Frankfurt-based film critic Heike Kuehn ran the highly-esteemed film seminar Arnoldshainer Filmgespräche for many years, and has written for Die Zeit, Berliner Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, and Die Welt, among others. She has served as a juror for film festivals around the world, including the Locarno International Film Festival, the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, the Duisberg International Documentary Film Festival, the Lübeck International Film Festival of Scandinavian Films, the Montreal Film Festival, the NW Film & Video Festival, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (president), and the Crakovia Short Film Festival (president). Her novel Schlangentöchter, a magical-realist account of growing up as the daughter of the head of the Exotarium at the Frankfurt Zoo during the war, is currently being translated into English.