CIRCLEDRAWERS - THE CREATORS

Olaf de Fleur Johannesson (writer/director/producer) has been a dedicated filmmaker for over a decade. He founded his own independent production company, Poppoli Pictures, in 2003. Olaf was selected for the Berlinale Talent Campus in 2003 and 2004. For “Shining Star”, he won the ‘Best Documentary Feature’ award at the Icelandic Film Awards in 2004, and he won the award again in 2005 for “Africa United”. Olaf wrote and directed his first feature film “Queen Raquela” and won the “Best Feature” at the Berlinale Teddy Awards 2008. While following “Queen Raquela” Olaf shot his second feature film in Iceland in June 2008 called “Higher Force”. Queen Raquela is being distributed in the US by Here!.

Stefan Schaefer (writer/producer/actor) - A co-founder of the New York-based production company Cicala Filmworks, Stefan has worked in independent film for over 12 years. His films have premiered and won awards at festivals such as Berlin, South by Southwest, Rotterdam and the Hamptons, and have been successfully released theatrically, via cable outfits such as HBO and the Sundance Channel, and on DVD. Over the last five years he has written, directed and/or produced six feature films, among them: Michael Imperioli's debut "The Hungry Ghosts" (2009), "Arranged" (2007) and two films with Olaf, "The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela" (2008) and "The Higher Force" (2008). Recent awards include: Grand Prize at the Skip City Int’l Film Festival in Japan, Best Film at the Brooklyn Int’l Film Festival, and Best Screenwriter at the Hamptons Film Festival. Stefan and Olaf met at the 2003 Berlinale Talent Campus.