+ Details

Dr. Insa Thiele-Eich, a meteorologist and climate researcher, is on track to become the first German female astronaut to travel to the International Space Station (ISS).

In her opening keynote, she'll give us a glimpse into her fascinating life, sharing the highs and lows of her journey both personally and professionally. She'll also dive into what she's learned about handling risk along the way.

+ Details

Johanna Koljonen presents the latest edition of the Nostradamus Report, which has been analyzing trends in the audiovisual industry for over a decade. Last year's focus: market declines, shifting demographics, and opportunities from disruptive technologies. Media analyst Koljonen provides an overview of the current report. We’re looking forward what's in store for this year.

Johanna Koljonen is an analyst, broadcaster, and experience designer. She is the author of the annual Nostradamus Report for the Göteborg Film Festival, which focuses on the near future of the film industry. She gives international talks on changes in the media sector as well as on participation and narrative design.

+ Details

Hamburg is increasingly becoming the hub for film and TV production in Germany. In 2023, there were an impressive 2,292 shooting days in the film region of Northern Germany, with 551 in Schleswig-Holstein and 1,741 in Hamburg. This led to the creation of 16 feature films and eight high-end series that gained attention well beyond the country's borders (MOIN Annual Report 2023). In this panel, we will explore how the Hamburg film scene addresses risks in film production and successfully executes creative projects.

Lamin Leroy Gibba is an actor, screenwriter and producer. After his studies at The New School for Drama in New York City, he appeared in various theater, film and television productions. His award-winning short film DOGFRIEND, which he co-produced, wrote and starred in, was screened globally at festivals like the Tribeca Film Festival and the BFI Flare Film Festival. In 2023 Lamin was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient in the category Entertainment. His television series BLACK FRUIT, for which he is the creator, head writer, showrunner, and lead actor, will stream on ARD in 2024.

Ali Hakim is a German-Afghan film producer, director, and screenwriter from Hamburg. After working on smaller productions, including an animation project, he made his directorial debut with the feature film Bonnie and Bonnie. Since then, he has also directed for television. In 2023, he co-founded the production company Hakim + König Film with Max König, which currently has three projects in the financing phase. In addition to developing stories, Ali focuses on integrating artificial intelligence into artistic and business structures. Apart from his work in the film industry, Ali Hakim is also active as a lecturer, teaching camera acting and storytelling.

+ Details

Maritza Grass: The German-Dutch producer's short film "Free Nights" was selected for the NEXT GENERATION SHORT TIGER and screened in Warsaw & Cannes. Her graduation feature film "Die feige Schönheit," produced in collaboration with ZDF, was selected for EUROPEAN WORK IN PROGRESS COLOGNE. In 2022, she founded Carousel Film, which she has been running jointly with Vincent Edusei since 2024.

Lotte Ruf studies Film & Television Production at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF and is also part of several international festival juries. In 2022, she founded Goldstoff Filme GmbH together with director Mark Lorei. Her debut, the sequel to "Haus Kummerveldt", received the FIRST STEPS AWARD and was awarded the Grimme Prize Special.

The emerging Producers Maritza Grass and Lotte Ruf present insights from their master's thesis at Filmuniversity Babelsberg on the intersection of family life and film production. They designed a guide for producers in the German film industry, aiming to encourage a socially sustainable production culture on set.

+ Details

According to research by the BFI, many film funding programs disproportionately favor drama projects. Putting a greater emphasis on genre in the development space, and also decentralising development funding in order to do so, the BFI Film Fund launched the Next Wave Genre Lab. In this deep dive, Mia Bays will introduce this innovative initiative, and will discuss together with Charades' Joseph Pery on the basis of Sundance-winner “Kneecap" as a case study.

Mia Bays is an Oscar-winning and BAFTA-nominated film producer with over 30 years in the independent film sector. She produced the Oscar-winning short Six Shooter and received BAFTA nominations for Scott Walker – 30 Century Man. Since October 2021, she has led the National Lottery Filmmaking Fund at the BFI, overseeing a £54m strategy for film development and production from 2023 to 2026. Under her direction, 2023 marked the fund's most successful year, with numerous nominations and wins for films like Blue Jean and Rye Lane. Mia also supported emerging talent through the Microwave scheme and promoted gender equality in film with Birds’ Eye View.

Joseph Pery holds a master’s degree in Finance from Sorbonne University and a MSc in Management from ESSEC Business School in Paris. He joined Charades in December 2020 and is co-leading the Marketing and Publicity department since 2021. Joseph notably worked on several international marketing and promotional campaigns: Aftersun by Charlotte Wells (Cannes Critics’ Week 2022), Scrapper by Charlotte Regan (Sundance 2023 Grand Jury Prize), Memoir of a Snail by Adam Elliot (Annecy 2024 Cristal Award) and Kneecap by Rich Peppiatt (Sundance 2024 Audience Award) among others.

+ Details

Oğuz Yılmaz is a pioneer of the German YouTube landscape and a member of Y-Titty, once Germany's most successful YouTube channel with over three million subscribers. He won an ECHO award and performed at sold-out concerts. As the co-founder of the talent management YilmazHummel, he now nurtures creative talents and advocates for the conditions he once wished for himself.

In his Deep Dive, Oğuz Yılmaz will provide insights into his industry and explain why creators who want to achieve sustainable success cannot avoid long-form content. What is “time spent with the creator” and why is it so important? What do YouTube & Spotify have to do with it? And what does he think of TikTok? Spoiler: It's going to be interesting.

