People
MARTIN FERNANDO JAKOBSEN
Director and Founder
Martin has been CEO of Turning Tables since he founded it in 2009, establishing permanent music and film schools for marginalized youth and activists in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Tunisia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Denmark and Sweden. He has also been organizing and supporting rap and hip hop festivalss for activist rappers in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Denmark.
Martin has been a professional DJ and producer with ‘Den Sorte Skole’ for more than a decade and holds a Master in Political Science from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
MARK EPHRAIM
Head of Music Production and Studio Design - Turning Tables Sweden
Mark is in charge of planning and implementing all of our studio installations, festival sound engineering, and training of local music instructors. Mark is an acclaimed artist, music producer, and sound engineer who has been working in pro audio in New York and Detroit for the past two decades.
ALEX FERLINI
Daily manager - Turning Tables Denmark
Alex, who became Managing Director of Turning Tables Denmark in October 2018, is a known face in the activist and cultural environment in Copenhagen, where he has worked with anti-racism, local politics and project management of cultural events. Alex holds a Master degree in Communication and Cultural Encounters from University of Roskilde. He comes from a background as campaign and volunteer coordinator with the Danish NGO Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke / Action Aid Denmark. He is also a drummer and has a soft spot for world music and punk rock.
Darin Hansen a.k.a. Daro
Headmaster at Zarqa Film Acadamy - Turning Tables Jordan
Daro studied journalism at Damascus university. Early in her studies, she started working on putting spotlight on women’s rights in the media. After moving abroad back in 2010, she took her storytelling skills into film making.
Martin Højland
Country Director - Turning Tables Denmark
Martin took part in founding Turning Tables Denmark back in 2015. Since then he has spearheaded its development and is today leading the organisation with Alex and the rest of the Danish team.
Martin is part of the acclaimed and experimental music duo ‘Den Sorte Skole’, holds a Master in Political Science from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark and has been working within the fields of development and global economy at the Danish NGO, Ibis, the Danish Foreign Ministry and the Danish Institute for International Studies.
Marija Bukauskaitė
Assistant Project Manager - Turning Tables Denmark
Marija is assistant project manager responsible for coordinating the Danish outreach activities for marginalized youth. She is a gifted entrepeneur and has been working as a Development Instructor for over two years in Denmark and Zambia.
THOMAS PAPAPETROS
Head of Film and Music Video Production
papa@turningtables.org
Papa is in charge of training instructors, developing and implementing film and music video programs for the Turntable Labs. He is specialized in working with film activists and the editor of many international award-winning documentaries.
Swe Hlaing Htet a.k.a. Darko
Coordinator - Turning Tables Myanmar
Darko is the daily leader of Turning Tables Lab in Yangon and in charge of planning and implementing our projects and events through out Myanmar. With his passion for underground music and socio-political issues he inspires the Turning Tables team and supplies technical support for the instructors in music and film production. As the vocalist-guitarist of Yangon-based indie punk band, Side Effect Darko has been rocking, irrepressibly, since 2004 and his songs embody the passionate resilience of youth in Myanmar.
Marine Gastineau
Co-Head of Photography - Turning Tables Denmark
Photographer since 2008.
Studied at Fatamorgana, The Danish School of Art and Photography. She has been working professionally with commercial and documentary photography in France, South Africa and Denmark. Marine is currently developing the photography platform in Turning Tables Denmark with Jon Spangsvig, including a series of workshop within narrative photography with marginalized youth.
Lei Miriam Foo
DJ Instructor - Turning Tables Lebanon & Jordan
Lei has been working as a DJ for 6 years and has been part of the Tuning Tables instructor team since 2009. She has conducted more than 20 workshops and was in charge of setting up spring programs for refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon. Lei has a unique ability to engage the female participants and, as a female DJ, is an excellent role model.
Thomas Irving
Music Video and Documentary Instructor
Thomas is an accomplished film editor and up-coming director from Copenhagen, Denmark. He started making videos through skateboarding, and is currently under training at Kong Gulerod Film. Irving been with Turning Tables since 2013 and has so far edited and directed three music videos and two short documentaries for Turning Tables in Tunisia and Jordan. Irving will be project manager for the music video and documentary part of the 2015 Voice of the Youth Tour in Myanmar.
Ingerlise Ollgaard
Film Instructor - Turning Tables Denmark
Ingerlise is part of the Turning Tables Denmark film division and has a cross cutting interest in film, music and human rights. She has been involved in teaching film and photography to street children in East Africa, India and Nepal and holds a Bachelor in Music and Arts from LMU, London.
Majd al-Nammari
Middle East Director - Turning Tables Jordan
majd@turningtables.org
Majd aka “BA” is a Palestinian/Jordanian Rapper/Musician who has been working with Turning Tables on festivals and workshops since 2011, He was in charge of setting up Turning Tables Jordan Lab making multiple film and music pop schools for refugees and marginalized youth all around Jordan, Recently he is focusing on expanding the effective area of Turning Tables activities for MENA region. As Khotta BA he released his first solo album in 2012 music produced by Damar Sensei, Distributed by Immortal Entertainment, since the BA has been live performing and collaborating with the regions finest Artists as Mothanna Hussein, Lil Asaf, Muqata'a, Taymour Dakn and more. Majd holds BA degree of Civil Engineering certified from the Faculty of Engineering Technology at the BAU-Amman, He worked in Art direction and Set Design on various film sets ranged from hollywood and Netflix to local DIY music videos.