The Film and Media Foundation NRW Awards Over 9 Million Euros to 37 Projects
In the third funding round of 2026, the Film and Media Foundation NRW is awarding 9.08 million euros to a total of 37 projects.
Patrick Vollrath, nominated for an Oscar in 2016, is relocating a large part of Sherwood Forest to NRW for his anti-war film“The Tale of Robin Hood” in collaboration with RO Co-Production, a subsidiary of the Cologne-based company augenschein. Thomasin McKenzie (“Jojo Rabbit”) takes on the lead role of a young woman who is determined to save her brother at all costs and therefore deceives Robin Hood. The film explores the theme that violence inevitably leads to further violence and death and must never be the only way out.
In his feature film debut“Elan,” television award winner Bilâl Bahadır tells the story of 17-year-old Emre and his struggle for justice and dignity. Feeling mistreated, he tries to find stability in the familiar structures and people that are important to him. But the feeling that injustice is accepted everywhere—on the street, across from the mosque, and within his own community—takes root within him. In collaboration with the Cologne-based collective Zwo, the drama is produced entirely in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Film award and Grimme Prize winner Birgit Schulz tells a different kind of story of emancipation in her artist portrait“Trude Herr—‘I Am the LORD, Your God.’” The Cologne icon Trude Herr, who would have turned 100 next year, always defied convention. Driven by a thirst for freedom and a longing for silence, she crossed the Sahara twenty times, among other feats. In the process, Birgit Schulz, through her Cologne-based Bildersturm Filmproduktion, is also working with previously unpublished material from the artist’s estate.
Feature Film
THE TALE OF ROBIN HOOD - 1,200,000 euros
Production: RO Co-Production, Cologne
Distributor: Wild Bunch
Broadcaster: ZDF
Director: Patrick Vollrath
Screenplay: Harris Kaufmann, Joachim Hedden
Cast: Thomasin McKenzie
In this radical reinterpretation of the iconic story, a young woman deceives Robin Hood and his Merry Men in order to save her brother. This anti-war film reexamines the themes of loyalty and justice.
THE MOVING MAN - RELOADED - 900,000 euros
Production: Peak Point Pictures, Cologne; Gesellschaft für Feine Filme, Cologne Distribution: Vuelta Entertainment Germany
Director: Hermine Huntgeburth
Screenplay: Judy Horney, Martin Gypkens, based on the comics by Ralf König
Cast: Til Schweiger, Jan Josef Liefers, Marie Bäumer, Rufus Beck
“Der bewegte Mann,” 30 years later. When Axel shows up unannounced at his gay son’s wedding after years of radio silence, the carefully balanced patchwork life of his ex, Doro, and his son’s stepfather, Norbert, is thrown off kilter—amidst midlife crises, plans for a baby, and the question: Who actually counts as family?
ELAN - 700,000 euros
Production: Kollektiv Zwo, Cologne
Broadcaster: ZDF – Das kleine Fernsehspiel
Director, Screenplay: Bilâl Bahadır
Cast: Yusuf Altun
Over the course of a single summer, 17-year-old Emre must come to realize how closely belonging, power, and dependence are intertwined. Emre fights desperately for his wages, his dignity, and the right to be taken seriously.
WORK AND STRUCTURE - 650,000 euros
Production: Komplizen Film, Berlin
Co-production: Haut et Court, France
Distributor: Studiocanal
Broadcaster: ZDF
Director: Maria Schrader
Screenplay: Maria Schrader, Jan Schomburg, based on the novel of the same name by Wolfgang Herrndorf
When writer Wolfgang Herrndorf learns that he is terminally ill, he throws himself into his work with feverish discipline and, between surgeries, chemotherapy, and the fear of death, writes the greatest success of his life.
WEEKEND REBELS 2 - 600,000 euros
Production: Wiedemann & Berg Film, Munich
Distributor: Leonine Distribution
Director: Marc Rothemund
Screenplay: Richard Kropf, based on the book “Chaos auf Augenhöhe” by Jason and Mirco von Juterczenka
Cast: Florian David Fitz, Cäcilie Andresen, Aylin Tezel, Joachim Król, Petra Marie Cammin
Who will save the world when their parents are no longer around? Jason and Mirco make a promise to each other once again: We’ll make the world a better place. But while they’re raising funds to build a well, they overlook the problems simmering within their family.
