These are the juries
Cinemasters Jury
Marie-Lou Sellem
photo: Maud Sellem
Moritz peters
photo: Koch Media
rajendra roy
Marie-Lou Sellem is a Franco-German actress who performed at numerous German-speaking theaters after training at the Folkwang Hochschule. She has appeared in numerous cinema and TV productions and has worked with such directors as Christoph Schlingensief, Tom Tykwer, Elizabeth Banks, and Oscar-winner Caroline Link. In 2021, she starred in Todd Field’s Oscar-nominated film TÁR. For her role in KNOCHEN UND NAMEN by Fabian Stumm, she received the Deutscher Schauspielpreis in 2023. DIE SCHULE DER FRAUEN (FILMFEST MÜNCHEN 2024) marks her directorial debut.
Moritz Peters has been in charge of the marketing and acquisition of motion pictures distributed by Plaion Pictures since 2009. These include the recent winners of the Palme d’Or in Cannes: PARASITE (2019) by Bong Joon Ho, TITANE (2021) by Julia Ducournau, and ANATOMY OF A FALL (2023) by Justine Triet. Plaion Pictures is also a regular distribution partner of such multiple award-winning directors as Park Chan-wook, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Joachim Trier.
Rajendra Roy has, since 2007, as the Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film, led the Museum of Modern Art’s year-round initiatives to exhibit and preserve works from its collection of over 30,000 titles. He has organized numerous exhibitions, including on Pedro Almodóvar (2016), Wim Wenders (2015), and Bruce LaBruce (2015). Roy was a juror at the Sundance Film Festival, is a member of the New Directors/New Films selection committee, and is a member of the National Film Preservation Board and the International Film Executive Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
Cinecopro Jury
Baran Bo odar
photo: thomas schenk
Leonie Benesch
photo: Holger Maass
Sol Bondy
Baran bo Odar, a graduate of the University of Television and Film Munich, celebrated the world premiere of his thriller WHO AM I – NO SYSTEM IS SAFE at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014. It won three film awards in Germany and received the Bambi Award for best national film in 2015. Together with screenwriter Jantje Friese, he soon after developed the first German Netflix original series, DARK, which won several Grimme Awards in Germany. In 2019, Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese founded the production company Dark Ways Ltd. to produce their second Netflix show, 1899.
Leonie Benesch was trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She had her breakthrough with a leading role in Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or-winning film DAS WEISSE BAND (2009). In 2010, she received the New Faces Award for best young actress. For her role as Greta Overbeck in the series BABYLON BERLIN, she received the Deutscher Schauspielpreis in 2018. She shone in İlker Çatak’s DAS LEHRERZIMMER and was honored with numerous awards in 2023, including the Lola for best actress in a leading role.
Sol Bondy is a multiple award-winning producer. After graduating from the Berlin film school dffb, he founded One Two Films in 2010. Highlights include THE HAPPIEST DAY IN THE LIFE OF OLLI MÄKI (2016), honored in Cannes and at the European Film Awards, Isabel Coixet’s Goya-winner THE BOOKSHOP (2017), Jennifer Fox’s Sundance breakout THE TALE (2018), and Ali Abbasi’s Cannes competition title HOLY SPIDER (2022), which won numerous national film awards. Bondy is a TAP and Inside Pictures alumnus and a member of the German and European Film Academy.
Cinevision Jury
Bob Byington
photo: Max Forde
Sarah Blaßkiewitz
photo: joachim gern
Maksym Nakonechny
Indie filmmaker Bob Byington made his debut in 2008 with his SXSW hit REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER. His Sundance Lab project HARMONY AND ME (2009) followed as part of the Lincoln Center’s New Directors/New Films series. In 2012, he received the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival for SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME. He teamed up with Jason Schwartzman on 7 CHINESE BROTHERS (2015). INFINITY BABY with Kieran Culkin followed in 2017, then FRANCES FERGUSON in 2019. His latest film, LOUSY CARTER (FILMFEST MÜNCHEN 2024), premiered at Locarno in 2023.
Sarah Blaßkiewitz studied audiovisual media at the Beuth Hochschule Berlin and worked in the directing and cinematography departments of film productions. Her first feature film, PRECIOUS IVIE (FILMFEST MÜNCHEN 2021), was named best film at the Festival des deutschen Films and received the Guild Award from the Guild of German Art House Cinemas in 2021. She directed four episodes of the Web series DRUCK (2021). In 2022, she directed the miniseries SAM – A SAXON from Disney+, for which she received the Grimme-Preis in 2024.
