Left to right: Kani Lapuerta; Gerrit Woltemath; Raul Niño Zambrano
We are delighted to announce the Selection Committee for the second edition of our Queer Realities Director’s Lab, supported by the BFI National Lottery Creative Challenge Fund, awarding National Lottery Good Cause funding.
The Committee will select 10 LGBTQIA+ directors for the Queer Realities Director's Lab, which will provide the cohort with a space to learn, share and explore the form of documentary through masterclasses, workshops and individual mentoring, plus a bursary. It will culminate in a presentation showcase and networking session at Sheffield DocFest.
Interested in applying for the Queer Realities Director’s Lab? Find out more and apply by 25 August (13:00 BST) here.
Kani Lapuerta
Kani Lapuerta is a trans filmmaker and researcher.
His debut feature, Niñxs (2025) premiered in the International Competition at Visions du Réel Festival (Switzerland) and was selected and awarded at many top festivals around the world, such as Sheffield DocFest (UK), NewFest (USA), Molodist (Ukraine), Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Lima International Film Festival (Peru), among others.
His short film La Fuga premiered in 2021 at the Morelia International Film Festival and has received awards and been screened at various film festivals across Latin America and Europe.
He conducts community-based and transfeminist filmmaking workshops in different community spaces and institutions such as UNAM, as well as cultural centers in Mexico and abroad, and founded the collective Cinema Against Transphobia, through which the first showcase, “One Cineminute Against Transphobia,” was organized.
Throughout his career, he has engaged in dissident projects and spaces that challenge hegemonic norms surrounding gender, heterosexuality, diverse corporealities, and social justice, weaving subversive alliances among bodies that seek to question unequal social structures.
Gerrit Woltemath
Gerrit Woltemath is a Berlin-based film curator, cultural worker, and activist, and a member of the Board of Directors of the TEDDY Foundation.
He has worked with various cultural institutions, including Berlinale Panorama since 2014, and has been a member of the Panorama Advisory Selection Committee since 2022.
Raul Niño Zambrano
Raul Niño Zambrano has been the Creative Director of Sheffield DocFest since 2023. Prior to this, he served as a Senior Programmer at IDFA where his journey began in 2008.
At Sheffield DocFest, Raul has led the introduction of TV documentary series premieres, the innovative Podcast Pitch, and most recently, the creation of the Queer Realities Director’s Lab, designed to inspire and push creative boundaries in queer non-fiction storytelling.
As an active member of the documentary film community, Raul has served as a juror for renowned international festivals, including the Berlinale Teddy Award, Nordisk Panorama, the Morelia International Film Festival, the BFI London Film Festival, and the Taiwan International Documentary Festival.
He has also shared his expertise as a tutor and industry mentor at prestigious events such as Al Jazeera Documentary Industry Days, FESPACO, DMZ, and the Bogotá Audiovisual Market.
Interested in applying for the Queer Realities Director’s Lab? Find out more and apply before 25 August (13:00 BST) here:
Queer Realities Director’s Lab is supported by the BFI National Lottery Creative Challenge Fund, awarding National Lottery Good Cause funding.
