A festival founded by two women with a shared vision
The CALL Film Festival was founded by two women who are internationally connected and have many years of experience in the fields of film and media. Their shared vision is to create a festival that stands out for its integrity, independence, and substance.
Christina Zappella-Kindel
Christina Zappella-Kindel is a co-founder of the Women’s World Awards, which were presented from 2004 to 2010 by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mikhail Gorbachev to honour exceptional women. Past recipients include Oprah Winfrey, Catherine Deneuve, Whoopi Goldberg, Lucy Liu, Susan Sarandon, and Claudia Cardinale.
Together with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Betty Williams, she founded the Women’s World Congress and the Green World Forum.
She has organised numerous international events, including Europe’s first Green EXPO 2011 in Vienna, which drew 55,000 visitors.
Christina is the founder of PANAREA Studios, a Vienna-based TV production company, as well as of magazines and media platforms such as OOOM and CALL, which are dedicated to inspiring people.
Elisabeth Sereda
Elisabeth Sereda was a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for more than 25 years and sat on the Board of Directors of the Golden Globes. She played a key role in the annual production of the awards ceremony before relocating to New Orleans.
Her work with international film festivals spans more than a decade. At the Sundance Film Festival, she conceived and moderated the panel series „Women Breaking Barriers“ for five years, with guests including Octavia Spencer, Kyra Sedgwick, Halle Berry, Zendaya, Kerry Washington, and Robin Wright.
Elisabeth has also moderated masterclasses at the Ora! Film Fest and served as artistic director of the Alta Badia Arts & Film Festival. In addition to her journalistic and curatorial work, she is an experienced event producer and the author of the novel „Casket Girls“.
The Festival President 2026: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Oliver Hirschbiegel is one of the world’s best-known and most internationally successful German directors of his generation. He achieved his cinematic breakthrough in 2001 with the psychological thriller „Das Experiment“ (The Experiment), which received great international attention. He became world-famous in 2004 with the historical film „Der Untergang“ (Downfall), which depicts the final days of Adolf Hitler and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Following this success, Hirschbiegel also worked in Hollywood, directing, among others, „The Invasion“ with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. He received further international recognition in 2009 for „Five Minutes of Heaven“ with Liam Neeson, for which he was honoured as „Best Director“ at the Sundance Film Festival and which the CALL Film Festival is showing. In 2013, he directed the biopic „Diana“ about Diana, Princess of Wales, with Naomi Watts in the leading role.
Alongside his cinema work, Hirschbiegel has produced successful series for Netflix, Amazon Channels, HBO Max, and Apple TV+, including „Borgia“, „4 Blocks“, „Criminal: Germany“, and „Constellation“. His work is characterised by psychological depth, strong characterisation, and historical-political subject matter.