SIMPLY FLY – 500,000 euros
Production: HUPE Film Fiktion Produktion, Cologne
Distributor: Across Nations Filmverleih
Broadcasters: WDR, ARTE
Director, Screenplay: Florian Forsch
Cast: Max Gindorff, Giamo Rövekamp, Cosima Shaw
A promising drug gives Oliver new hope for his sister Jenny, who has ALS. But the doctor refuses to administer the treatment because it lacks EU approval. Desperate, Oliver continues to race against time. Only a group of alternative medicine practitioners offers him support. But their help comes at a high price.
KISS KISS WOLF - 450,000 euros
Production: X Filme Creative Pool, Berlin
Co-production: Zentropa Entertainments, Denmark
Distributor: X Verleih
Broadcaster: ZDF
Director: Helene Hegemann
Screenplay: Helene Hegemann, Lynn T. Musiol, Christian Tschirner
Cast: Hanna Hilsdorf, Lavinia Wilson, Lea Drinda, Nina Gummich, Corinna Harfouch, Alexander Scheer, Jule Böwe
GDR, 1986: Petra and Conni, two workers at the ORWO film factory, secretly shoot lesbian sex films and thereby come under the Stasi’s scrutiny—not only because they are boycotting the system, but also because the films spark a longing for freedom in the West, turning them into an export hit.
CHARLIE, THE TREE GIRL - 370,000 euros
Production: Coin Film, Cologne
Co-production: Ijswater Films, Netherlands; De Mensen, Belgium
Distributor: farbfilm Verleih
Director: Sanne Vogel
Screenplay: Lineke van den Boezem, Matthijs van Wensveen
Cast: Hans Dagelet, Peter van den Begin, Florence Kasumba, Victoria Trauttmansdorff
Eleven-year-old Anna feels insecure because she can’t keep up at school. Her imagination is sparked when Grandpa Koos tells her about Charlie, the wondrous tree girl who was also different from other children. Anna’s self-confidence grows when her Grandpa Koos takes her on a journey that blurs the line between fantasy and reality.
SKATERHERZ - 200,000 euros
Production: Leitwolf Filmproduktion, Hamburg
Distributor: farbfilm Verleih
Broadcaster: NDR
Director: Hanno Olderdissen
Screenplay: Sebastian Grusnik, Thomas Möller
Cast: Katharina Schüttler, Jochen Nickel, Cynthia Micas, Edin Hasanovic
Fourteen-year-old Elias has been waiting half his life for a donor heart. Finally, the moment has arrived. But when he wakes up after the heart transplant, an unknown boy is standing next to his bed. Elias is the only one who can see him. “You have my heart,” says the boy. And he has a mission for Elias that presents him with a huge challenge.
FLIGHT FROM KABUL - 180,000 euros
Production: Weydemann Bros. Film, Cologne
Co-production: Wandal Production, Slovakia; Wandal Production, Czech Republic; Fandango, Italy
Distributor: Filmreederei
Director, Screenplay: Sahraa Karimi
Cast: Arezo Ariapoor, Munira Hashemi, Eshraq Hussaini
Zibaa, a 30-year-old Afghan filmmaker and director of the National Film Fund, recently got engaged to Samir, the love of her life. But her wedding plans for the end of summer are abruptly thwarted when the Taliban unexpectedly take Kabul.
Documentary
THE PUPPET MASTER (TV) - 300,000 euros
Production: UFA Show & Factual, Cologne Broadcaster: RTL
Director: Michael Giehmann
Protagonists: Volker Struth
Volker Struth is Germany’s most successful player agent. Stars like Mario Götze, Toni Kroos, and Julian Nagelsmann entrust their careers to him. Coming from humble beginnings, he worked his way to the top of a billion-euro market with intuition and tenacity—at the cost of family rifts and a crisis in which he narrowly escaped with his life.
TRUDE HERR - “I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD” (Low Budget) - 200,000 euros
Production: Bildersturm Filmproduktion, Cologne Distributor: Real Fiction
Broadcaster: WDR
Director: Birgit Schulz
Screenplay: Cordula Echterhoff
Trude Herr is the most famous vaudeville actress of the postwar era, the “life of the party from the Rhine.” But at some point, she no longer wanted to be the funny little chubby girl. Starting in the ’60s, she was drawn to the vastness of the Sahara—changing tires and repairing engines included. There, she shot films with a massive Arri-Flex. An evocative cinematic legacy of a self-determined woman.
BENEATH THE PLASTIC SKY (Low Budget) – 150,000 euros
Production: FFL Film- und Fernseh-Labor, Ludwigshafen Distribution: Cine Global
Director, Screenplay: Jennifer Mallmann
Beneath an endless roof of white plastic, migrant women in southern Spain pick fruit for Europe. While their children grow up thousands of kilometers away without their mothers, an invisible void emerges between the two places, running through their lives and changing both sides.
SAMUEL (Low Budget) - 150,000 euros
Production: Neue Flimmer, Berlin Distributor: Across Nations
Broadcaster: WDR
Director, Screenplay: Felix Maria Bühler
Main Characters: Samuel Koch, his family, caregivers, and closest friends
Amid acclaimed film and theater premieres and broken-down elevators, Samuel Koch fights for his dream of an accessible motorhome—and, with humor and perseverance, challenges a system that promises freedom of movement but rarely makes it possible.
THE CURSE OF DETROIT – THE LIONS ROAR AGAIN (TV) – 125,000 euros
Production: Broadview TV, Cologne Network: RTL
Director, Screenplay: Lukas Hoffmann
The documentary tells the emotional underdog story of the Detroit Lions American football team. The focus is on Detroit, the Ford dynasty, and a team that stands for resilience and unity despite a long string of losses. At the same time, the film builds a bridge to North Rhine-Westphalia—through the partnership between Ford Cologne and 1. FC Köln. This visually striking film combines sports, industrial history, and pop culture.
LA PAZ - PROMISED LAND (Low Budget) - 80,000 euros
Production: Blueprint Film, Munich Distributor: Alpenrepublik
Broadcaster: ZDF / 3SAT
Director, Screenplay: Enrique Sánchez Lansch
Moritz Hochschild enabled over 20,000 Jews to emigrate to Bolivia, thereby saving them from the Nazi extermination camps. A virtually unknown chapter in the history of the Holocaust. Many decades later, and in times of growing antisemitism,
the descendants of the rescuers and the rescued set out in search of clues—on a journey across generations, a quest for their roots and their own identities.
Series
THE LAST COP (8x45 minutes) – 1,500,000 euros
Production: Glisk, Cologne
Broadcaster: Seven.One
Directed by: Thomas Nennstiel, Friedericke Heß
Screenplay: Regine Bielefeld, Marcus Raffel
Cast: Henning Baum, Torben Liebrecht, Peri Baumeister
After Mick loses his family, he focuses on his chosen family at the precinct. Professionally, he stays true to himself—but in doing so, he finds himself in the crosshairs of Ralf Berger, who questions his methods and pursues his own career goals. Carolin has chosen to live a self-determined life, but her relationship with Mick and Ralf remains fraught with tension. Family isn’t about where you come from, but about who stands by your side in crucial moments.
POPE JOAN (6 x 45 minutes) – 250,000 euros
Production: Constantin Film Produktion, Munich
Broadcaster: ARD Degeto
Directed by: Katrin Gebbe, Facundo Scalerandi
Screenplay: Liz Lake, Nicki Bloom
Cast: Jella Haase, Andreas Pitschmann, Ivan Vlatković, Soma Pysall
In 9th-century Rome—a time and place that could not be more hostile to women—
the healer Joan, disguised as a priest, performs a miracle. This draws her into the brutal game of power, envy, and ambition at the papal court. But only love can challenge her fate.
