This evening at the closing event of Perspektive Deutsches Kino, the Kompagnon-Fellowships were awarded for the second time. Endowed with 5,000 euros each, they were given to new projects by a screenwriter and/or director from Berlinale Talents 2018, and a director from the 2017 edition of Perspektive Deutsches Kino.
With the Kompagnon Fellowships, Berlinale Talents and Perspektive Deutsches Kino want to give ongoing support to the work of talented directors and screenwriters residing in Germany. Alongside the fellowship, the prize includes a mentoring programme with professional coaching to strengthen the winners’ personal style and the chance to network within the industry.
“It is certainly motivating to receive such a prize, because it shows that other people believe in your project as well,” states filmmaker Nora Fingscheidt, who last year received one of the two Kompagnon-Fellowships awarded for the first time in 2017. And her work shows that the initiative is already beginning to bear fruit: Fingscheidt is currently filming Systemsprenger, her award-winning treatment, and has returned to the Berlinale as a guest of the Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2018 with her film Ohne diese Welt (Without this World). (You can read more about Nora Fingscheidt and the Kompagnon-Fellowship in an interview with her.)
This year’s jury, whose members are Jules Herrmann, Sung-Hyung Cho and Sol Bondy, picked the following two treatments for the prizes: When a Farm Goes Aflame, the Flakes Fly Home to Bear the Tale by Jide Tom Akinleminu (Berlinale Talents 2018); and Blutsauger by Julian Radlmaier (Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2017).
Jury statement about the project When a Farm Goes Aflame, the Flakes Fly Home to Bear the Tale by Jide Tom Akinleminu:
When the Danish-Nigerian filmmaker sets out to make a documentary about his allegedly lonely father in Nigeria, he discovers that his father has been leading a double life.
The family secret can be traced far back into the past – it begins with Nigeria’s struggle for independence – and spans three continents: Africa, Europe, and America.
We are looking forward to seeing this moving, multi-layered film.
Jury statement about the project Blutsauger by Julian Radlmaier:
Under the guise of a vampire film, Julian Radlmaier’s Blutsauger is an elegant German comedy that provides a both amusing and biting commentary on the global rise of nationalism.
As embodiment of the perspective of German cinema, the Kompagnon-Fellowship wants to support Julian Radlmaier in his efforts to get his unmistakable signature style out into the world.