Awards

Juliane Block is a certified Green Consultant Film & TV and a transformation manager for sustainable culture. Since 2022, she has been supporting film productions - from Tatort and documentary projects to animated films - in their transition towards greater sustainability. Alongside this work, she works as a director and producer, producing international feature films, documentaries, and stop-motion films through her production company, Raav Films.

Judith Niemeyer is committed to advancing a sustainable and future-proof film and media industry. Following many years of experience in production and distribution, including 14 years at Constantin Film, she completed her training as a Green Consultant Film & TV in 2020. Since 2023, she has been with Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), where she leads the Green Producing Team. She shares her expertise as a lecturer, is a member of the Green Storytelling Initiative, and served for three years on the board of the German Association of Green Consultants Film & TV.

Lucas Dülligen was born in Düsseldorf in 1994 and grew up in Krefeld. He studied Philosophy and German Studies at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and has been studying at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne since 2021. His debut feature film, Vereinzelt Sonne (2024, 67 min.), received the Friedrich Baur Gold Award for Best Director at the 58th Hof International Film Festival in 2024. In 2025, he received, among other accolades, the Sustainability Award at the Regensburg International Short Film Week for his experimental documentary Hang am Baum (2024, 13 min.), which explores the village of Lützerath and the Garzweiler II open-pit mine.

……works as a costume designer in Berlin. She trained as a tailor before studying stage and costume design at Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin, where she earned a Master’s degree. Her theatre work includes productions at the Maxim Gorki Theater and the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, among others. She also works in film on productions such as EVERY YOU EVERY ME and KARLA.

Doris Metz is a filmmaker and author based in Munich. With theatrical documentaries such as SCHATTENVÄTER, TRANS – I GOT LIFE (co-directed with Imogen Kimmel), and PETRA KELLY – ACT NOW!, she ranks among Germany’s prominent documentary directors. Her films explore political and social perspectives as well as recent German history; they have been screened at major festivals and have won numerous awards. For PETRA KELLY – ACT NOW!, she and producer Birgit Schulz received the German Film Award for Best Documentary in 2025 and the Grimme Award in 2026. Metz is a member of the German Film Academy, is active in film policy (including serving on the WDR Broadcasting Council), and frequently serves as a jury member.

Miriam Pucitta studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, attended the Zelig Film School in Bolzano, and studied documentary filmmaking at University of Television and Film Munich. Her feature film SE NON MI VUOI screened at the Hof International Film Festival in 1998 and won the Emerging Talent Award in Biberach. She has been working as a writer and director since 2000, creating projects for broadcasters such as BR, ZDF, and ARTE. BEER BROTHERS won the award for Best Documentary in Biberach in 2016. MUTTERLAND, which screened at the Hof International Film Festival in 2023, won the same award at the Bergamo Film Meeting in 2025.

Faek Falak is a German-Kurdish director, writer, and producer based in Munich. He studied cinematography in Aleppo and arrived in Germany as a student in 2014, where he initially worked in various areas of film production before completing a degree in producing. In 2025, he founded Falak Film GmbH, through which he develops and produces documentaries and feature films. His work combines artistic ambition with social responsibility. He is particularly interested in perspectives often overlooked by the global public—stories of people whose experiences offer new viewpoints and remind us of what connects us. Faek Falak is convinced that film can connect people and make diverse lived realities tangible.

Marina D. Richter is a film critic, script consultant and writer based in Vienna. She has been published by Vice, Cineuropa, Politika and several Eastern European media as well an byAsian Movie Pulse. Richter is a member of the Austrian Film Critics Association, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists and the European Film Academy. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Ubiquarian, an online outlet specialized in short films and documentaries. Between 2020-2023, she worked for NIFFF (Neuchatel International Fantastic Film festival), and since 2024, she has been a programmer for DokuFest Pristina.

Silvia Posavec is a freelance arts journalist and film critic based in Switzerland. She writes for renowned publications such as the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Aargauer Zeitung and Filmbulletin. Her writing combines film criticism with social, political and biographical perspectives. Posavec serves on juries at international film festivals, including the 77th Locarno Film Festival. She is active in the Film Journalism Switzerland association, co-organizes the discussion series “Movie Fight Club” and advocates for diverse and nuanced film coverage.

Rolf-Rüdiger Hamacher is a film critic based in Cologne, Germany. In the 1960s, he founded several film clubs and worked as an assistant director on theater and film productions. He has been writing film reviews for newspapers and film journals since 1966. In addition, he has worked as a programmer and curator for various cinemas and contributed to film publications. He taught media and film history at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences. He is amember of FIPRESCI, still active as a film critic and curates the children's film section at the Festival of German Film in Ludwigshafen.

David Füsgen graduated from Robert Schumann University of Music and Media in Düsseldorf with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2017.

Since 2013, he has worked as a freelance filmmaker and producer. His portfolio includes both fiction and documentary projects of varying lengths. In addition to producing, he has worked on numerous productions as a director, dpl, writer, and editor. He is based in Cologne and works internationally.

Benjamin Munz studied and worked in Los Angeles. He was nominated for the Student Academy Award almost 20 years ago, premiered international genre films at the Berlinale and Tribeca, and was responsible for two of the three biggest German Netflix hits of all time: BLOOD RED SKY and BRICK, alongside other successful projects for Netflix, ARD Degeto, Disney, ZDF and RTLZwei.

Saralisa Volm is working as a director, actress, and producer. Through her production company, Poison, she realizes film projects for cinema and television. She achieved her first major success as a producer with FIKKEFUCHS, which became a surprise hit. She made her directorial debut in 2022 with SCHWEIGEND STEHT DER WALD, which premiered at the Berlinale, followed by the psychological thriller BIS ZUR WAHRHEIT. In 2025, she produced and distributed the documentary TRUTH OR DARE by Maja Classen. Her „Tatort“ debut NACHTSCHATTEN followed in 2026, as did GARMISCH-KRIMI: WOLFSLAND, which she also produced. Her first „Tatort“ episode set in Ludwigshafen is to be released next year.

Tini Tüllmann studied directing at the London Film School and the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. Her feature film debut FREDDY/EDDY, a psycho thriller which she wrote, directed and produced, premiered at the 50th Hof International Film Festival in 2016. She self-distributed the thriller, which won both national and international awards. In Hof, she received the first Heinz Badewitz Award for Best Emerging Director – the award later evolved into the Friedrich Baur Gold Award in memory of Heinz Badewitz. She works as a director and screenwriter for film and TV.

Nicolette Krebitz is an actress, director and screenwriter. She has been a distinctive voice in film and television for many years, both on screen and behind the camera. Her directorial debut JEANS was screened at the International Hof Film Festival in 2001. In 2007, she returned to Hof with THE HEART IS A DARK FORREST at the 41st edition of the festival. She also works as a voice artist for radio plays and audiobooks.