Moderation:
Paula Essam
Panelists:
Katharina Huber, Acker Film
Jacqueline Jansen, Filmweh
Mariana Schneider, Hessen Film & Medien
Jennifer Stahl, Produktionsallianz Campus
The German film funding landscape is in a state of flux. At the same time, the number of filmmakers who are intensively involved in the art of film is growing. But one central problem remains: There is not enough funding to pay creative teams appropriately.
There is a clear gap, especially in the area of young talent: Many first-time works cannot be financed through traditional film funding without those involved ending up in precarious employment. This affects both graduates of film schools and filmmakers who go their own way outside of institutional training.
We would like to discuss these challenges openly in this round table:
- How is the financing of the first films for film school graduates organised?
- What opportunities are there for filmmakers who did not attend a traditional film school?
- And above all: what new funding opportunities are actually available?
Together with experts, filmmakers and industry representatives, we want to shed light on possible solutions and discuss what fairer and more accessible film funding could look like.
The event is organised by the Filmwerkstatt Münster, the Filmbüro NW and the Netzwerk Filmkultur NRW as part of the Münster Film Festival.
Sponsored by the MKW, with the kind support of the Stiftung Westfalen-Initiative.
Katharina Huber
Katharina Huber graduated from the Academy of Media Arts Cologne in 2012. In 2014, she received a DAAD scholarship for her master’s degree at the Royal College of Art in London. At that time, her work focused on animation and short films. Back in Cologne, she worked as a freelance artist and filmmaker and co-founded a production company, with which she produced, acted in, served as second camera operator, and co-directed the documentary/essay film Out of the Gardens, shot in Antarctica. The film premiered at FID Marseille in 2018 and received several awards at other festivals. In 2020, her latest animated film, Der natürliche Tod der Maus (The Natural Death of the Mouse), premiered at the Oberhausen Short Film Festival. In addition to numerous international awards at various festivals, the film also won the German Short Film Award for Best Animated Film of 2020. In 2021, it was shortlisted for the European Short Film Award.
Her feature film debut Ein schöner Ort (A Beautiful Place) was invited to the Cineasti del presente section at the Locarno Film Festival in 2023, where it received two awards: the Best Emerging Director Award and the Best Performance Award, which went to Clara Schwinning, one of the two leading actresses. Further festival appearances and awards followed. In 2024, she founded the production company Acker Film, under which Ein schöner Ort was produced. While her second feature film, Gesang der Schnecken (Song of the Snails), is in preparation and awaiting financing, Huber has realized the short film Späternte (Late Harvest) independently of funding institutions. It was presented as a world premiere at this year’s Locarno Film Festival.
Jacqueline Jansen
Jacqueline Jansen was born in Erkelenz, North Rhine-Westphalia, in 1994 and grew up on a cabbage farm. As a filmmaker, she did not follow a traditional educational path, but rather taught herself. In 2019, she made her first feature-length documentary, No Way Home, which was shot in Germany and the US. She developed her feature film debut, Sechswochenamt, at the beginning of the pandemic and found a special financing model during these challenging times. The film is her first feature-length, autofictional feature film, celebrated its world premiere at the 2025 Munich Film Festival, and was awarded the Förderpreis for best production and acting performance (Magdalena Laubisch) and the FIPRESCI Award.
Mariana Schneider
Mariana Schneider lives in Frankfurt (Main) and works at Hessen Film & Medien as a funding consultant. The focus of her work is the structural and financial support of emerging talents and debut filmmakers. In 2012 she took part in the International Master in Audiovisual and Cinema Studies at the Universities Frankfurt, Barcelona and Birkbeck College London. Before graduating in 2015, she started working as a researcher and later worked as a producer for TV documentaries at an independent production company in Frankfurt. From September 2017 until August 2018 she was part of the international master class for emerging producers at Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris. By the end of 2018 she returned to the Frankfurt area and started working at the Hessen Film and Media Academy and as a freelance commissioning editor for pop culture programming at ZDF/arte.
Jennifer Stahl
Jennifer Stahl has been managing director of the Produktionsallianz Campus since April 2023. In this role, she provides impetus in the areas of promoting young talent and training skilled workers. This includes cooperation in the NewMotion project, which uses shadowing to give people from marginalized groups an uncomplicated yet effective entry into the film and television industry. In addition, the project is working on a digital career information platform that increases the visibility of all trades, showcases the diversity of training opportunities, and makes open entry-level positions transparently accessible.
Previously, she worked at the Berlin International Film Festival, where she was responsible for program coordination for the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section until 2020 and, together with Linda Söffker, designed the selection and orientation of the young talent section. She then took over the artistic direction of FIRST STEPS together with Anne Ballschmieter, where she shaped the strategic and content-related orientation of the most renowned initiative for young filmmakers in the German-speaking world.
stahl@produktionsallianz-campus.de
Paula Essam
The six-language actress and author Paula Essam was born in Lübeck, studied international studies with a focus on Asia and law at Sciences Po in France, as well as media, business, and languages at Korea University in Seoul. She became South Korea’s first foreign cheerleader and worked as a travel reporter for a Korean television station. Since completing her acting training at the IAF, she has appeared in series and film productions (Sam – Ein Sachse, Drift, Drei Leben lang, and many more). She participated in the Women Writing Lab with Robin Swicord (HFF Munich) and the Comedy Masterclass (IFS Cologne) and has been writing for TV and film since 2023. She moderates panels on diversity and volunteers on the board of Pro Quote Film, where she advocates for gender equality and diversity in the German film industry.
