Born in 1983 in Thuringia, Germany, Barbara Wallbraun discovered her passion for everything media-related from very early on and followed her path ever since. A scholarship for “Media Culture” studies at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi/Finland inspired her to focus on documentaries. After receiving her diploma of “culture and media education” from Merseburg College in Germany, she specialised in producing her very own documentaries and managed short film projects.
For the past 15 years, Barbara has worked as an independent film and media educator in Germany. Initially she gained valuable experience as set runner and production assistant at various German media production houses and subsequently as control room director at the public broadcasting and television station MDR. Notably she enjoys being a sexual equality advocate and being a public speaker on “Lesbians as Targets of the State Security Service Stasi” as well as on general media related topics, such as „How to Create a Documentary”.
Barbara started her research on UFERFRAUEN in 2012 and concluded the project in September 2019 with its first screening at the 30th Queer Film Festival in Hamburg winning the “Best Documentary” Award. Prior to UFERFRAUEN, she has gained first public recognition for establishing and managing the trailing short-film festival “Mauerstreifen” in Leipzig (2005-2013) as well as for initiating the queer film festival “Paranoid Paradise #2” in Leipzig in 2011. Barbara is also co-founder of the media education network „Netzwerk Medienpädagogik Sachsen“ in Germany.
