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Ulrike Kubatta is an award-winning documentary producer/director. Her work has been screened nationally and internationally at film festivals, cinemas, museums and galleries.
She is the founder and director of The DocHub, which engages with the creative growth and sociopolitical impact of documentary film and in partnership with the Phoenix Cinema & Arts Centre, programmes public documentary film screenings and events.
In 2023 she co-founded REAL Documentary Film Festival and led its inaugural edition as Festival Director.

Cinema and Television History Institute (CATHI)

• Time Hears Us (working title) – Co-Writer; Feature documentary, current
  Director: Bradley Wood
  In February 2022, Bradley Wood travels to Chernobyl with the aim of photographing and writing about the people who have remained there since the disaster in 86’. Instead, he finds himself melting into the fabric of a full-scale war, spending five months living with the military on occasion and delivering aid to military and civilians in East Ukraine.

• Punk Mum (working title) – Writer/Director/Producer; Feature documentary, current
  An intimate documentary of Ruth Miller, Punk Mum and founder of Unglamorous, Leicester’s hugely popular punk rock project, that is a rejection of the expectations put on middle-aged women and teaches them to express their anger through music.
• Every Boy Wants A Toy Gun – Director/Producer; Produced by Intrepid Media, Feature documentary, (2019)
  A creative documentary and coming of age story of Jonnie Hodson, set in contemporary northern England. The film delves into his complex universe - a distinct space inhabited by rock stardom, full-blown warfare and the reality of a dead-end menial job.
• Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model: The Documentary – Co-Producer; Feature documentary, (2016) Director: Rebecca Brand
  In a provocative protest against flagrant global attempts to sexualise and commodify childhood for profit, artist Bryony Kimmings and her 9-year-old niece Taylor decide to play the global tween machine at its own game by inventing alternative pop star Catherine Bennett. The film follows their journey to try to make her famous.
• She Should Have Gone To The Moon – Director; Produced by LEAP, Feature documentary, Funded by the Arts Council England (2008),
  The film is a unique portrait of the American pilot Jerri Truhill. It tells the remarkable story of the wife, mother and aviator, who as part of the Mercury 13, became one of the first women trained by NASA to go into space.
• Queen of Mean – Director/Producer; Short documentary video, 7:00 mins. (2001)
  A portrait of Jan Vallow, the meanest woman in American Roller Derby.

• Speed Queen – Director/Producer; Installation, single screen video and website. (2001)
  This film and installation (consisting of 3 short videos, large scale photographs and memorabilia) delves into the subculture of American Roller Derby and is a tribute to the sport’s ultimate heroine, Joanie Weston
• Shoot The Women First – Director/Producer; Drama documentary, 18:00 mins., represented by the British Council (1998)
  Shoot The Women First is in pursuit of the perceived criminal image of the female terrorist. Its story centres on the historical figure of Ulrike Meinhof, co-founder of the German Red Army Faction.

My practice-based research is rooted in documentary film and focuses thematically on individuals who inspire change. Whether freedom fighters, would-be astronauts or musicians, these are powerful figures, who have broken down barriers to achieve their exceptional goals. At the core of my work is my investigation into the ‘act of transformation from ordinary to extraordinary’ and I examine how this highly personal process can be expressed, using a hybrid approach to documentary storytelling.

Filmmaking, documentary

• Post-graduate certificate of Education, University of Hertfordshire, UK
• BA(Hons) Fine Art Film & Video, Central St. Martins College of Art & Design, London, UK
• MA Film, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA

BA(Hons) Film Studies

• Winner – Audience Award – Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model, Dir. R. Brand, London Feminist Film Festival, UK
• Winner – Best Feature Documentary – She Should Have Gone To The Moon, Dallas Video Festival, USA 
• Runner Up – Best Feature Documentary – She Should Have Gone To The Moon, Baltimore Women’s Film Festival, USA 
• Arts Council England Grants for the Arts; Individuals (£30.000), UK 
• PVA Media Lab, LabCulture Artist Residency; ArtSway, Hampshire, UK 
• Christian H. Johnson Artist Residency; Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, USA 
• School of The Art Institute of Chicago Trustee Scholarship; Chicago, IL, USA
• South Bank Centre Visual Artist Commission; London, UK

