12th Wim Wenders Scholarship awarded: €100,000 for six outstanding projects
The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, together with the Wim Wenders Foundation, has awarded the 12th Wim Wenders Scholarship, one of the most significant grants for young filmmakers in the German-speaking world. At the Philara Collection in Düsseldorf, six grantees were honored with a total of €100,000 in funding. The scholarship enables them to independently realize their innovative project ideas and artistic visions with which they seek to shape the future of cinematic storytelling.
The selection was made by Wim Wenders. He was joined in evaluating the projects and in the personal interviews by Walid Nakschbandi (CEO of Filmstiftung NRW), Mirko Derpmann (Creative Director, Scholz & Friends Agenda), and Hella Wenders (director and co-managing director of the Wim Wenders Foundation).
Jury Chair Wim Wenders:
“In this twelfth year, the jury of the Wim Wenders Scholarship of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW reviewed a total of 56 submissions from across Germany – more than ever before. The breadth of projects was once again impressive, both in terms of thematic richness and the determination to explore new forms of storytelling.
Despite this diversity, as every year, certain themes emerged across many projects – the spirit of the times, if you will. Given the state of the world, it is perhaps not surprising that two subjects dominated this year: artificial intelligence, and trauma – the injuries that people have endured. The different approaches to making these wounds visible, and perhaps alleviating or healing them, were inspiring to us as a jury.
What all six selected projects share is that their creators are in pursuit of something that will require great inventiveness – and which, we are convinced, is worth the effort. With the scholarship, filmmakers are given the time to explore their cinematic language and their subject matter in order to fully unlock the narrative potential of their stories. Congratulations to the 2025 grantees, and many thanks to all applicants for your trust.”
Walid Nakschbandi, CEO of Film- und Medienstiftung NRW:
“Cinema thrives on those moments when new voices emerge – courageous, distinctive, and full of future potential. Six filmmakers now have the freedom to make their voices heard. The Wim Wenders Scholarship is grounded, on the one hand, in the belief that art can only arise where thought is free. On the other hand, it is carried by Wim Wenders himself. His eye for the extraordinary and his passion for young talent send a clear message: the future of storytelling always lies in the hands of a new generation. Their projects embody the leap into uncharted cinematic worlds.
We warmly congratulate this year’s grantees. To be able to accompany these projects at such an early stage is a great privilege for us.”
Wim Wenders and the recipients of the 12th Wim Wenders Scholarship:
(from left to right) Jennifer Mallmann, Arata Mori, Charleen Kilthau (representing Chiara Fleischhacker), Fitore Muzaqi, Ewan Waddell, Sonia Kennebeck, Wim Wenders, Walid Nakschbandi.
Photo: Fabian Strauch
Selected Projects 2025
“Amica” by Fitore Muzaqi (NRW/Cologne)
Coming-of-age drama as a short-form mini-series, €20,000
14-year-old Nora befriends the chatbot of the app AMICA, until she gradually loses touch with reality and, spurred on by the bot, begins to take increasingly extreme actions. With her mini-series, Fitore Muzaqi aims to spark a critical discussion about the impact of AI on mental health, social isolation, and interpersonal relationships among young people.
After working as a writer, director, and creative producer, Muzaqi studied Serial Storytelling at ifs internationale filmschule Köln. In her series and film projects, she addresses cultural differences, feminist topics, and social inequality from a migrant perspective – themes often revolving around critiques of capitalism and resource distribution. As host of her podcast Writer’s Statement, she shares insights into working in the film industry to foster transparency and participation. With the WDR COSMO docu-series Meine Narbe (My Scar), she and her team won the CIVIS Media Prize in 2022. Her short film Turtle & Albion will begin its festival journey in 2025.
“One Million Monkeys Dream of Tigers” by Arata Mori (Berlin)
Poetic experimental documentary with thriller and crime elements, €20,000
As part of Japan’s “Lost Generation,” the filmmaker asks what might have become of him had he never left Japan. Together with others of his generation, Mori uses hypnosis and psychodrama to create alternative selves. A real-life murder committed by a young director of the Lost Generation prompts him to make a film about it.
Japanese filmmaker, editor, and artist Arata Mori lives in Berlin. His creative work spans documentary film, TV documentaries, and corporate video. In 2021 he directed the documentary A Million, which premiered at the 64th DOK Leipzig. In 2024, together with Andreas Hartmann, he co-directed the Filmstiftung-funded documentary Johatsu – Those Who Disappear into Thin Air. The film premiered in competition at Thessaloniki IDF and won the top prize at DOK.fest Munich. Together with Laurian Ghinitoiu, he also founded the creative video project another:.
