Award of 10th Wim Wenders Grant 2023

Anniversary in Düsseldorf: For the 10th time, the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW together with the Wim Wenders Foundation awarded the Wim Wenders Grant. The award ceremony took place at the Philara Collection in Düsseldorf-Flingern. The renowned grant, which is awarded annually with a total of 100,000 Euro, enables young filmmakers to develop their innovative project ideas.

From a total of 41 applications, the jury – consisting of chairman Wim Wenders, Susanna Felgener, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW (representing Managing Director Petra Müller), Mirko Derpmann, Creative Director Scholz & Friends Agenda – selected five projects. The decisive factors in their decision were quality of material and a persuasive visual concept.

Jury chairman Wim Wenders: “In our tenth anniversary year, the jury has looked into more submissions than ever before, namely 41 highly diverse applications from all over Germany. The Wim Wenders Grant 2023 goes to five projects with existential and highly topical topics. This year we have decided to give them all equal funding, 20,000 Euro each, which as always gives the filmmakers time to explore their narrative possibilities. Congratulations to the fellows and thank you to all the applicants for their trust!”

“Today we are awarding the 10th Wim Wenders Grant in Düsseldorf! A wonderful occasion to celebrate the projects that have emerged from this successful work between the Wim Wenders Foundation and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. We look back on exciting ideas, wild utopias, immersion into foreign worlds and extraordinary cinematic experiences. This year’s selection once again presents special project ideas in terms of both form and content, and casts an idiosyncratic and alert eye on the world,” says Christina Bentlage, Head of Funding at the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. “We wish all grant holders every success in the development of their projects.”

On the selected projects 2023:

 

“Antropka” by Maria Vogt.
Eleven women in space: queerfeminist science fiction adventure, 20,000 Euro

With her science fiction film “Antropka” Maria Vogt wants to counter the phalanx of male space narratives with her own queer feminist view of traveling to distant galaxies. In the year 2182, eleven women from four generations fight for survival on a kind of interstellar Noah’s Ark – closely monitored by an AI. Their mission: to save humanity. Because the earth has become uninhabitable as a result of the climate catastrophe. Vogt has realized various film and theater projects as a director and author, lives in Bochum and graduated with a master’s degree from the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg in 2022.

“The fox was already the hunter” by Malika Musaeva.
About the existential fears of a Chechen woman who fled to Germany, 20,000 Euro

Chechen Malika Musaeva studied directing at Kabardino-Balkaria University under Alexander Sokurov in the North Caucasus and at Hamburg Media School. Her debut feature film “The Cage Is Looking for a Bird” premiered this year at Berlinale Encounters. In “Der Fuchs war damals schon der Jäger,” the director explores the theme of fear within the closed community of Chechen refugees in Germany, about whose lives little is known.

“It Takes A Village To Raise AI” by Sofia Ose and Robert Summerfield.
Traumatic Experiences with Chat GPT in Kenya, 20,000 Euro

In their essayistic documentary, Ose and Summerfield tell three stories that lead to the exposure of a global scandal: A group of young scientists in Nairobi are fighting for internet coverage in Africa’s largest informal settlement. Africa’s largest informal settlement, three residents seek a way out of a trauma, and a chatbot has an intimate conversation about humanity. For the past four years, Cologne-based filmmaker Ose has been making medium-length documentaries for the Medienprojekt Wuppertal. She is just as the author and editor Robert Summerfield, who works in Münster.

“Seven Fathers” by Nele Dehnenkamp.
Radical female perspective on sexual violence in war, 20.000 Euro

The war in Ukraine, two women and one goal: one has carried her child to term after being raped, the other deals professionally with the consequences of sexual violence in war zones. In her experimental cinema documentary, Nele Dehnenkamp accompanies the two protagonists as they come to terms with war-related trauma and their self-empowerment. Dehnenkamp’s films have been shown at international festivals and have been awarded the Grimme Prize and the Civis Media Prize, among others. “Seven Fathers” is her feature-length directorial debut following her graduation.

“Uncanny Valley” by Tim Ellrich.
Kaleidoscope of a family in the 21st century, 20.000 Euro

A seemingly normal German family forms the basis of a film by the daughter. When the family members meet the actors who are to portray them in the film, the structure turns upside down. Unequal pairings emerge that call the lives of each individual into question. Director Tim Ellrich graduated from the film academy in Ludwigsburg. His films have been shown at more than 400 festivals and have received numerous awards, including the First Steps Award.

 Photo: Vordere Reihe, v.l.n.r: Mirko Derpmann (Kreativdirektor Scholz & Friends Agenda), Christina Bentlage (Film- und Medienstiftung NRW), Wim Wenders (Juryvorsitzender) und Susanna Felgener (Film- und Medienstiftung NRW) Hintere Reihe, v.l.n.r.: Maria Vogt („Antropka“), Malika Musaeva („Der Fuchs war damals schon ein Jäger“), Sofia Ose und Robert Summerfield („It Takes A Village To Raise AI“), Nele Dehnenkamp („Sieben Väter“) und Tim Ellrich (“Uncanny Valley”) (Foto: Claudia Ast, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW)