#DocSafe co-founder and Current Lead

Marion Schmidt is a cultural manager, consultant, and facilitator committed to building more equitable, safer, and collaborative environments across film, culture, and the NGO sector. She advises the DW Akademie Film Department, works internationally with film markets, festivals, and organisations as a strategic consultant, curator, and mentor, and leads the #DocSafe initiative, advocating for safer working conditions in the documentary field and beyond. Marion loves bringing people together and believes in the need for structural change, striving in her cultural practice to create spaces for critical interaction. Marion recently became a certified systemic integrative coach.

She is regularly invited to serve on juries and selection committees worldwide, and she frequently moderates panels and facilitates roundtables in international film industry settings. She is a co-founder of the Documentary Association of Europe (DAE), serving as co-director from 2020–2024 and now as board member and senior consultant. She also sits on the boards of the Network of Arab Alternative Screens (NAAS) and the Palestine Film Institute (PFI), and co-founded DOX BOX e.V. – a support organisation for documentary filmmakers from and in the Arab region in 2014. Marion has worked across diverse contexts, from established organisations to grassroots collectives, and brings almost 20 years of experience to her diverse practice