Maksym Nakonechnyi studied film directing at the Kyiv National Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University. He and his friends founded Tabor, an independent production company that creates documentaries, feature films, stage plays, image films, social media videos, and cultural volunteering projects. His best-known titles include THIS RAIN WILL NEVER STOP (Best First Appearance, IDFA 2020) and SCHOOL #3 (Berlinale Generation 14plus Grand Jury Prize, 2017). His feature film debut BUTTERFLY VISION was screened in the Un certain regard competition in Cannes in 2022.
cINEREBELS jURY
Dale Dickey
Nicolas Wackerbarth
photo: Manfred Werner
Mai Bays
Dale Dickey is an American actress who has guest-starred on over 50 television shows — most recently FALLOUT (2024) and LAWMEN: BASS REEVES (2023) — but is best known for her recurring work on projects such as BREAKING BAD (2009), TRUE BLOOD (2012–2013), and MY NAME IS EARL (2005–2009). She has over 60 film credits: most notably WINTER’S BONE (2010), winning the Film Independent Spirit Award for supporting actress, and A LOVE SONG (2022), for which she was nominated for both a Gotham and Film Independent Spirit Award for best lead performance.
Nicolas Wackerbarth is a filmmaker and author. He made CASTING (2017), which was highly praised by critics and audiences alike and, like HALBSCHATTEN (2013), UNTEN MITTE KINN (FILMFEST MÜNCHEN 2011), and HALBE STUNDEN (short film, 2007), screened at numerous international festivals. Wackerbarth is also a film journalist, notably as co-editor of the film magazine Revolver. He has been a professor at the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF) since January 2024. There he heads the film directing program along with Julia von Heinz and Marcus H. Rosenmüller.
Mia Bays is the director of the Filmmaking Fund at the British Film Institute. Under her tenure, the Fund had its best year ever in 2023–24 with the largest number of nominations and wins for films that include HOW TO HAVE SEX and HOARD. She has worked in independent film for over 30 years and has been involved in more than 200 films as a producer, sales agent, audience developer, or distributor. She has produced an Academy Award-winner, received two BAFTA nominations, and is a proven diversity and inclusion agitator.
denis Moschitto
photo: pascal Buenning
mariko minoguchi
florian koerner von gustorf
Denis Moschitto, born in Cologne in 1977, first appeared in a TV movie at the age of 20. His roles include VERSCHWENDE DEINE JUGEND (2003), DEUTSCHLAND 09 (2009), ZWEIOHRKÜKEN (2009), RUBBELDIEKATZ (2011), WILDE MAUS (2016), AMELIE RENNT (2017), AUS DEM NICHTS (2017), and most recently LIEBESDINGS (2022). He co-directed his first film, SHOCK (FILMFEST MÜNCHEN 2023), with Daniel Rakete Siegel, with whom he also collaborated on the screenplay. In addition to his work in film and television, Moschitto is also a dubbing and voice actor.
German-Japanese director Mariko Minoguchi was born in Munich in 1988. She made her first short film at the age of 18 and was subsequently involved in various film productions. Her first feature film, RELATIVITY (FILMFEST MÜNCHEN 2019) earned the German Film Critics’ Award for best debut film and best screenplay. She and director Tim Fehlbaum wrote the screenplay for his film TIDES (FILMFEST MÜNCHEN 2021), which reached number 1 in the US Netflix charts. The anthology series ZEIT VERBRECHEN premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlinale in 2024
Florian Koerner von Gustorf, born in 1963, has been a member of the band Mutter since 1982. He has been a producer since 1990, when he and Michael Weber founded Schramm Film Koerner & Weber Filmproduktion. He has now produced 36 feature films. In 2018, he directed his first motion picture, WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN (FILMFEST MÜNCHEN 2019), based on a novel by Gregor Sander, starring Christiane Paul and Ronald Zehrfeld. For her performance in that film, Christiane Paul received the Spotlight Award in Acting at the 2020 Berlin & Beyond Film Festival in San Francisco.
cINEKINDL jURY
Jytte-merle böhrnsen
Philipp budweg
photo: luis zeno kuhn
barbara kronenberg
Jytte-Merle Böhrnsen is a screenwriter and actress. She attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York and has appeared in numerous TV productions, stage productions, and films. The multiple award-winning motion picture MOUNTAIN MIRACLE (2017) was the first children’s film whose screenplay she co-wrote, with Natja Brunckhorst. THE PATH (2022), whose screenplay she co-wrote with Rüdiger Bertram, earned the German Film Award for best children’s film in 2022.
Philipp Budweg studied German literature and art history at Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich. He and Johannes Schmid founded the film production company schlicht und ergreifend GbR in 2000, re-establishing it in 2008. He is part of Lieblingsfilm GmbH, as are producers Robert Marciniak and Thomas Blieninger as well as directors Johannes Schmid and Marcus H. Rosenmüller. He is a member of the German and European Film Academies. His films have received awards worldwide. He is a three-time recipient of the Lola in Gold for best children’s film at the German Film Awards.
