, she is touring Europe. "Libera Me" is a groundbreaking multimedia performance that unites the voices of war experiences from Bosnia and Ukraine.
Ferdinand Fries
Ferdinand Fries was born in 1955 in Bottrop – at the foot of the Black Mountains. As a student, he began practical film work thanks to his father's Super 8 camera. He studied German and Art at the University of Essen and later attended the film class of Claudia von Alemann at Fachhochschule Dortmund.
In 1986, he founded his own video production company in Bottrop together with the visual artist Irmelin Sansen. Since then, he has worked as a cameraman and editor, producing numerous video films (art videos, documentaries, and commissioned works). For many years, in cooperation with the Cinematheque in the Ruhr area, he has been creating exhibition videos for the Ruhr Museum in Essen.
