Dimitra Kouzi, Creative Producer/Director, Curator, Audience developer
Dimitra Kouzi grew up in a multicultural environment, attending an international school in Bavaria, Germany, since the age of 6. She became a citizen of the world and learned to communicate and interact with children from 20+ nationalities.
Today she is a filmmaker, journalist, curator and creative producer working in communication strategy and audience development. A Media and Communications graduate from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Magister KW, Politik, Recht), she also studied Photography and began her career as a journalist in Print in Germany and Greece, and as TV host for the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), ARTE and ZDF. She was commissioner for ERT, acquiring 1700 hours of independent documentaries per year for the digital channels. It is there were she created an extensive network in the documentary industry and put all her experience into creatively making films stand out.
Her creative production skills have shaped the scope for filmmakers, festivals, doc workshops and clients in film and television, museums, contemporary art and entertainment. She is an active member of the film community, whether in front of the camera as host and presenter (ARTE Greek Theme Day 2013; ZDF Live, Olympic Games Athens 2004) or behind the camera as a director or producer:
• Little Land, dir. Nikos Dayadas, based upon my original idea, research and story development, (commissioned by ARTE), 2014
• People, Gods and Other Creatures, dir. Svetlana Strelnicova, produced by Doppelplussultra Hamburg, creative producer, 2018 (in post-production)
• Love with Obstacles, The History of the Relation between Greeks and Germans, 2019, Germany, Co-author with Ingo Helm (commissioned by ARTE/NDR)
• Good Morning Mr Fotis, 2020, 70ʹ, Greece, Producer/Director: Docs in Progress Award, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2019; official selection and Youth Award, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2020
• Passage to Europe, 2021, 48’, Greece, Producer/Director, 2021 San Francisco Greek Film Festival Jury Award winner for Best Documentary; Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, Jury Special Mention; Documentary 2021, Japan Foundation President’s Prize, Japan Awards 2021 (NHK Japan Broadcasting Corporation); #ThisisEU European Values Award, E.C. in Greece, Chania Film Festival 2021
• Art Crimes, six part series, by Unknown Media Berlin (production company focusing on high end documentary series), producer Stefano Strocchi, research and line producer for one of the episodes, 2022-23
• Shach im Slam, dir. Jan Schmidt Garre, Pars Media, Germany (in development) 2023, creative producer
• Connecting with Mit (Mitropoulos) ARNode, feature-length documentary, co-production between Greece and Gris Medio Spain (in development) director and cinematographer
Dimitra works as a tutor at the LMU Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and for established workshops such as The Balkan Documentary Centre and Docu Rough Cut Boutique (since 2019) pitching preparation for Sarajevo Film Festival.
Since 2023 she has been a speaker and, since April 2023, guest workshop instructor for the LMU München (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)
Beyond consulting and tutoring, she is a speaker, moderator and jury member in several documentary festivals.
In 2015 she founded Kouzi Productions; in the same year, she also graduated from EURODOC. She has been collaborating with filmmakers, festivals and distributors, including IDFA, Prix Europa, Vision du Reel, Institute of Documentary Film Prague, CineDoc Greece (co-organiser of event-based, documentary-themed evening screenings in Athens and Europe 2009–2016), KineDok, Deutsche Film und Fernsehakademie Berlin, MIA Market and Japan Prize. In 2016 she founded KinderDocs Festival for children and young audiences at the Benaki Museum in Athens and MOMus Contemporary Art Museum in Thessaloniki, Greece, in collaboration with IDFA, Doxs Ruhr and doxs! in Germany. KinderDocs produces interdisciplinary educational material for schools which facilitates learning from the environment.
She is fluent in Greek, English and German, and is based in Athens, Berlin and Munich.
Audience development and communication strategy (selection):
• La Chana, dir. Lucija Stojevic: Audience Developer for the premiere at IDFA – Winner IDFA Audience Award 2016
• 21 X New York, dir. Piotr Stasik: Communication strategist for EFA Awards 2016
• Siberian Love, dir. Olga Delane, IDFA 2016, audience development and visual identity, including communication strategy/cοnsultancy for the first appearance of Hamburg-based Doppelplusultra production company.
• Reconciliation, dir. Marija Zidar: fine cut consulting and communication strategy, CPH:DOX 2021 Next Wave
• The Balcony Movie, dir. Paweł Łoziński: Audience Developer for EFA Awards 2022
• Holy Dilema, dir. Julianna Ugrin, Márton Vízkelety: Audience Developer, including visual identity for Astra Film Festival 2022
• Girls’ Stories, dir. Aga Borzym, Premiere Audience Developer for IDFA premiere Young Audiences 2023
• Apolonia, Apolonia, dir. Lea Glob, Strategy and Audience for EFA Awards 2023
Dimitra Kouzi
Mob 00306946060862
Tel 00302107219909
kouziproductions.com