Laura Espinel

I’m honored and excited to join the European Film Academy. As a Colombian-German filmmaker, I’m especially thankful to be part of a community that celebrates storytelling and creative exchange across cultures, languages and borders. Now more than ever, working together and sharing diverse voices through cinema feels essential. #EuropeanFilmAcademy #EFA2025 #FilmmakingCommunity #FilmEditor #Editgirls #WomenInFilm #EuropeanCinema #StorytellingMatters #CinematicVoices #CreativeExchange #FilmIsArt #FilmIsConnection #CinemaWithoutBorders

#TBT to last year’s @firststepsaward ceremony! 💅✨ Serving looks AND skills as the film editor of @the.homes.we.carry_film while owning that red carpet. 🎥🔥 I’d never thought I’d say this, but now @gettyimages owns my face. 😎 #slayedit #throwbackmonday #RedCarpetVibes #FirstStepsAwards #FilmEditorLife #TheHomesWeCarry #WerkIt #gettyimagesfamous #EditorOnTheMove #SassAndSuccess #AwardSeason #FeelingMyself #BehindTheScenes #GlamAndGrind #ProudMoment

✨ AINARA’S PARADISE is heading out into the world! 🌎 ✨ We’re beyond excited to finally introduce you to our new short documentary film. The film follows Ainara, a curious young girl growing up in Violetta – a community library founded by her family. It’s a place full of warmth, imagination, and care. For us, this film is a love letter to childhood, community, and hope. 💛 And the adventure begins with five festival premieres!

📍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The Children’s International Film Festival of Wales (UK) | 15.–18. Oct 2025 @ciffow 📍🇲🇽 DOCSMX – Un, DOCS, tres por mí (Mexiko) | 25.–26. Oct 2025 @docsmx 📍🇹🇷 Universal Kids Film Festival (Turkey) | 25.–28. Oct 2025 @universalkidsfilmfestival 📍🇩🇪 doxs! @ Duisburger Filmwoche (Germany) | 3.–9. Nov 2025 @doxs.dokumentarfilme 📍🇫🇮 Oulu International Children’s & Youth Film Festival (Finland) | 17.–23. Nov 2025 @oulufilmfestival 
 With Ainara Sofía Solano Salazar, Leidy Salazar, Carlos Solano and Adeline Solano Salazar Written & Directed by: Esther Niemeier Co-Director: Laura Espinel Editing: Laura Espinel Cinematography: Daniel Pineda Sound Design & Mixing: Camilo Garcia Castro Producers: Esther Niemeier, Therese Koppe (Tilda Films, Germany) Co-Producers: Giselle Geney, Natalia Bernal (Pescadito Films, Colombia) Executive Producer: Esther Niemeier Supported by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg @medienboard #AinarasParadise #Documentary #ChildhoodStories #CommunityPower #KidsFilm #YouthFilm #GirlPower #WomenInFilm #femalevoices #colombianstories

At c/o Pop Convention 2026 in Cologne @copopconvention , I joined a panel on how music shapes film from script to edit. We talked about working with music in the editing process, and about navigating the space between artistic vision, economic realities, and technological change. 
Together with Elsa van Damke @elsavandamke , Lena Tusche @lena.tusche and David Schweikert @david.schweikart moderated by Janina Klabes @janinaklabes 
Loved the exchange and the people I got to meet. Thanks for the invitation ✨ #copopconvention #editgirls #musicinfilm #editingprocess #germanfilmindustry

AINARA’S PARADISE keeps finding its way ✨ We’re so grateful and happy to share that our film received two beautiful recognitions: 🏆 Best European Short at KIDS International Family Film Festival 🇹🇭 @kidsnpo 💫 Honorable Mention at BRIDGE OF PEACE 🇫🇷 @bridgeofpeacefilmfestival

Introducing the Documentary Film Jury for 55th SEHSÜCHTE 2026! 🎞️ - Alexandra Dorisca | alexandrase21 - Anna Theil - Siska | @color_club_lab - Maria Binder - Laura Espinel | @lasues Over the past weekend, they carefully watched and discussed this year’s selection of films. 🗯️🏅 Which one impressed them the most? We’ll find out at the 55th SEHSÜCHTE International Student Film Festival, taking place from April 22–26, 2026 in Potsdam, Germany. ✨ Visit our website for more info! (Link in Bio) #Sehsüchte #Documentaryfilm #FilmFestival #filmuni

In front of the camera for once. 📸 @davidsimongross #Editgirls #WomenInFilm #Filmeditor #Filmmaker #PortraitPhotography

Last night at the European Film Awards ceremony. Grateful to stand with filmmakers and colleagues who believe in art as a way to question power, preserve memory, and imagine change — and in cinema as a shared language and a record of our time for those who come after us. #livullmann Thanks for the lovely evening @europeanfilmacademy