Barbara Kronenberg studied screenwriting and film directing at the KHM Cologne. Her debut film as a director and screenwriter, MISSION ULJA FUNK (FILMFEST MÜNCHEN 2021), premiered at the Berlinale and earned the Golden Sparrow in 2021 and the German Film Award for best children’s film in 2023. She directed four episodes of the series DOPPELHAUSHÄLFTE (2022) and the first five episodes of the Disney+ series DIE DREI !!! (2023). An alumna of the Academy for Children’s Media and of Serial Eyes (dffb), she is currently developing new projects for the cinema.
Bernd Burgemeister Jury
jan kruse
dagmar rosenbauer
martin richter
Jan Kruse has been with the Bavaria Film Group for more than 25 years and has overseen 75 TV movies for the series TATORT during this time. He has also produced films in Portugal, Israel, and the Czech Republic, shot children’s and youth films and contributed significantly to the development of the series KRIMI.DE (2005), which was nominated for the Grimme-Preis. In 2021, his TATORT: LIMBUS received the Jupiter Award for best TV movie. He is currently producing episodes of TATORT for WDR, SR and ARD Degeto. He is on the board of Deutscher Kamerapreis Köln e.V.
Dagmar Rosenbauer is a film and television producer who was the general manager of Cinecentrum GmbH in Berlin and Hamburg for many years. She has received numerous German and international awards for her TV productions, including the Bernd Burgemeister TV Movie Award in 2019 for EIN VERHÄNGNISVOLLER PLAN, the deutscher Wirtschaftsfilmpreis in 2019 for DIE AFFÄRE BORGWARD, and the Grimme-Preis in 2021 and the Rose d’Or in 2023 for the Franco-German political comedy series PARLAMENT. She has also been an author since 2022. Her first novel, “Rübentod”, will be published by Emons Verlag in July 2024.
Martin Richter is an executive shareholder of Martin Richter Filmproduktion. He has made numerous films both with his own company and as an independent producer. For WAFFENSTILLSTAND, he received the VGF Young Producers’ Prize at the Bavarian Film Awards in 2009. His co-produced film AUF AUGENHÖHE earned the German Film Award for best children’s film in 2017. Further (co-)productions followed, including EINE GANZ HEISSE NUMMER 2.0 (2018) and FLY (2019). Richter is a member of the German and European Film Academies.
Fipresci Jury
jason gorber
paola casella
rudolph Worschech
Jason Gorber is a film journalist and a member of the TFCA, OFCS, FIPRESCI and the Critics Choice Association. He is editor-in-chief of That Shelf and CBC Radio Metro Morning’s film correspondent, and regularly contributes to POV Magazine, RogerEbert.com, and Paste Magazine/AV Club. He has been a jury member at the Reykjavík International Film Festival, Calgary Underground Film Festival, RiverRun Film Festival, TIFF Canada’s Top 10, Reel Asian, Festival Regard, and Fantasia's New Flesh Award.
Paola Casella is an arts and entertainment journalist for the RCS Group as well as a film critic for MYmovies.it. She sits on the editorial board of CineCritica and on the selection committee of the Italian Association of Film Critics. She is vice president and Italian national delegate of FIPRESCI, the International Association of Film Critics, as well as artistic director of the Italian cultural association Rete degli Spettatori and of the Movie to Music Award. She is a member of the selection committee of the European Discovery Awards.
Rudolf Worschech studied German and Slavic literature as well as theater in addition to film and television. From 1986 to 1995, he was a research assistant at the Deutsches Filmmuseum in Frankfurt. There he worked on exhibitions and catalogues on German film and cinema history and was programming director of the museum’s cinema for a year. From 2002 to 2023, he was editor-in-chief of the magazine epd Film. He is now a freelance author.
young Jury
johannes rockstuhl
lorenzo germeno
Maryna shymko
Tarik uslu
virginia olivia obiakor
Johannes Rockstuhl had his first onstage appearance as a child. Since then, he has wanted to tell stories not only as an actor, but also as a filmmaker. He has been studying screenwriting at the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF) since 2022. He also produces and directs films.
Lorenzo Germeno is a German-Italian actor born in Munich in 2004. He started acting at the age of 10 and has since appeared in several film and television productions, most recently as Jannik in the series NAKED ABOVE BERLIN, which premiered at the Munich International Film Festival in 2023.
Maryna Shymko is 18 years old. She fled to Germany at the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Since then, she has attended several film festivals and has been involved in several film productions, including the short film WAKING UP IN SILENCE, which was screened at the Munich International Film Festival in 2023.
Tarik Uslu is 19 years old. He graduated from the Montessori High School in Munich this year. Ever since he first got his hands on a camera, he has been passionate about filmmaking and wants to go into this field later on. He and his 13th-grade class were guests of FILMSCHOOLFEST MUNICH in 2023.
Virginia Olivia Obiakor is a social work student, emerging actress, queer feminist activist, and spoken word artist/author. Her range of work revolves around an artistic approach to intersectional feminism, anti-racism, and queerness.
