Biography
Helen Simon was born in Mannheim in 1975 and grew up in New York, Pennsylvania and Texas from 1981 to 1989. Back in Germany, she completed a master's degree in German, Philosophy and American Studies in Bochum, Marburg and Frankfurt am Main (2000-2005). In 2004, she made the eight-minute essay film "Diane Arbus. The Wizard of Odds"; the following year she began studying at the University of Television and Film (HFF) in Munich in the department of documentary film and television journalism. There, over a period of three years, she realized the documentary feature "Wie immer herzliche Grüße" ("As Always With Love", 2007-2009) together with Nancy Brandt, in which they trace the past and present of sensitivities of East and West Germans through letters from an East-West correspondence.
In 2008, while still a student, Simon began teaching at the HFF in the Department of Media and Communication Studies; the following year she began a doctoral dissertation on the 'promises' of documentary film, "Versprechen des Dokumentarfilms". In 2011, together with Judith Früh, she edited the book "Bilder wilder Jahre (1967-1979)" about films produced at the University of Television and Film in Munich from the series "Die Filme der HFF München."
Helen Simon graduated from the HFF in 2014 with the documentary "Nirgendland" ("No Lullaby"), about a woman and her daughter who were both abused by their father and grandfather, respectively, but were not believed by a Munich court. The film received excellent reviews and won awards at DOKfest Munich and the Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, among others.
In 2018, Simon began work on her next documentary: for "Voices from the Fire", she traveled the world for several years and spoke with women who were victims of human trafficking and forced prostitution. The film premiered at the Munich DOKfest in summer 2022 and was released in German cinemas in August 2022.
In addition to her film work, Helen Simon continues to teach at the HFF.