Stefanie Paul - Creative Producer & Art Director
Stefanie Paul is responsible for the tasks of organization, film festival representations, budgeting and public relations. So her part of work mainly started with the film's finishing. But, due to her artistic and design experience, she was also working on the Look & Feel of AFRICA LIGHT / GRAY ZONE.
What else could be important about her career? Stefanie grew up as a granddaughter of a photographer in the snugly town Eckernfoerde at the Baltic Sea. Due to the foreign activities of her father, she went to the International Community School in Amman, Jordan. In 1993 she began her graphic design studies at the Liberal Art School in Stuttgart. After graduation, she got immediately hired by Springer & Jacoby, one the most impressive German ad agencies. Parallel, Steffi initiated many art exhibitions in order to stay fit in artificial matters and to expand her focus on new challenges. In 2006 she met Tino Schwanemann with whom she shared a common sense of creative passion. Together they decided to impress the media world sustainably by establishing a label called einscommanull.
Further details about Stefanie Paul on einscommanull and International Movie Database.
Tino Schwanemann - Director, Editor & Visual Effects Artist
AFRICA LIGHT / GRAY ZONE was developed by him. Tino is the man of first round, when this short film was still an unborn child. He created the basic idea as well as the conc
ept, was responsible for the direction, was doing the editing, the Visual Effects and so on.
Tino's horizon is widely spread. The reason for that is his career. He began his studies at the Bauhaus Dessau in the focus of Design / Audiovisual Media. Right at the beginning of the year 2002, he went abroad for one year to spend in the United States, where his passion for films in all genres broke out rapidly. His first experimental short film was awarded by several film festivals. In 2003, when he was back in Germany and after graduation at the Bauhaus, Tino decided to concentrate much more on filmmaking and began his studies at the Film Academy Baden Wurttemberg. He graduated in 2007. Then, Tino was responsible for the Art Direction of ProsiebenSat.1, Germany’s biggest TV station group. Constantly searching for challenges, he decided to leave the safe career position of an employee to become a freelance director and creative art director in the unpredictable wilderness. Together with Stefanie Paul, he began with the creation of the label einscommanull, a preliminary phase for a further self-employment.
Further details about Tino Schwanemann on einscommanull, Crew United and International Movie Database.
Steffen Greisiger - Music Composer
Steffen is responsible for the overwhelming tingling feeling of our viewers. The music for the film is his personal creation. This score is an individual and original subject of 
dramaturgy, as the film itself. Steffen is into the classical, symphonic world as much as in the electronic soundscapes. He understands the experimental use of his sound creations just like the commercial use of it in the so-called mainstream. This is reason for an unique final mixture, which fits to our film perfectly.
Steffen studied jazz piano and music arrangement with Richie Beirach in Leipzig. Since 1999, he composes music for the Schauspielhaus Leipzig in Saxony, the State Theater and the Theater Gera / Altenburg. In 2006 he started to study film music composition at the HFF Potsdam. As part of his final examination work, he is responsible for music and orchestration of AFRICA LIGHT / GRAY ZONE. Steffen also composed music for many film projects as part of his studies at the HFF Potsdam as well as in cooperation with the dffb Berlin.
Further details about Steffen Greisiger on his official website, the official website of the HFF Potsdam and on International Movie Database.
Bernd Wefelmeyer - Conductor
There is nothing left to say about Bernd Wefelmeyer. He surely is one of the most important German composers and conductors. For his stunning achievements, he was awarded with the German Federal Cross of Merit of Brandenburg. He was responsible for more than 300 theater, television and music compositions like "Neighborhood Stories", "Donna Leon", "Polizeiruf 110" and "The Little Polar Bear". But he is not only renowned as the leading conductor of The German Film Orchestra Babelsberg, also for his work with bands like Karat ("The Blue Planet"), Silly and The Puhdys. It is an honor for us!
Further details about Bernd Wefelmeyer on his official website and on International Movie Database.
The German Film Orchestra Babelsberg - Orchestra
Stylistic diversity, flexibility and quality, as well as a long-studio experience characterize the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg (DFOB), recognized internationally as a cultural ambassador of Germany, and also representing the media in Berlin-Brandenburg. The renowned orchestra was famous as a UFA and later as DEFA Symphony Orchestra.
Specialty of the orchestra, in addition to the import of soundtracks for film and television productions such as "Schindler's List" or "One Day in Europe", are performances of silent film classics with the original soundtrack (called movie live concerts), such as "Metropolis", "Nibelungen" and "Modern Times", which attract mainly a young audience.
In addition, the Film Orchestra collaborates with artists such as the Söhne Mannheims, with Udo Lindenberg, Jose Carreras, Till Brönner, Brian Adams or Kevin Spacey. (source: Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of Brandenburg).
Further details about The German Film Orchestra Babelsberg on the official website and on Wikipedia.
