Gold again for Hamburg Media School

Maria KöpfCEO of Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, said: "Germany's smallest film school has once again won a student Oscar - we are very proud of our young filmmakers here in the north. With strong images and great actors, Katja Benrath and her team show impressively how a film can captivate its audience within a very short time.Watu Wote is a poignant plea for humanity that leaves no one cold. This is shown not least by the numerous other awards the film has won so far. Our congratulations also go to Professor Richard Reitinger and the entire film department at Hamburg Media School."

About Watu Wote: In her HMS graduation film, Directors Katja Benrath tells a true story from Kenya: for decades, the country has been shaken by terrorist attacks by the Islamic organisation Al-Shabaab. Fear and mistrust grow between Christians and Muslims. Until December 2015, when the passengers of a coach manage to give an unprecedented testimony of humanity. Julia Drache wrote the script, Felix Striegel was the director of photography and Tobias Rosen was the Creative Segment Producer. This year, they won the Studio Hamburg Newcomer Award and two FIRST STEPS Awards, among others, for their short film. Watu Wote will be shown again on the big screen on Thursday, 28 November at 8 pm at the Abaton evening "From Hamburg to Hollywood".

About the Student Academy Awards: The Student Oscars have been awarded since 1972 (to the list of 2017 winners). As an offshoot of the world's most important film award, they honour up-and-coming filmmakers every year. The winners include Hollywood legends such as Pete Docter, Cary Fukunaga, John Lasseter, Spike Lee, Trey Parker and Robert Zemeckis.

Previous HMS winners: The filmSadakatby Georg Lippert (Script), Ilker Çatak (Directors), Florian Mag (Cinematography) and Alexandra Staib (Creative Producer) was the best film in the "Foreign Category" of the 42nd Student Academy Awards in 2015. In 2011, Max Zähle, Stefan Gieren and Sin Huh received the bronze Student Oscar for their graduation filmRaju and a year later they were nominated for the Short Film Oscar. In 2005, Directors Ulrike Grote received the Student Oscar for herFilm Outlierswhich she shot together with Linus Foerster (script), Constantin Castell (Creative Segment Producer) and Ute Freund (camera). In 2003 she wonThe red jacket by Florian Baxmeyer (Directors), Elke Schuch (Script), Kai Lichtenauer (Creative Producer) and Marcus Kanter (Camera) in the Live Action Short Film category.