+ Details

The structure of international co-productions requires a special sensitivity in assessing risks and rewards. How can co-production shares be brought into a fairer balance beyond just the evaluation of invested financial amounts? Are there new metrics that assess the risks of the respective partners in addition to financial contributions? What role do official regulations and institutions play in a possible reorganization? The experts in this session are part of an EAVE think tank that has explored this topic and will present solutions currently in development.

Henrik Underbjerg is adviser and programme manager for International Media Support – a media development organization working to enable local media to reduce conflict, strengthen democracy and facilitate dialogue. Priority is given to film productions focusing on issues of current affairs, gender equality, cultural diversity, and human rights. Henrik is also producing and has a track counting more than 50 fiction and documentary films including Khartoum Offside, Aleppo’s Fall, Sepideh.

Jennifer Sabbah Immagine is an expert in co-production and international legal matters with over 20 years of experience, including roles as Line Producer, Business Affairs, and Producer. She has worked at Arsam International, Unifrance NY, TWC, and KinoElektron. Since 2007, through Big Sister, she produced documentaries like NASSER (TIFF 2016) and MARINER OF THE MOUNTAINS (Cannes 2021). In 2020, she co-founded Scale & Scope, a film consulting agency.

This session is brought to you by EAVE European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs

+ Details

Animation isn’t just for one genre or one audience—it’s a medium that can bring any story to life. In Fabian's Deep Dive, you’ll get an insider's look at the fascinating world of arthouse animation and beyond. Fabian will dive into the unique challenges of creating auteur-driven animation, where risk meets creativity, and the rewards that follow. Learn how to stand out on the international stage and discover how animation techniques and formats play a key role in success. From creative freedom to innovative storytelling (and the inevitable failures along the way), this session is packed with inspiration for anyone passionate about animation.

Fabian Driehorst is a producer of animation and CEO and co-founder of the Hamburg based production studio Fabian&Fred a company that was recognised with the FFA Industry Tiger as the most successful production company for short films in 2023. In the same year Fabian was awarded the Hamburg Producer Award for International Co-Production and in 2019 for the Documentary Producer Award at DOKfest Munich. He is chairman of the AG Animationsfilm and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the European Film Academy. Fabian is a regular lecturer at international film schools and training initiatives. In 2023 he became a mentor for Women in Animation.

+ Details

Florian Reimann, CEO of Yamdu, is a seasoned producer in the European film industry, recognized for his work across film, TV, commercials, and documentaries. His expertise has led him to focus on digitizing media production processes, improving pre-production workflows through Yamdu. A sought-after guest speaker, he shares insights on data consolidation, project management, and workflow optimization. Florian is a member of the HPA Hollywood Professional Association and participates in MovieLabs, Hollywood's top workflow think tank.

+ Details

Tobi Kyeremateng is a BAFTA-winning producer from London. She has been producing internationally for renowned broadcasters and media such as BBC, BFI, Channel 4, Film4, Netflix, NOWNESS and Sky Arts.

In an interview we're eager to hear her thoughts on how a community-focused approach can foster a more supportive industry. We also want to explore how production practices could be reshaped by communities across different fields and what benefits we might see from these changes. What “reward” awaits us as a result?

Lara-Sophie Milagro is an actress, author, director and producer. She studied at Goldsmiths College and RADA in London, Stella Adler in NYC and the UdK Berlin. She can be seen regularly in theater and film productions, currently at the Theater Neumarkt Zurich and in the bestselling movie adaptation “Woodwalkers” (blue eyes fiction). As a freelance author/creative producer she works for / with Studio Zentral and Achtung Panda! and developed the performative talk format “Declonized Glamor Talks”. As a film director she made her debut in 2020 with the short “Noah's Rainbow” and in 2022 with her first feature film “Emmett” for which she also wrote the film adaptations.

This session is brought to you by Creative Europe Desks Germany

+ Details

On stage, extraordinary experts come together, deeply engaged with the question of how to shape the future constructively and with vision – whether through scientific scenarios or cinematic storytelling. In this session, they discuss the role optimistic futures play in times of global challenges and how these futures can influence our present reality. What ethical and social responsibilities do they see in their work when it comes to creating positive futures? How can the interplay between vision and reality motivate people to actively contribute to a better future? What can science and film learn from each other to create positive future visions that offer more than just entertainment or speculation?

Dodo Vögler is the co-founder of Ellery Studio and the head of the Foresight and Participation department. She is also a co-initiator of the platform "zukunftsforscherin.de" and the "Speculative Futures: Berlin" forum. As a visiting professor at the HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd (2021-24), she works at the intersection of futures research and futures design. Her work and initiatives have received numerous national and international awards, including the Emerging Scholars Prize in Futures Studies, the Malofiej International Infographics Award, the dpa-infographic award, the European Design Award, and the ADC Award.

Screenwriter and psychologist Naomi Bechert has worked in anti-racist and queer feminist education before she began writing for the youth series "DRUCK." In 2023, she was selected for the Netflix Writing Academy and is part of the selection committee for the Berlinale section "Generation." She is one of the authors of the post-migrant anthology series "Made in Germany" (release on October 4, ARD) and the pre-teen series "Echt Friends." From fast-paced young adult drama in the club scene to mystery thrillers in West Africa, Naomi is passionate about contemporary, provocative stories of Generation Y and Z, focusing on themes of identity, feminism, and relationships.