Screenplay Grant
BETWEEN THE LINES (6 x 45 minutes) — 20,000 euros Production : Rebelle Film, Weimar
Screenplay: Lisa Brunke, Ratingen
A queer and sexy women’s soccer series set in the world of professional sports in the Rhineland. Maya Schönefeld was once the league’s boldest striker. Soccer legend Zara, head coach of the relegation-threatened 1. FC Köln, is tasked with bringing Maya back to her former glory. What begins as a professional confrontation turns into a forbidden affair that jeopardizes everything.
THE WRONG SISTER (4x45 minutes) - 20,000 euros
Production: Elsani Film, Cologne
Screenplay: Katja Kittendorf
Director: Uta Briesewitz
An international miniseries adaptation based on the bestselling thriller of the same name by Claire Douglas. Two sisters. A murder. A long-buried family secret that comes to light through surprising twists.
TRÄUMERTÄNZER (working title) - 20,000 euros
Production: Syrreal Entertainment, Berlin
Screenplay, Director: Oliver Masucci
A German-Italian family story that uses tragicomic elements to shed light on the realities of life for Italian guest workers and their children in the old Federal Republic of Germany. Based on Oliver Masucci’s bestseller, this marks his screenwriting and directorial debut, telling the story of a warm-hearted yet chaotic family and exploring themes of migration, social mobility, and assimilation that have shaped German identity.
FURIE - 20,000 euros
Production: augenschein Filmproduktion, Cologne
Screenplay and Direction: Jan Ole Gerster
This “female rage movie” tells the story of Melanie, who is selfless, conscientious, and caring. Shortly before her fiftieth birthday, however, increasingly eccentric behavioral patterns begin to emerge, culminating in uncontrollable destructive rage and ruthless honesty. What initially appears to be a medical problem develops into an anarchic liberation that clearly brings her joy—and terrifies everyone else.
Pre-production
OF CATS AND SUITCASES - 32,000 euros Production : Little Dream Entertainment, Cologne
Directed by: Ali Samadi Ahadi, Marie Jo Tucholski
Screenplay: Niklas Bauer
After a serious accident, 13-year-old Hiro refuses to accept his prosthetic leg—until Kami the cat accidentally takes him back in time via a magical suitcase. Lost in time, Hiro must face his fears and realize that he can only find his way back to life if he doesn’t define himself by what he has lost.
Distribution
BLOCK 10 - 70,000 euros
Distributor: Camino Filmverleih, Stuttgart
Theatrical Release: November 5, 2026
MRS. WINKLER LEAVES THE HOUSE - 50,000 euros
Distributor: Wild Bunch Germany, Munich
Theatrical release: September 24, 2026
THAT CERTAIN SOMETHING - 50,000 euros
Distributor: Constantin Film Distribution, Munich
Theatrical Release: September 3, 2026
IDENTITTI - 40,000 euros
Distributor: Alamode Filmdistribution, Munich Theatrical Release : November 12, 2026
A Walk to Syracuse - 40,000 euros
Distributor: Pandora Film Medien, Aschaffenburg
Theatrical release: August 20, 2026
A SCHOOL FOR JANE CUMMING - 30,000 euros
Distributor: farbflim Verleih, Berlin Theatrical release: January 21, 2027
BIERMANN - 25,000 euros
Distributor: Majestic Filmverleih, Berlin Theatrical release: October 29, 2026
BEAUTIFUL SOULS - 25,000 euros
Distributor: Camino Filmverleih, Stuttgart
Theatrical release: September 24, 2026
BLOODY TENNIS - 20,000 euros
Distributor: Port au Prince Pictures, Berlin Theatrical release: October 29, 2026
IN MY MOTHER'S MIRROR - 20,000 euros
Distributor: X Verleih, Berlin Theatrical release: August 13, 2026
THE BLOOD COUNTESS - 15,000 euros
Distributor: Neue Visionen Filmverleih, Berlin Release date: October 29, 2026
Film Funding
CASABLANCA, BOCHUM - 50,000 euros
CENTRAL KINO, BORGENTREICH - 10,000 euros
COMET CINE CENTER, WESEL - 20,000 euros
LICHTBURG FILMPALAST, OBERHAUSEN - 2,000 euros