Jan Weigel - Sound Design
Jan-Christopher Weigel was deeply influenced by his father, the guitarist Wolfgang Weigel. So, Jan came in touch with classical and contemporary music very early. His future 
career became obvious. During the school, Jan played in many different bands and in orchestras for theater and ballet, percussion, bass and guitar. As a fellow in professional jazz drumming, he studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and got in touch with the possibilities of computer-based music production for the first time. From this point on, the computer became his main companion, although he now uses live instruments in productions again.
"Sounds directly influence the perception of people, and for me this is the most exciting thing in my work. For me, the sound design is as interesting and important as the music itself. Its intention is to arouse emotions, and it does not matter whether it is the sound of a car door, the music in film and in advertising, or the bass drum in a Berlin club. "
Further details about Jan Weigel on his official website and his public site on MySpace.
Christian Ottow - Sound Engineering & Mix
Christian is responsible for the nuances and the final effects of AFR
ICA LIGHT / GRAY ZONE's music and sound design.
His sensitive feeling for sounds and arrangements guarantees an acoustic effect of our work in its full splendor. Thanks
to him, a unique pleasure and a phenomenal experience for our viewers is the result.
Christian Ottow graduated as an audio engineer in Nashville, TN, and reached his bachelor's degree in Studio Arts with Honors in Melbourne. He works as a composer, sound designer and engineer in Berlin and has been known for many productions, for clients like Sony BMG, Urbanauten, Lebenshilfe e.V. and Melbourne Synchro City.
Further details about Christian Ottow on his official website and on his public Media City Berlin profile.
Ulrich Reuter - Music Consultant
Ulrich Reuter has studied music, focussing on high school teaching. Then it took him to the Film Academy in Ludwigsburg. He had his famous first chance with the movie "14 Days For Life" by Roland Suso Richter, to whom he was recommended by Niko Hoffmann. After this debut then, it was easier to get other renowned projects. And they followed very quickly. From "Tatort", "Polizeiruf 110", "The Miracle of Berlin" to "Wolff's Revier" and "Storms in Africa", Ulrich Reuter was responsible for the crème de la crème of the German TV and film music. Regarding AFRICA LIGHT / GRAY ZONE, he was a strong support for Steffen Greisiger in the field of music production.
Further details about Ulrich Reuter on his official website and International Movie Database.
Holger Lochau - Consulting Producer
This man has likely invented the term 'production'. His filmography is like a Who Is Who of German cinema, and he knows not to fear of unusual, artistic concepts and genres. To represent his full work here would be beyond the scope of our website by far. Thus, we refer to external databases (see below). We strongly appreciate Holger Lochaus strong support. Without it, the film would have never been possible in its present form.
Further details about Holger Lochau on Kino.de and International Movie Database.
Felix Novo De Oliveira - Cinematographer
Felix is a first-class cinematographer of commercials, short films and feature films. He won several awards for his outstanding work, such as The Student Oscar, Epica Award, The Kodak Cinematography Award, Kodak Eastman Award and The U.S. Groundbreakers Prize. Felix studied at the Film Academy. He also took part in an UCLA Workshop and in the Budapest Cinematography Masterclass. His various photographed films are renowned internationally.
Further details about Felix Novo De Oliveira on his official website and International Movie Database.
Mathias Prause - Cinematographer
This sunnyboy was known for his good vibes while shooting AFRICA LIGHT / GRAY ZONE. He studied at the Film Academy and was a DoP of various cinema and television productions. His photographed film "Hochhaus", directed by Nikias Chryssios and produced by Film Academy Baden Wurttemberg, won several international awards. Mathias focusses on documentaries as well as feature narrative films. And he also has a great taste in electronic music.
Further details about Mathias Prause on International Movie Database.
Dijongo Zaire - Location Scout
As a resident of Namibia, a German speaking Herero, Dijongo knows his country best. He speaks German, English, Afrikaans and Oshiwambo fluently. In Germany he worked as a trainer for social workers in Flensburg as well as a lecturer, then was tutor and teacher at the Bush School Namibia. Since 2001 he is working as a freelance tour guide for various companies. Dijongo knows about land, people, culture, history & interesting background stories. He knows the perfect routes, the greatest sceneries and all-day challenges of wildlfe. And besides, Dijongo just has a great sense of humor as you can see in The Making of.
Further details about Dijongo Zaire on Hauser Expeditions, Interhunt (International Hunting) and NDR Info (German Info Television).
We Would Also Like To Thank
Dr. Carola Stern, Richard "Moby" Hall, Dr. Artur Hofer, Claudia Valet, Britta Lax-Engel, Markus N. Beeko, Carsten Möhle, Thomas Lechner, Frank Brandstetter (Editing Consulting), Daniel Basle (Visual Effects Consulting), Sabine Hirtes, Joachim Genannt, Michael Schott, our supporters of The School for Film and Television (HFF) Potsdam Babelsberg and Film Academy Baden Wurttemberg, Scenic Air Namibia, Pelican Tours, Peter Pfanner & Verena at Timeline Studios Stuttgart, 908 video, as well as Kristian Golder at Kodak.
