Heidi Gronauer is passionate about film, theatre, dance, and music, and believes in the power of the arts to foster dialogue and inspire change.
She led ZeLIG Film School in Bolzano for more than 35 years, shaping it into an internationally recognised centre for documentary education. She founded and directed the European training programme ESoDoc – European Social Documentary (2004–2025) and was responsible for the Media-Mundus and international projects realised by ZeLIG in India and Africa (LINCT; ESoDoc INDIA; ESoDoc International).
In her early years, she was active in Berlin’s cultural scene, contributing to artistic initiatives and cross-city partnerships. She has worked in Italy since the mid-1980s, collaborating with Trento Cinema – International Encounters with Music for Cinema, and creating theatre series and cultural exchange projects between Germany and Italy, including Adventure in Europe – City of Berlin, Pirati Teatrali, and Teatrando… in lingua straniera.
She is co-founder of the Italian documentary association Doc/it and has co-directed the Italian Doc Screenings since 2014. She has served on numerous film juries and funding bodies, collaborates with the Trento Film Festival and many other festivals and networks worldwide, and is a member of the European Film Academy (EFA).
Trento/Berlin October 2025
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After a successful pitch held in Bolzano on the 3rd of October, the new ZeLIG graduation films, which will close the three-years cycle 2022 - 2025, are now entering their production phase.
On Thursday, 3 October, starting at 9.30h at ZeLIG, there will be the Pitch of the upcoming graduation films.
"Do you get me?", graduation film realised by Otto Lazić-Reuschel, Julia Inderst and Angela Disanto, received the award for the Best Medium-Short Documentary at the "Acthung Berlin" Film Festival, which took place in the German capital in April.
Our students Simona Palmieri, Esther Kreiner and Elisa Cabbai, and our graduate Nuno Escudeiro, received two important awards at the 72nd edition of the Trento Film Festival.
"Stanze", a short film realised by Simona Palmieri, Esther Kreiner and Elisa Cabbai, has been selected for the official program of "DIAGONALE - Festival of Austrian films"
Our film DUSK CHORUS - Based on "Fragments of Extinction" is part of the two-days event "SOUNDSCAPES - L'esperienza del silenzio e del suono nel paesaggio", which takes place in Treviso on 22. And 23. February.
Our recent graduation films continue their festival tour. New screenings foreseen between October and November.
ORERA, graduation film by Julien Mounier, Nicola Maccanetti and Andrea Tomarchio, was part of the official program of the International Film Festival "Cinemambiente", which took place in Turin from 5. to 11. June.
Our graduation film "CLOUDY MEMORIES", realised by Isabella Friedl and Demetra Rizzi, started its festival distribution with two important awards.
