During the opening of the Perspektive Deutsches Kino film series at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, the “Made in Germany – Perspektive Fellowship” was awarded for the first time. Annekatrin Hendel won the fellowship for her treatment of the documentary film Disko (Disco). She is the first winner of this new initiative launched to promote new talents. In collaboration with its co-partner Glashütte Original, the Berlin International Film Festival has set up this fellowship to support young German directors in developing a film project, the material and screenplay. Endowed with 15,000 euros, the fellowship is funded by Glashütte Original.
A jury, made up of director and screenwriter Thomas Arslan, producer Gian-Piero Ringel and actress Anna Brüggemann, picked the fellowship winner. All three jury members are closely involved in young German cinema, the Berlinale and Perspektive Deutsches Kino. “Most of the directors in the Perspektive have just finished their first films. Afterwards things get harder. I am glad to be able to support these young talents who have attracted attention. The fellowship will allow them to continue working on projects, to develop stories and make films,” remarks Gian-Piero Ringel about his engagement on the Fellowship Jury.
The jury picked the most promising idea out of the eleven treatments submitted by the directors who participated in last year’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino. The jury explains its decision to choose Annekatrin Hendel’s Disko as follows: “Disko is a highly original documentary project revolving around the terrorist attack on the West-Berlin discotheque “La Belle”. The jury was impressed by the filmmaker’s personal exploration of the topic, which goes clearly beyond an objectifying journalistic approach, as well as by the extensive preliminary research she conducted, and the project’s formal-aesthetic structure. This fellowship is intended to promote the development of this project, a project that the jury believes will evolve in both form and content into an extraordinary documentary film.”
Watchmaker Glashütte Original also donated the statuette that Annekatrin Hendel received with the prize money. Noah Braig, who is a second-year apprentice at the company’s watchmaking school, designed and implemented the piece in workshops that have a long tradition in Glashütte / Saxony.
The winner has also been assigned a mentor who will accompany the further development of the project: Andrea Kuhn has been a freelance dramaturge for cinema and television films since 1996; newcomers and debut films are her specialty (e.g., Prinzessinenbad, Solino, Katze im Sack). With her, a renowned expert has been found to advise the Disko project. The documentary film Disko will be produced by IT WORKS! Media, a Berlin-based company. Production is to begin in 2013.
