Born in Berlin and raised in Palma de Mallorca, Sandra is an award-winning actress, filmmaker, and festival director with a unique international background and experience, currently based in Los Angeles and Palma de Mallorca. She is fluent in English, Spanish and German.

Her earliest passion was acting, and after working professionally as a teenager in Europe, she studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre School in New York City. She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career, and begin her filmmaker career as well. She graduated from the Los Angeles Film School with a degree in Directing and Producing in 2012.

In 2012 she founded the inaugural Evolution! Mallorca International Film Festival, with the goal of creating a world-class, destination film festival in the Mediterranean that celebrates innovative independent cinema amidst the natural beauty of Palma de Mallorca.

We had a chat with Sandra. Here are the excerpts.

• What inspired you to start/conduct this festival. 

I started the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival because I saw there was great potential  (in my home, where I grew up) to establish an event could attract the international film industry once a year to celebrate independent film in Mallorca. I am a filmmaker myself and after visiting numerous festivals throughout the years I wondered by Mallorca didn’t have it’s own great festival? I pitched my idea to some friends who lived on the island, all involved in their own amazing businesses and to my surprise everyone jumped on board and the EMIFF was born in 2012. 

• How does this festival stands apart from other festivals?

Location, Location, Location. It’s a cliche but so true. Mallorca has forever been a magical place; enchanting light, beautiful beaches, impressive mountains, excellent food and of course wonderful people. It sits right in the middle of the mediterranean so the weather in October is mild and warm compared to the rest of Europe. Mallorca boasts amazing shooting locations, production services and crew. Apart from the Locals, Mallorca has a large expat community of german, British, Swedish, French and American business entrepreneurs, bringing a fresh new line of innovative start ups, cafes and restaurants, and design oriented brands to the island. Airline connections are endless every day and I have never met a person who wouldn’t want to come to Mallorca.

• What are the few things to look forward to, at the festival this year?

EMIFF 2018 offers 7 full days and nights of films, panels, networking events and parties. Our program includes 102 films, including feature films, short films, documentaries a Made In Baleares section, a virtual Reality lounge, experimental films, Music Videos and films for Kids. We are the only European Film Festival with an original Drive in Cinema hosted by Port Adriano. Our Industry panels are called Producers Club (28.10.) and this year we welcome great names to talk about International Co-Production and Marketing for film such as: Lucinda Syson (Casting Director for Wonder Women, Batman, Inception etc.), Tore Schmidt (Producer of the Academy award winning Danish Girl, 2015), Journalists Hus Miller and Anna Smith (President of the Film Critics Circle UK) and many more. Our 2018 Award winners include Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen who receives the Evolution VISION Award, Academy Award nominee writer/director Tobias Lindholm who will receive the Evolutionary Award and Grand Dame of Spanish cinema Marisa Paredes whom we will honer with the Evolution Honorary Award. 

• Any exciting things you are currently working on?

It’s all very exciting! The 7th EMIFF edition is around the corner and I am 7months pregnant, so lot’s to look forward too :)

• Anything else you would like to share?

EMIFF’s mission since it’s inception as always been BRIDGING CULTURES / BRIDGING PEOPLE. My goal is to create an international Film community on the island who all come together under one roof, no matter their skin color, religion or nationality, all are welcome - Come and Join the Evolution!

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Information on Evolution! Mallorca International Film Festival:

Evolution! Mallorca International Film Festival (EMIFF) is one of the fastest growing, most respected and exciting film festivals in the Mediterranean. An excellent hub for networking with some of the brightest minds in filmmaking, EMIFF is as intimate and invigorating as it is breathtakingly gorgeous. Filmmakers and storytelling enthusiasts visit this island paradise to discover "the next great generation of filmmakers" They've yet to go home disappointed. 

Now in its 6th year, EMIFF is based in the heart of Mallorca’s buzzing and culturally rich center of Palma. In addition to feature films and short films, EMIFF also welcomes documentaries, music videos, animation shorts, experimental shorts and more. With competitive screenings unfolding at Teatro Principal, Cineciutat, Port Adriano and the museum of modern and contemporary art Es Baluard, EMIFF is an ideal place for indie filmmakers to rub elbows with industry professionals, while enjoying one of the most stunning islands in the Mediterranean as their backdrop.

This year's EMIFF will include screenings, networking events, panels, and workshops every single day with up-and-coming filmmakers, established industry professionals as well as the general public interested in arts, film and culture.

EMIFF attracts over 2500 attendees from over 20 countries worldwide. In conjunction with its sister-screening event in Los Angeles; SEE THE WINNERS, a special selection of winning films screened at the Los Angeles Film School in the heart of Hollywood, EMIFF is becoming an international launching pad for promising new talent in all film genres

Additional Information about Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival is available at www.evolutionfilmfestival.com

Connect with Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival:

https://www.facebook.com/EvolutionFilmFestival/

Twitter: @EvolutionIFF

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