Our people

Irini Sarioglou (Dr.) was born in Istanbul in 1972. She is an Assistant Professor of Contemporary History at Istanbul University (Dept. Modern Greek Studies) and the General Secretary of the Hellenic History Foundation in Athens. She specialises in contemporary Greek and late Ottoman/modern Turkish history (19th -20th century).

Her filmography includes: Zappeion High School for Girls (Script-Research-Narration-Translation), The Ten Day Diary (Concept-Research-Script-Narration-Translation), The Exiled (Concept-Research-Script-Narration-Translation), The Silent School (Co-Directing-Script-Research), Imvros – Tenedos: A tale of memories (Co-Directing-Script-Research), On the edge of the Aegean, Castellorizo (Co-Directing-Script, Research) and The East Has Set (Co-Directing, Research). She is the President of Beyond Borders| Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival. She speaks English, French and Turkish.

Rudy Buttignol, C.M., is an executive producer of documentary features and series; a consultant to broadcasters and producers; and a moderator of financing forums in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

His award-winning documentary series include Emergency Room: Life + Death at VGH; Paramedics – Life on the Line; Emmy/Grammy-winner Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach; and Afghanistan; The Wounded Land. Feature documentaries include Oscar-nominated Writing with Fire; Shut Up and Say Something; and The Corporation. From 2007 to 2022, Buttignol served as President & CEO of Knowledge Network, British Columbia’s public broadcaster, and as President of BBC Kids network. From 1993 to 2006, Buttignol was a Commissioning Editor, Executive Producer, and Head of Network Programming at public broadcast network TVOntario. From 1975 to 1993 he worked as an independent writer, director and producer of documentaries and children’s programs. Buttignol is the winner of nine Canadian Academy Awards, an Honorary Doctor of Letters, and is a Member of the Order of Canada. He was born in Pordenone, Italy, graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Toronto’s York University, and executive programs at Harvard and Stanford.

Claudia Schreiner was born and raised in Cologne (former West-Germany).
She studied History, Archeology and Political Science at Cologne University (Phd.) and Columbia University, NYC (MA).
Worked as Journalist, Moderator and US Correspondent for Public Broadcast System at ZDF, ARD, RIAS.
Latest positions: Head of Program, Culture/Science (ARD,MDR) until 2018, Head of Masterschool, Documentary Campus (Berlin/ Munich) until 2025.
Also, since 2022, she supports, as Head Moderator, the Pitching Lab of Beyond Borders Kastellorizo International Documentary Film Festival.

He was born in 1995 in Athens. His academic studies have focused on issues of Contemporary European and Greek history, while he has been involved with film studies with an emphasis on documentary genre. He has been jury in documentary festivals and since 2022 he is a member of the organizing committee, film programmer and Programming and Development Manager of Beyond Borders | Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival.

Giorgos Alefantis is a professional film editor based in Athens, with 10 years of experience in cinema and television, and a member of Blink, the Greek Editors Association. His filmography includes the multi-award-winning comedy Too Much Info Clouding Over My Head (2017), the film Polyeleos (2018, Student Film Award at the Drama Short Film Festival), and the film Pencil Knife Baton (2019), for which he received the Best Editing Award at the South Film and Arts Academy Festival.

He edited the documentary series Es Avrion ta Spoudaia (2020–2021) for ERT (the Greek national broadcaster), as well as other television projects. His other works include the film Stin R (2017), the dramedy Guest Star (2023), which premiered in the “Meet the Neighbors” section of the Thessaloniki Film Festival after being presented as a work-in-progress at Cannes, and the documentary Biko and His Orchestra (2024), which also premiered at the Thessaloniki Film Festival.

He was born in Athens and studied Physics and Information Systems. His love - initially for photography and later for video production - has led him to the position of Producer - Technical Manager in the Video Services department of the Athens News Agency.

Holding a BA in Cultural Management and an MA in Film Studies, George Panopoulos began his career as the Festival Coordinator of the Animasyros International Animation Festival. He later worked as a Coordinator and Programmer for various international festivals, including the Little Islands Festival and the Lund Fantastic Film Festival. He currently serves as the Festival Coordinator of the Athens Short Film Festival and the Santorini Film Festival, as well as part of the Organizing Committee of Beyond Borders Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival.

Tasos Giapoutzis is a filmmaker, researcher, and Lecturer in Film at the University of Essex, UK. Working across documentary, fiction, and hybrid forms, his creative practice explores themes of memory, nostalgia, displacement, and belonging. His films have screened internationally at film festivals and have been featured in academic and cultural publications.

He is the author of Nostalgia and Displacement in Contemporary European Cinema (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026), a book examining how contemporary cinema engages with experiences of migration, memory, and home. He is currently directing Mnemonic Muse, a feature-length hybrid docufiction that explores nostalgia through the stories of people navigating displacement, migration, and social change.

Through both filmmaking and scholarship, his work examines the ways individuals and communities construct meaning, identity, and attachment to place in an increasingly mobile world.

Tasos Alevras is a documentary filmmaker and video producer with academic background in journalism and performing arts.
In 2015, he released his first documentary, "WHAT POLITICA – A non political Football Story," which was screened at festivals in Greece and abroad.

His work has since been featured by VICE, ERT, and other media platforms. He also collaborates regularly with film festivals in Thessaloniki, Athens, and Kastellorizo.

Maria-Alexandra Iliadis was born in Athens in 1994. She is a graduate of the Pedagogical Department of Elementary Education of the Demokriteio University of Thrace. She holds a M.A in "Public History" of the Open University of Athens. She has attended annual training seminars on "Special Education" and "Intercultural Education". She has worked as a teacher and as an animator of educational programs in museums. She knows English and Turkish.

Thodoris Matsagkos was born in Athens in 1993 and lives in Rafina. He completed his studies in History & Archaeology at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, specializing in history. Since then, he has been working as a teacher in the field of secondary education with an emphasis on teaching history. From 2019 onwards, he successfully coordinates and helps with the preparations of Beyond Borders | Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival.

Born in Florence (Italy) she holds a B.A. in German-Italian Studies (Florence/Bonn) and a M.A. in German-French Studies (Bonn/Paris). She is starting a PhD in German Literature and Comparative Cultural Studies (France/Germany). She is a cinephile, polyglot, cultural journalist and writes for the online-magazine TheDotCultura. Since 2022 she has collaborated with Beyond Borders contributing to the pre-selection process of the documentaries, Q&A sessions and in 2025 to the pre-festival organisation. In 2025 she served as jury member for the Prix Cinéma des Étudiants France Culture at Cannes Film Festival and curated the cinema-club at Fondation Hellénique (Paris).

Born in Istanbul, Gürsel Genç is a student at Istanbul University’s Department of Modern Greek Studies. He was formerly a content writer for the Turkish monthly history magazine #tarih. His interests include Greek and Turkish literature, history, and intercultural dialogue. Outside academia, he volunteers in international educational initiatives through FIRST Robotics

He studied Graphic Design and completed postgraduate studies in Visual Communication and Interactive Media at Vakalo Art & Design College and the University of Derby. Since 2002, he has been working in the advertising industry in the creative sector as a graphic designer, web designer, and freelancer.

He has extensive experience in a wide range of visual communication projects, including editing, production, publishing, advertising, branding, web design, animation, illustration, television shows, and interactive applications. In 2009, he joined the television and film production company Blacklight Productions. In 2024, he directed his first short documentary film, "The Town Crier", produced by Blacklight Productions with the support of the Greek Film Centre. The film received distinctions and awards at film festivals in Greece and abroad, and was a finalist at the 2025 Iris Awards of the Hellenic Film Academy.