Three days, three steps, one goal

Film Makers Collaboration — Festival-Workshop

THU / FRI / SAT, November 20/21/22, 2025, 4 to 6 p.m. — Künstlerhaus Hannover, Hofsaal — Language: English — for attending and nominated filmmakers only — registration required

This three-part workshop is aimed at all filmmakers participating in the German and International Competitions. You'll have the chance to put your latest ideas into action and network nationally and internationally.

Industry experts Justin Peach (director, winner of the 2015 German Young Film Award) and Svenja Vanhöfer (producer of "Vena" and this year's Producer Patron) will be on hand to share their expertise. You'll put your heads together and boost your creativity. In small groups, you'll develop stories (Day 1), explore production options (Day 2), and brainstorm marketing and festival strategies (Day 3). And who knows, perhaps this will be the nucleus of co-productions that will soon be screened at the next festival.

Attendance at all three consecutive sessions is recommended to fully utilize the potential of the workshop—creative, collaborative, focused!

Justin Peach (1982, El Paso, USA) is a German-American documentary filmmaker based in Mainz. In his work, he explores marginalized communities with empathy and cinematic precision. His award-winning film "Little Wolves" (2009) portrays street children in Kathmandu. The follow-up film "Street Line" (2019) returns ten years later and shows how their lives have evolved.

Svenja Vanhöfer is this year's Producer Sponsor. Her internationally acclaimed debut film, VENA, was nominated for the 2025 German Film Award in three categories: Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Actress. Svenja was a scholarship holder of the VFF (Federal Film and Television Producers' Association) and a participant in the renowned Hollywood Masterclass at the Film Academy at UCLA in Los Angeles. Since summer 2025, Svenja Vanhoefer has founded her own film production company, REBELLE Film, together with director Chiara Fleischhacker and producer Charlene Kilthau, which focuses on female storytelling in front of and behind the camera. You can find out more about Svenja here.

pieces of cream

A workshop discussion with the jury

Thursday, November 20, 2025, 4 to 5 p.m. — Künstlerhaus Hannover, Filmlounge — Language: German/English — For nominated filmmakers and festival attendees — Admission free, with registration

They'll be sitting with you in the cinema for four days, watching your films for the first time — but who are the five people you usually only see in the dark, the ones who will reveal the winners at the end? In this workshop discussion, we'd like to introduce you to the jury. How did our jurors get into film? What are their favorite projects? Which people have supported them along the way? What's important to them? Over coffee and cake, you can bombard Laura Fischer, Jochen Freydank, Jonathan Berlin, Klara Lange, and Seneit Debese with your questions.

Encourage — think big

A workshop discussion with Esra and Patrick Phul

Friday, November 21, 2025, 4 to 5 p.m. — Künstlerhaus Hannover, Filmlounge — Language: German — For nominated filmmakers and festival attendees — Free admission, with registration

They create new superheroes. They make films from their community and for their community. They have made the transition from YouTube to streaming services and public media libraries. In this workshop, Esra and Patrick Phul and their production company Picture Me Rollin introduce themselves. They are among the influential voices of a new generation in German television. They write, produce, and direct their own films. With their "Talent over Privilege" initiative, they have not only created a platform for young creatives without privileged access, but also launched the TOP Award – the first award for filmmakers with a migration background. Their vision: to focus on cultural diversity and give these unique perspectives a voice in the film industry. With the rap musical series "Hype," they landed in the WDR media library and on Netflix. With "All Heroes Are Bastards," they have just finished shooting an action series together with btf (Bild- und Tonfabrik) and major film funding agencies. What drives them? How did they manage to make their own ideas visible? How do you get Netflix to call you? Esra and Patrick talk about their experiences with and in the film industry, about barriers, new perspectives, and creative freedom.

"...and then things happen in life"

A workshop discussion with Constanze Klaue, Louise Peter, and Mark Sternkiker

Saturday, November 22, 2025, 4 to 5 p.m. — Künstlerhaus Hannover, Filmlounge — Language: German — For nominated filmmakers and festival attendees — Free admission, with registration

Their films have screened at the Berlinale, the Hof Film Festival, and won awards at the Cannes Film Festival. We invited Constanze Klaue (director of "Mit der Faust in die Weltschlagen"), Mark Sternkiker (director of "Mels Block"), and Louise Peter (co-writer of "In die Sonne schauen") to find out why they make films, how the three develop their material, and how they stick to their passion projects, even when the wind blows against them. What opportunities are available to filmmakers, especially in East Germany? Are there even better stories there? And what does filmmaking in East Germany mean to them?

Constanze Klaue was born in East Berlin and studied German in Dresden and jazz music in Cologne and Osnabrück. She then worked as a writer and director for a Cologne-based commercial production company before entering the Academy of Media Arts in 2014 to devote herself entirely to filmmaking. Her graduation film, LYCHEN 92, which deals with the consequences of reunification, won the Max Ophüls Prize and the First Steps Award for Best Medium-Length Film in 2020, among other awards. Her film debut, thematically linked, is an adaptation of Lukas Rietzschel's bestseller MIT DER FAUST IN DIE WELT SCHLAGEN (BEATING THE WORLD WITH A FIST), and had its world premiere at this year's Berlinale. It subsequently screened in German cinemas and was awarded the German Film Peace Prize (Debut).

Born in Halle in 1977, Mark Sternkiker entered the film industry after studying education at the University of Rostock. Since 2010, he has worked as a freelance media educator and filmmaker, implementing projects at the Institute for New Media, the Children's University, and the Rostock Volkstheater. Under the label "AchtBar," he has made various films, including RAGE ON STAGE. His cinematic journey has taken him from various music video, commercial, and short film projects such as NACKTBILDER, which won the Audience Award at the 2020 Filmkunstfest MV, to his feature film debut MELS BLOCK, which he realized together with Tidewater Pictures and ZDF - Das kleine Fernsehspiel. MELS BLOCK premiered at the Hof International Film Festival in 2024, was nominated for the "New German Cinema Award," and screened at the Max Ophüls Prize film festival in 2025.

Louise Peter was born in Berlin in 1982. She studied theater, film, and media studies in Vienna, followed by acting training in Berlin. She then lived as a freelance actress in Berlin and Bremen, interrupted by longer writing stays in southern Spain. Until 2020, she studied screenwriting at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and spent a semester at 'La Fémis' in Paris. She received a scholarship from the 'Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes'. Her short films have received various awards. Her short film 'Eye for an Eye' was nominated for the 'Student Academy Award' in 2016 and won the 'Short Tiger Award'. In 2025, she won the Strittmatter Prize as co-writer with Mascha Schilinski for the project 'Sound of Falling' / 'In die Sonne schauen'. The film celebrated its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the Jury Prize.

How to be yourself in a pitch

Festival Workshop

Friday, November 21 and Saturday, November 22, 2025, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. — Meet at the information counter (3:45 p.m.) — Language: German on Friday / English on Saturday — only for attending and nominated filmmakers — registration required

You have THE idea of ​​a lifetime and get the chance to pitch it to an important sponsor or even a producer. Suddenly, your head is tangled up, and your voice becomes very small. Onno Grohmann (lecturer at the Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media) will coach you on how to present your idea clearly and succinctly, and above all, with enthusiasm and a powerful voice. How to maintain your composure, create body tension, and make the room your friend so that you focus attention on what's most important—your brilliant idea. (We recommend comfortable shoes and clothing.) — The workshop was in high demand at the 2023 festival — first come, first served! The number of participants is limited.