“The Silence That Follows” by Ewan Waddell (Berlin)
Experimental documentary, €20,000
The film explores the innovative use of psychedelic-assisted trauma therapy in Ukraine, portraying both collective trauma and the process of healing. While the war continues, veterans and civilians alike are experimenting with radical new approaches using psychedelics. Employing thermal imaging, night vision, and infrared cameras, the film visualizes trauma as an invisible frequency.
British filmmaker Ewan Waddell earned his Master’s degree with distinction as top of his class at Catalyst Institute in Berlin. His professional background includes work as a film and art director in advertising, as well as journalist and author. His feature debut The Longer You Bleed (2025) won the FIPRESCI Prize at its premiere at Hot Docs Film Festival. It has also screened at the Beyond Borders International Film Festival and will soon celebrate its Ukrainian premiere at the Odesa International Film Festival. His artistic practice combines mixed media with experimental approaches to moving image.
“Vivre” (WT) by Chiara Fleischhacker (Thuringia)
Documentary biopic, €20,000
At 101 years old, Raymond Renaud, a survivor of Buchenwald, reflects on his life with unshakable vitality and humanity. Through a documentary interweaving of the present with associative flashbacks, a portrait emerges of the power of memory, the beauty of simplicity, and the courage to believe in the good despite everything.
Chiara Fleischhacker studied documentary directing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and also attended a fiction-focused program at La Fémis in Paris. Her debut screenplay Vena won the 2022 Thomas Strittmatter Prize. In 2024, Vena received the First Steps Award for Best Feature Film and, in 2025, the German Film Critics Award for Best Debut Feature along with three Lola nominations. With Vivre, Fleischhacker seeks not only to create an intimate portrait of Raymond Renaud but also a film about surviving the unimaginable – about enduring humanity, and about remembrance as active resistance against forgetting.
“Flowers from Erfurt” by Sonia Kennebeck (Hamburg)
Fictional feature film inspired by true events, €10,000
Flowers from Erfurt tells the story of three women – a mother and two daughters – and a family decision in East Berlin in 1982 that triggers a chain of dramatic events with tragic consequences for the youngest daughter. At its core, the film explores family relationships in the face of an overpowering authoritarian state. It is a story of complex emotions, the burden of memory, and, ultimately, forgiveness.
Sonia Kennebeck earned her Master’s degree in International Relations from American University in Washington, D.C. The independent documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist has over 15 years of experience directing and producing TV documentaries and investigative reports. Her debut feature-length documentary National Bird premiered at the Berlinale in 2016; her second feature Enemies of the State premiered in Toronto in 2020; and her third film Reality Winner premiered at SXSW in 2021. Foreign Policy magazine named her one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2016, and Filmmaker Magazine listed her among the “25 New Faces of Independent Film” the same year. Flowers from Erfurt marks her fiction feature debut.
“Trabajadores invisibles – The Invisible Workers” (WT) by Jennifer Mallmann (NRW)
Poetic documentary with animation, €10,000
Beneath a sea of plastic sheeting, migrant women labor in Andalusia to produce Europe’s fruit and vegetables. The film follows them in their daily lives between exhaustion, fear, and quiet moments of dignity. At its center are their voices, perspectives, and experiences – giving space to what is usually unseen and unheard. With observational and poetic storytelling, Trabajadores invisibles highlights systemic invisibility and asks how a system based on fear and silence can persist.
Jennifer Mallmann studied documentary directing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Her artistic work focuses on human rights issues and making structural inequality visible. In 2020 she was awarded a scholarship to attend the Summer School of the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice, in collaboration with La Biennale di Venezia. Her debut feature documentary Moria Six premiered in the German Competition at DOK Leipzig in 2024, winning both the DEFA Sponsorship Prize and the Leipziger Ring Award. It was also nominated for the First Steps Award, the Doc Alliance Award, and the Human Rights Award at CPH:DOX. Following its theatrical release in May 2025, the film screened in selected cinemas.
The Wim Wenders Scholarship
Launched in 2014 by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and the Wim Wenders Foundation, the scholarship has since supported 57 projects.
The selection process consists of two stages: following a preliminary review, shortlisted candidates are invited to personally present their projects. Beyond content, the jury places special emphasis on the formal and visual quality of the proposals. This year, eight finalists were invited to the final round.