• BAFTA, 2023 - present
• Documentary Film Council, 2023 - present

• REAL Documentary Festival, Phoenix Cinema and Arts Centre, Leicester, UK (2023) Panelist Chair & Speaker
• Industry Session & Panel: Regional Documentary Production and the Nature of Independence
• INDIs Film Festival, Leeds, UK (2022) Panelist Chair & Speaker
• Online Masterclass: Pathway Into The Screen Industry
• BFI Network & Film Hub Midlands, UK (2021) Panelist Chair & Speaker
• Online Special Event: The UK Feature Documentary Landscape
• South Band University, London, UK (2021) Invited Presentation
• Trailblazing Women On and Off Screen Symposium; Online Masterclass: Directing the Documentary
• Phoenix Cinema, Leicester, UK (2019) Panelist Chair & Speaker
• The DocHub Special Event: The Hard Stop documentary screening & panel discussion
• Queen’s University Belfast, Centre for Documentary Research, Belfast, UK (2019). Invited Presentation
• Master Class in Documentary Film Production
• International Women’s Day Festival, Feminists Unlimited, Leicester, UK (2019) Invited Presentation
• Shaping The Powerful Woman – Transformation and Documentary Storytelling
• Phoenix Cinema, Leicester, UK (2018) Panelist Chair & Speaker
• The DocHub Launch Event: She Should Have Gone To The Moon documentary screening & panel discussion
• INDIs Film Festival, Leeds, UK (2018) Panelist Chair & Speaker
• Beyond #TimesUp: Building a Better Film Future
• University of Greenwich, London, UK – Panelist
• Trailblazing Women On and Off Screen, A one-day symposium blending theory and practice (2017& 2018)
• University of Suffolk, Ipswich, UK (2017) Invited Presentation
• ‘Avant Garde Film & Experimental Film Production’ - Visiting Speaker, BA (Hons) Digital Film Production, Department of Arts and Humanities
• Sheffield Doc/Fest, Sheffield, UK – Panelist
• Is Documentary Relevant In A World With Information Available At Your Fingertips (2016)
• Death of the Selfie or Why it's better to share an Image of an Owl or One's Cat (2015)
• BFI Future Film Festival, London, UK (2014/2015) Invited Presentation
• Writing Facts with Euroscript - ‘Unpacking the mystery of building a script for a documentary film’
• New York University, Tisch School of The Arts, New York, USA (2012) Invited Presentation
• ‘She Should Have Gone To The Moon’ - Artist talk BA (Hons) Department of Photography and Imaging
• Kosmica Mexico City, Mexico, curated by Arts Catalyst London, UK – Invited Presentation
• Exhibition and symposium Mexico City, Mexico (2012)
• University Campus Suffolk, Ipswich, UK (2010) Invited Presentation
• ‘She Should Have Gone To The Moon’ – Visiting Speaker, School of Arts and Humanities Lecture Series
• Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK (2008) Invited Presentation
• ‘She Should Have Gone To The Moon’ - Bartlett Visiting Speakers Research Lecture
• Central St. Martin’s College of Art & Design, Invited Presentation, London, UK (2008)
• ‘Artist Film and Experimental Documentary’ - BA (Hons) Fine Art Department
• Middlebury College, Liberal Arts College, Middlebury, VT, USA (2007) Invited Presentation
• Artist in Residence Guest Speaker, Christian A. Johnson Arts Lecture Series

• Bradley Wood Photography, London, UK – Independent script consultant for feature documentary Time Hears Us (2023)
• Intrepid Media, Leicester, UK – Independent consultant on curriculum for the documentary training programme REAL Initiative (2022), funded by Phoenix Cinema and Arts Centre, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Midlands Engine and Arts Council England.
• University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK - Independent media consultant for collaborative provision (franchised) in BA (Hons) Media Production with Middle East University and London School of Commerce (2017).
• Women in Film & Television, London, UK - Independent producer for Women in Film & Television Awards (2017)
• LEAD Curriculum, London, UK - Independent consultant for leadership skills initiative at further education level. Consulted on and designed film production curriculum and individual modules. (2016/2017)
• Euroscript, London, UK – Independent documentary story consultant for a series of documentary ideas in development (2013 -2017)

• Romana Lakinger-Njari (1st Supervisor)
• Mahasen Nasser Eddin (2nd Supervisor)