If you’re in Berlin, I warmly recommend visiting the exhibition “Today yet, tomorrow surely: Filmic Perspectives on Berlin Around 1990” — a film program reflecting on the profound transformations in Germany, particularly in Berlin, during the 90’s. 🗓️02.10.2025 – 06.04.2026 📍Museum Nikolaikirche | Nikolaikirchplatz 10178 Berlin I’m happy to share that the documentary The Homes We Carry, which I edited, is part of the exhibition. I had the pleasure to talk about my work as an editor — both more generally and in relation to the film — and about why it is crucial to return to this period in history today. So much of what defines Berlin and Germany now was shaped during those years, and revisiting them feels essential for how we understand the present and think about the future. The Homes We Carry follows a family shaped by historical ruptures between Germany, Mozambique, and South Africa, and opens up a rarely told chapter of post-GDR history. Curated by Florian Wüst in collaboration with Suy Lan Hopmann Scenography: HMDMR [hamdemir], Bahadir Hamdemir Media production: PxB Studios, Jana Pausinger, Alexander Bartneck The exhibition is accompanied by a publication, edited by Elke Neumann. In cooperation with Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen @stadtmuseumberlin #HeuteNochMorgenSchon #TheHomesWeCarry #Berlin1990 #DocumentaryFilm #MemoryPolitics

Oulu, you stole our hearts! ❄️💛 We had the best time showing Ainara’s Paradise at the Oulu International Children & Youth Film Festival @oulufilmfestival Great films, lovely humans, and the friendliest blue squirrel mascot we’ve ever met 🐿️✨ Plus: we got to share the film with young filmmakers during a workshop, and we were blown away by their curiosity and talent! Thank you, Oulu Festival Crew: you warmed our hearts (and our toes in the sauna). #AinarasParadise #OuluFilmFestival #YouthCinema #ChildrensFilmFestival #ShortDocumentary #RepresentationMatters #GirlPower #CommunityStories #EditGirls #SaunaAndCinema #FilmFestivalJourney #KidsInFilm

From Bogotá to Duisburg 🎉 AINARA’S PARADISE had its German premiere at @doxs.dokumentarfilme within the context of @duisburgerfilmwoche . From the first steps into a cinema buzzing with laughter to the thoughtful conversations that followed. This premiere felt truly special. 💗🐻 A huge thank you to the brilliant programmers for curating such a thoughtful and diverse program, and to the curious, caring audience who welcomed us so warmly. Next stop: Oulu, Finland 🇫🇮 ✨ Ainara’s journey continues! #AinarasParadise #GermanPremiere #ChildrensFilm #ShortDocumentary #GirlPower #CommunityStories #FestivalJourney #FemaleFilmmakers #WomenInFilm #FemaleVoices

🚀✨ Heute ist es soweit: The Stardust Hotel feiert Premiere beim @filmfesthamburg ! Die Erde ist Geschichte, die Menschheit lebt im Weltall, und ein altes Grand Hotel wurde auf eine Raumstation verlegt. Mit Humor, Herz und einem Spritzer Sternenstaub obendrauf, nimmt die Serie uns mit auf eine Reise voller Liebe, Zusammenhalt und dem Abenteuer, seinen Platz im Universum zu finden. Gemeinsam mit Regisseurin Elsa van Damke @elsavandamke und den tollen Bildern von Kamerafrau Sabine Panossian @sabine_panossian durfte ich vier Episoden schneiden. Ich freue mich total, Teil dieses großartigen Projekts gewesen zu sein! Besetzt mit einem großartigen Ensemble: Vanessa Loibl @vanessa_loibl , David Brizzi @david.brizzi , Sabine Vitua @sabinevitua , Tomomi Themann @tomomi_the , Silke Sollfrank @silkesollfrank , Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht @willywonkaweinhaus , Sara Fazilat @sara_fazilat und vielen mehr. Idee & Konzept: Sebastian Egert Regie: Simon Ostermann @ostermann_teletext & Elsa van Damke Headautorin: Valentina Brüning @valentina_bruening Autor:innen: Thomas Mielmann @thomasmielmann & Vivien Hoppe Produktion: Letterbox Filmproduktion (Benedict Brandt @benebrandt & Wiebke Andresen) für den SWR Kamera: Johannes Greisle @johannesgreisle & Sabine Panossian Montage: Ramin Sabeti & Laura Espinel Redaktion: Katharina Dufner & Simon Riedl 📸: SWR | Christine Schroeder #TheStardustHotel #FilmfestHamburg #Premiere #SciFiComedy #SpaceRomance #romcominspace #Editgirls #FilmEditor #BehindTheScenes #LetterboxFilmproduktion #SWR #FilmCrew #WomenInFilm #TVSeries #GermanSeries #FilmFestival #MovieMagic #EditingProcess #CreativeWork #SeriesLove #FilmCommunity #Storytelling #FilmProduction #FilmCredits #FilmMakingLife #Filmmakers #CuttingRoom