As part of the jury for the BEST SCREENPLAY at the ACHTUNG BERLIN – new berlin film award, I am excited to see this year’s selection of feature films.

The film festival ACHTUNG BERLIN – new berlin film award presents current feature films and documentaries that have been realized either entirely or in part by a Berlin or Brandenburg film production and/or have a thematic connection to Berlin. The screening of the films will be accompanied by film talks with authors, directors, producers and distributors, who will inform about its production strategies.

JURY: 

FLORIAN PLUMEYER (* 1983 in Hannover), is a screenwriter and studied Theater & Media Studies in Erlangen and Athens as well as Screenwriting at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin. Internationally awarded short films by him include Thieves and Her Son. In addition, he was a recipient of the Nuemberg Writers’ Fellowship. For the feature film Alle Wollen Geliebt Werden, he and Katharina Woll were awarded the Förderpreis for Best Screenplay at Filmfest München. His collaboration with Christoph Hochhäusler Bis Ans Ende Der Nacht(2023) was in competition at the 73rd Berlinale and won the Silver Bear for Best Acting Performance in a Supporting Role for Thea Ehre.

SUZANNE PRADEL is a creative content producer, script consultant, agent, writer as well as a script expert for various European funders. She is a member of the European Film Academy (efa), the Association of Film Dramaturgy (VeDRA) and the European Women’s Audiovisual Network (ewa), whose “Female Scriptwriter’s Residency” she supervised as Script Consultant. She is also the founder of BuchScout & SerienScout Agency Berlin, which specializes in the development and marketing of European feature films and series. Thus, she was involved in the creation of successful and award-winning films, such as most recently at the Berlinale Competition 2023 Ingeborg Bachmann – A Journey Into The Desert by Margarethe von Trotta or the Gran Prix winner at the Tokyo International Film Festival Vera Dream Of The Sea by Kaltrina Krasniqi. She is active as a lecturer and speaker at international workshops and festivals (EAVE, Bosphorus Film Lab, Antalya Film Festival, ..)

KERSTIN POLTE is a director, screenwriter and part of the feminist filmmaker collective r.O.K.S. She completed her film education in Canada, at the HfG Karlsruhe and at the Zurich University of the Arts. She was also a scholarship holder at the Drehbuchwerkstatt München. Her films have screened at numerous renowned festivals, including the Locarno International Film Festival. Her feature film Wer hat eigentlich die Liebe erfunden? was awarded the Bavarian Film Prize, among others. She wrote and directed the TV film Immer der Nase nach (ZDF) and was part of the directing team for the 1st season of the series Wir (ZDF Neo/Mediathek). Furthermore, she developed and directed the series Becoming Charlie (ZDF Neo/Mediathek), which was nominated for the German Television Award and the Grimme Award, among others.