Helge AlbersCEO of MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein: "This has never happened before: a total of four films with North German participation will be honoured with the Grimme Prize this year. Whether Directors Michael Venus with his exciting genre mix 'Schlaf' or Hamburg filmmaker Carsten Rau and his highly topical documentary 'Atomkraft Forever' - the 2023 vintage shows the potential of the location. Our congratulations go to all the film teams involved!"
Sleep (Prize of the student jury)
Prizes for Thomas Friedrich (script), Michael Venus (script/director), Gro Swantje Kohlhof (performance) and August Schmölzer (performance).
In his film, Michael Venus wanders between nightmarish sequences and historical horror. A film that takes place most of the time in the fictional village of Stainbach, which is surrounded by forest and where something is not right. Venus wrote the script together with Thomas Friedrich. The project was filmed in Hamburg and the Harz Mountains in 2019. "Schlaf" was produced by Hamburg-based Executive Producer Verena Gräfe-Höft and her company Junafilm for ZDF - Das kleine Fernsehspiel. Distribution was handled by Salzgeber.
Nuclear Power Forever (Information & Culture competition)
Awards for Carsten Rau (Writer/Director) and Andrzej Król (Director).
The award-winning documentary "Atomkraft Forever" by Hamburg filmmaker and Executive Producer Carsten Rau takes a profound and disturbing look at our nuclear legacy - in large images and six interwoven episodes: "Atomkraft Forever" was produced by the Hamburg production company Pier 53 Filmproduktion for SWR/NDR. Distribution was handled by Camino Filmverleih.
In the fire - Two sisters (Fiction competition)
Prizes for Daphné Charizani (Writer/Director) and Almila Bagriacik (Acting, deputy for the ensemble).
In her drama "On Fire - Two Sisters", which premiered at the Berlinale in 2020, Script Writer and Director Daphné Charizani sends lead actress Almila Bagriacik to Iraq as a soldier in the German army. The entire post production was done by Hamburg-based company The Post Republic. The film music (Florian Tessloff) also comes from Hamburg. The film was produced by Pallas Film/Match Factory Productions/View Master Films for ZDF - Das kleine Fernsehspiel/ERT/ARTE. Distribution: missingFilms.
The Other Side of the River (Information & Culture competition)
Prize for Antonia Kilian (writer/director).
Directors Antonia Kilian has already taken home the Lola for Best Documentary at last year's German Film Awards, and now the next award follows. The film shows why women flee their families to fight against the Islamic State. Executive Producer is the Hamburg-based company Doppelplusultra together with Pink Shadow Films/Greenlity OY for ARTE. Distribution: jip film & verleih.
About the Grimme Prize
The nomination commissions and juries are made up of television critics and publicists, media scientists and education experts who are appointed by the Grimme Institute for this task. This year, the nominees were selected from more than 780 submissions in the categories Fiction, Information & Culture, Entertainment and Children & Youth. The Grimme Prize is awarded to television programmes and achievements that are exemplary and exemplary for programme practice.
